“Yes. I intend to be a normal person tomorrow. I’m taking Jack’s sister, Summer, and niece, Lily, out for the time of their lives.”
“Do you need me to do anything for that?”
“I’ll put it all in the email.”
“Sounds like you’re enjoying this.”
“I am. It’s time I had fun. I’m going to do something good. Wait till you see the email. After all the time you’ve known me, I think this email will be a shock. Look for it in a few minutes. Get to work. I want those papers tomorrow. And thanks, Ben.”
“I’ll look for the email in ten. I hope I get to hear you like this more often.”
“I hope so, too. Call me when all the arrangements for tomorrow are done.”
“I will.”
She held the phone in her hand and gazed out the window to the trees beyond. For the first time in a long time, things were going her way. In control of her life, her direction, she savored the powerful feeling. She had Jack to thank for her newfound determination.
Chapter Twenty-Two
* * *
JENNA OPENED THE boxes from Ben and found the new laptop. She used her cell phone to connect to the Internet and her email account and sent Ben instructions to carry out her plans. On course to complete her goal, she’d give her ex the shock of his life if she pulled this off. She had to pull it off. Time to take a stand. Bodyguards, walls, gates, time, distance, nothing had protected her. She’d always known the only way to end this was to give her ex a very powerful reason not to come looking for her again. Thanks to Ben and his team, she had that reason.
She found it difficult to think of what her life could be like without her ex-husband hunting her like a wild animal. This life is all she knew now. She thought of Jack and decided life could be wonderful. Images of them happy together for years to come were so easy to conjure, it scared her.
After replying to several emails, tired of her own company, she took her cell phone, left her pretty room, and went outside with Sally. The fresh air smelled of grass and honeysuckle from the bush by the front steps. The sun warmed her face, and she gazed up at the bright sky and took a deep breath and relaxed.
“Where should we go?”
Sally barked and took off to the barn.
“Okay. Let’s go see Jack,” she said, talking to air. Sally disappeared through the wide doors. Jenna made her way down the gravel driveway to the huge building at her own slow pace.
The face of the barn was made of river rock, up from the ground three feet. The rest was wood painted white with dark blue trim. Jack really had a thing for blue. Outdoor paddocks led inside to stalls down both sides of the building. Some of them held gorgeous brown quarter horses. The top level of the barn had lots of windows and a hay-filled loft. The scent of hay and horses enveloped her as she stepped into the corridor and let her eyes adjust to the dimmer light.
Unsure where to find Jack and Caleb, she walked down the spacious center aisle that led back to some rooms at the far end. Jack must have an office down the way.
The horses moved and shifted in their stalls. Some peeked their heads over the doors. A few men worked in the barn, taking care of the horses. She smiled but kept her distance, Sally keeping pace beside her.
She came upon an open stall door with only a thick rope across it to keep the huge stallion inside. He moved to the opening and blocked her path with his big head. The most gorgeous horse she had ever laid eyes on.
He bobbed his gray head up and down, stomped a hoof, and blew through his nostrils into her hair. She immediately reached up and rubbed her hands over his long nose and along the side of his face. She stood in front of him stroking his neck and talking softly. He put his head over her shoulder and let her stroke behind his ears. She nuzzled her head against his. The scrape of boots fast approaching startled her.
A man carrying a strap in his hand drew closer. Panic stole her rational thoughts and she moved toward the horse, away from the threat.