Can't Stop the Feeling (Whispering Bay Romance 6)

“Really?”

“I’ve been here three months. Most people would say that I’ve already paid my debt to society.”

Thank God she wasn’t most people.

“I’ll pray that the judge handling your case is a Christian.”

He looked blank for a moment, then smiled. “Thank you, Jenna.”

Yuck. She wanted to run to the nearest bathroom and wash her mouth out with soap. Time to find out what she’d come here for.

“So, Doug, I have to say, I was a little surprised when I ran all the financials. Is the city really in such desperate shape? Or did I put the decimal in the wrong place?” she added with a self-deprecating smile.

“I’m afraid there’s no mistake. My predecessor didn’t know the meaning of the word restraint. Plus, you had to notice that the new rec center went way over budget.”

“Yeah.” She shook her head sadly. “Right now there’s a firm out of Chicago doing a forensics audit on all the city’s financials. Now that I’ve met you, I realize that’s a dead end. But I had to do something to appease the city council. They’re absolutely convinced that the numbers aren’t right.”

He rubbed his clean-shaven jaw. “A forensics audit, huh?”

* * *

Jenna waited till she’d buckled her seat belt to let out a disgusted puff of air. “That was nothing but a big fat waste of time.” She glanced over at Ben, who’d been waiting patiently in the car during her visit.

“Let me guess. He doesn’t know anything about anything,” Ben said.

“I dangled that forensics audit right under his nose and he never once blinked. He actually told me he thought it was a good idea! He’s a cool cucumber, all right. But he’s guilty of something. I can feel it.”

“He’s guilty of burglary. Period. Because he isn’t going to confess to anything else.”

“He doesn’t like you, you know.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

“But he thinks I should vote yes to Nora’s offer anyway.”

“He told you that?”

“Oh yes.” She raised her voice a few notches and fluttered her eyelashes. “Oh, Mr. Big Smart Former City Manager, I don’t know how to vote. Can you help me?”

He barked out a laugh. “You didn’t.”

“After I told him I’d pray for him. Or maybe it was before.”

“I’m just glad the whole things over.” When she didn’t say anything, he frowned. “It is over, isn’t?”

“I suppose so.” She glanced back at the facility. It occurred to her that while she’d been apprehensive to go inside the jail, the experience could mean something totally different to Ben. “Did you ever have to visit your brother here?”

He followed her gaze. A muscle on the side of his jaw twitched. “Not here. When he was twelve, he went to a juvenile detention center. But there were other jails. In other cities. He was a decent kid at heart. And my mom did her best.” She thought he was done, but after a few moments he added, “I shouldn’t have gone to Boston. I should have stayed here in Florida. I could have helped her keep an eye on him.”

She turned in her seat to stare at him. “Do you know how many people would give their right arm to go to Harvard? And let’s say you did stay in Florida for law school, then what? Were you supposed to just drop everything every time Jake did something he wasn’t supposed to? You basically fell off the planet for an entire week when he stole that car, and I don’t know anyone but you who would have still aced their finals. Look at what you’re doing for Rachel! And your mom. I’ve said it before, you’re a good son, Ben. And I’m sure you were a good brother, too.”

“It’s weird, sometimes I think this has all been a big dream. That any minute I’ll see him standing at my door…asking for money and telling me this would be the time he’d finally get clean.”

It was the first time since the night Rachel ran away that he’d talked about Jake. She didn’t want to pry and she certainly didn’t want to make him more melancholy than he seemed at the moment, but something Pat said to her the other day at The Bistro had stuck. Talking about him is the one thing that actually makes it a little better.

“What was Jake like?” she asked softly.

“He loved baseball. I used to watch him a lot, when my mom was at work. Whenever I could, we’d go to the field behind the elementary school and I’d pitch balls to him. He was a total natural. He played in high school and was their star hitter, but he got caught smoking dope and got himself kicked off the team. He could have gotten a scholarship, but he just…” He shook his head.