bit her lip, almost considering whether to continue our conversation. Her normally jubilant and carefree attitude faded, replaced with an uneasy aura. I knew I needed to be the same kind of friend to her she had been to me for the past eight years. As much as I wanted to tell her about Colleen’s visit and ask her advice on whether I could ever forgive Tyler, I knew Jenna needed to get something off her chest.
“What is it, Jenna? You can tell me.” I got up from behind my desk and sat beside her on the loveseat.
She studied me for a brief moment before sighing, leaning back. “It’s probably nothing, but I can’t stop thinking that…” She trailed off, avoiding my eyes.
“Thinking what?”
Facing me once more, she appeared so small and insecure. “Do you think Richard’s cheating on me?”
“What?!” I asked in complete surprise. I didn’t know what I expected to be worrying her but it certainly wasn’t that. I had never seen another man look at a woman with the amount of devotion and yearning Richard looked at her. If they couldn’t make it, I would lose hope for any couple having a chance. “What makes you think that?”
“You’ll probably think it’s nothing, but all the small things over the past few months have been adding up, culminating this morning. He left early yesterday, claiming he had an emergency at one of his other hotels on the east coast. He assured me he’d be back late last night. When I got home from girls’ night, he wasn’t there. I was worried something happened to him so I called. It rang a few times and then was sent to voicemail, like he was purposely ignoring my call. I finally got a hold of him this morning and heard a woman’s voice in the background. He said he was in the middle of a meeting and things were worse than he was led to believe, but I don’t know. Why didn’t he just call and tell me?”
“Jenna, I think you’re overanalyzing the situation. I know how it is when you’re trying to put out the metaphorical fire. Everything else takes a back seat, including personal relationships.”
She vehemently shook her head. “No. That’s what you do, Mack. That’s not me. And that’s never been Richard, either. At least it wasn’t…” She turned her head briefly before returning her gaze to me. “This has been happening more and more. He used to go out of town once a month at most to personally check in on one of his hotels, but now it seems to be a weekly occurrence. It’s almost like it’s a chore for him to be at home with me.” She studied me for several long moments. I could tell she wasn’t done with her story yet, so I remained silent. Lowering her eyes, she softly said, “I even hired a private investigator.”
“You what?!” I exclaimed, shocked.
She shrugged. “It was about a month ago. I didn’t know what else to do!”
“Why didn’t you come to me with all this before?”
“I couldn’t,” she replied. “You’ve been buried with all your own shit. The last thing I wanted to do was burden you with my problem that may or may not be an actual problem.”
“And what did the private investigator find out?”
“Nothing.”
“So that’s good!”
She shook her head, her motions slow and measured. “No. That’s the problem. He found nothing. There was no record of Richard’s previous marriage or divorce.”
“I’m sure there’s a reason for that. He’s a pretty high profile guy, Jenna. Maybe he didn’t want his name splashed all over the media and paid some people to make his marriage simply disappear. Stop thinking the worst of everything and talk to him about this.”
“I gave him Richard’s ex-wife’s name,” she continued. Her tone grew frenzied and hurried. “He found out she died in a car accident last spring, right before we met. You don’t think…?”
“Jenna,” I said, placing my hand on her shoulder. “That’s crazy. You’re letting your imagination get the better of you. Stop digging into something that’s not there. Richard loves you, plain and simple. That’s all you need to worry yourself with. And if we do find out he’s been cheating, he’ll wish he never stepped foot on South Padre.” I winked, wrapping my arms around her.
She was usually the one to lend me a shoulder to cry on, to bitch and commiserate about whatever was going on in my life. She was never one to appear