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

Not what Jenna was getting at.

“I mean, it must be hard emotionally. Hopalinka has been her home for a long time, right? She’s going to miss her friends and…everything else there.”

“She’ll make new friends.”

Men could be so obtuse sometimes. “Change, even a good change, is hard for anyone, Ben.”

“I guess.”

Apparently she was going to have to spell it out for him. “Carl and her seem pretty close, don’t they?”

“What are you getting at?”

“I’m not getting at anything,” she lied. Just…open your eyes! She sighed. She’d done all she could do here. “So do you need help? I could take off this afternoon and I’m an awesome packer. You should see what I can do with a roll of masking tape.”

She expected him to laugh, or at least make a dirty joke, but he didn’t. He was hesitating long enough that she began to feel strange. Just because they were having sex and he’d invited her to dinner with his family didn’t mean they were in a relationship.

“I’m just trying to be a good friend,” she added, cringing.

“Thanks, but it’s not necessary. Mom doesn’t have a whole lot to pack so there’s no need for you take off this afternoon. We’ll be done way before then.”

Neither of them said anything.

Why had the conversation suddenly turned so awkward?

“I better get back to work now,” she said. He promised to call her as soon as he heard from Gavin.

The rest of the day was spent working on a new grant proposal while trying to forget about her phone call with Ben. She’d just snapped her laptop shut and was preparing to head home when Mimi and Pilar came into her office.

“It’s official,” Mimi said, “The Chamber of Commerce has an all-out campaign to drive me insane. Everyone with a business in this town is calling to tell me to vote yes on Nora’s deal. As if I wasn’t already!”

“I checked with Denise,” Pilar said. “She’s a big yes and Larry has made his position crystal clear. Gus and I are definite no’s. Tomorrow is the big vote and we’re looking at another tie. Unless someone is willing to change their mind.”

A week ago, Jenna would have absolutely said no to any sort of compromise over Earl’s estate (and she had, with her vote). His will stated that the land was to be used for public access and that was that. But if she looked at the situation logically, she had to admit that Larry’s position made sense. Mimi was under incredible pressure to make this deal go through. As city manager, Jenna wanted to support the mayor’s agenda. But she also wanted to honor Earl’s true intentions. She’d read all the depositions three times over. Doug Wentworth’s could be discounted, but Earl’s nurse Deedee claimed that old Earl had talked about giving his daughter some of that land and Jenna couldn’t discount that. Not anymore. Which meant for the first time since all this started, she was wavering on her position.

Ha. Wouldn’t Ben get a kick out of that!

Mimi gave Jenna a meaningful look. “The Chamber of Commerce isn’t the only one ringing my phone off the hook. Larry called me this afternoon and gave me an earful.”

“Oh?” She tried to act indifferent, but the truth was even the mention of Larry’s name made her hackles rise.

“I’m just warning you, as a friend,” Mimi continued. “He’s still pretty upset about last week’s meeting.”

“About your accusation,” Pilar added.

“I thought we shook hands and made up.”

“Larry was completely and totally out of line bringing your personal life into the meeting,” Mimi said.

“And I was out of line as well,” Jenna finished, trying to be agreeable.

Mimi and Pilar gave each other another one of their famous looks, giving Jenna the distinct impression that the two women hadn’t just come into her office to casually chitchat.

“What now?”

“It’s just, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to apologize to him again,” Mimi suggested.