by Nina Singh
He could be quite persuasive when he had to be. Besides, he didn’t have the time to dwell on this. He had to get to the bottom of it all and move on to business as usual.
No one stole from Cabe Jordan and got away with it.
* * *
When Jenna returned to her office, Nora ran fast on her heels. “Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr. Jordan?” the older woman asked as she cleared the tray of mugs and coffee pitcher.
Cabe turned and flashed them both a smile that made Jenna’s knees go weak. “As a matter of fact, you can, Nora,” he replied. “Please clear Jenna’s calendar for the next two hours or so and cancel her appointments.”
What? Why?
To her shock and horror, he added, “I’d like to take my regional manager to lunch.”
Oh, no. She had to nip this in the bud right now. She did not want to sit across a table from this man, just the two of them. She was absolutely no good at small talk. And her presentation earlier had covered all the business details she could possibly bring up. Whatever he had to tell her, he could do so right here in this office. “I’m afraid I just can’t do that, Mr. Jord—”
“Cabe.”
She took a steadying breath. “I can’t steal away for lunch today, Cabe.” She glanced at Nora, willing her to help. Instead, Nora threw her overboard.
“Nonsense. Of course she can. There’s nothing pressing on her calendar this afternoon. And she hardly ever eats a real lunch. Usually a granola bar at her desk as she continues to work.”
Cabe’s smile dripped with satisfaction. “It’s settled, then. Do you have a preference where to eat, Jenna?”
She could only shake her head.
He led her gently to the door. “How about Nawlin’s, that sidewalk café on Newbury, then? It’s a pleasant enough day to eat outside and I’ve missed their sandwiches.”
Like it mattered. As if she’d be able to taste anything. She’d be lucky if she could keep it down.
“That’s fine.” Only it wasn’t fine at all, and her stomach did another little flip to prove it.
The queasiness hadn’t subsided at all ten minutes later when Cabe pulled a chair out for her at the quaint outdoor café on one of Boston’s swankiest streets. The lunch crowd milled and bustled around them. Two food trucks parked nearby had lines several feet long. All in all, a perfect day to enjoy a leisurely meal outside. If only she could enjoy it.
Their food came out in no time. She was picking at her Caesar salad when things went from bad to catastrophic. Cabe was going to try to make small talk. And his first choice of topic: the absolute last thing in the world she wanted to get into right now.
“So, Jenna. If I recall, you have an older brother.”
She had to discuss her broken, dysfunctional family, with none other than Cabe Jordan.
“Yes. Sam. You two must have been in a few of the same classes.”
“It was just the two of you and your mom, right? How is she, by the way? Do I recall she hadn’t been feeling well for a while?”
Jenna’s blood froze in her veins and she lost her grip on her fork. It fell to her plate with a clatter so loud the sound echoed through the air. Of course he must have heard rumblings over the years. Stories about Amanda tended to get around.
Cabe stopped eating and stared at her.
She stammered for a response. There was no good way to talk about her mother. “Yes. Yes, she’s doing better.” Such a lie.
Cabe stopped eating. “I’m so sorry, Jenna. I hope it isn’t anything too serious.”
She so didn’t want to go down this path. Any topic but her mother. Anything but discussing Amanda and her problems in front of this perfect man who grew up with the perfect family in his perfect home. But what choice did she have? He waited for an answer, staring at her expectantly.
“Uh...she actually is ill. In a way.” She took a deep breath. “My mother’s been having a hard time the past few years. Trying to kick a drug and alcohol problem.”
Cabe blinked at her. Clearly, he hadn’t seen that coming.
“She’s trying really hard,” Jenna added. Another lie.
In fact, her mother had just shown up at her door last night, asking for money for “groceries.” When Jenna had insisted on taking her to the market herself, Amanda had grown violent, shattering a vase on her hardwood floor before storming out. She’d wanted groceries of the more liquid variety. It had been the last thing Jenna had needed as she’d been trying to finish up her presentation for today. Thanks to Amanda’s visit, she’d been up most of the night due to the upsetting interruption.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Cabe said in a gentle and soothing voice.
“I’m sure you’re a tremendous source of support for your mother,” he continued. “She’s lucky to have you.”
Though her mother didn’t see it that way. In Amanda’s eyes, Jenna always came up short. Even though if Jenna hadn’t stepped in on numerous occasions, Amanda would no doubt be in jail. Or worse.
“I’m doing what I can to help her.”
Cabe cleared his throat. The look he gave her was so understanding, so gentle that it made her breath catch. “It’s quite admirable that you’re trying to help your mother.”
Oh, heavens. What could she say to that? She didn’t have a choice but to help her mother. Otherwise, she and her brother would be left to deal with the cleanup.
“Thanks.”
Several moments passed in awkward silence. So awkward that she wanted to give the waitress a hug when she interrupted to fill their glasses.
Jenna watched her leave before hesitantly turning her gaze back to Cabe. He gave her an unreadable look. Curiosity? Admiration?
She didn’t and couldn’t care. What did it matter what Cabe Jordan thought of her or her broken family? In a few days, he’d be gone from Boston and hopefully he wouldn’t return for another three to four years. He would just go back to being nothing more than an electronic signature at the bottom of her office emails.
But for now, she still had to get through this godforsaken lunch with him sitting right across from her.
He’d never understand, Jenna thought as she pretended to eat. Even under the best of circumstances, she’d never be in league with people like Cabe or even his parents, who had always been so sweet to her. Cabe had probably never had to hide from a drunken tirade or had to clean up after a parent who’d barreled in at three in the morning then promptly gotten sick all over the carpet.
She and Cabe Jordan may have grown up in the same town, but they were from two different worlds.
CHAPTER TWO
CABE PUSHED HIS plate away with half his sandwich still untouched. He’d lost his appetite. Clearly, Jenna had none, either, since she did nothing more than move lettuce around her plate.
He couldn’t help but wonder. Maybe Jenna indeed did have some involvement in the jewelry theft. Was her mother in that much trouble that Jenna may have needed a large supply of cash to help her? Cabe didn’t want to believe the worst, but his manager of security had been adamant that Jenna may indeed know something.
Damn. That would change things. Though wrong and criminal, if Jenna was guilty, she hadn’t done it for herself but for her mother. She’d practically just admitted that she would do whatever she could to help her parent.
He’d decided back at the office that he wouldn’t ask her about it there. Not in front of her friends and colleagues. So he’d taken her to lunch instead.
Now he just wanted to know the truth. He wanted to tell her he could help. That in turn she could get her mother some help.
After all, he and Jenna Townsend were not that different under the surface. His life could have easily turned out as difficult as hers if not for the random hand of fate all those years ago. Pure luck so often determined t
he entirety of one’s life. He knew how lucky he’d been.
“Listen, Jenna,” he began, not sure exactly where to start. Business school didn’t prepare you for every scenario. “About my visit to Boston. There’s something I came here specifically to see you about.”
“Yes?” Her question was barely a whisper.
“I want you to know that I can be a friend as well as your corporate CEO.”
Was she trembling? “You can be straight with me,” he added. “I hope you realize that.”
She gave her head a quick shake. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“You really don’t have anything you might want to talk about? Regarding the store, perhaps?”
“No. Not really.” She swallowed. “Have I done something wrong?”
Cabe leaned back in his chair. If she did know anything, then she had the acting skills of a Hollywood-caliber actress. “Huh. You really have no idea what I might be talking about?”
“Not a clue.”
Cabe tried to regroup. Damn. This conversation was becoming way too messy. “Allow me to explain. A routine inventory check last week by security resulted in a troubling discovery.”
She sucked her bottom lip, and heaven help him, he lost his focus for a split second. “Why wasn’t I made aware of this? As the regional manager of that store?”
“It’s our policy to keep such matters quiet until a thorough investigation.”
She gave her head a quick shake. “Investigation? What exactly was this troubling discovery?”
“One of the more valuable pieces seems to be missing. A bracelet.”
Cabe watched as understanding dawned. Jenna sucked in a breath and grew as pale as the white linen tablecloth. “Oh, my God. You think I took it.”
Whoa. He hadn’t expected her to go there quite so soon. “Jenna, wait just a second—”
Her cheeks suddenly grew cherry red. “That’s why you came down here yourself. You think I stole from my own store. You think I stole from you!”
It came so fast he didn’t have time to react. Before he knew it, he wore the rest of his sandwich on his lap and his shirt was drenched in iced tea.
As he watched her storm away, Cabe came to three distinct conclusions. One, Jenna Townsend moved as fast as a prizefighter ducking a punch. Second, judging by her confusion and the vehemence of her reaction, she was most definitely innocent.
And third, if he didn’t get to the bottom of it all real soon, he was likely to lose a damn talented regional manager.
* * *
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. She would never learn.
Jenna bypassed the elevator and ran up the three flights of stairs to get to the floor that housed her office. She didn’t want to risk running into anyone. How would she explain the tears?
To think, for a while there she’d believed Cabe Jordan might actually be in town to promote her! What a laugh. Instead, he’d accused her of stealing from him.
People like her weren’t promoted to corporate-level positions. They were suspected of thievery. They were the first ones investigated when valuable jewelry went missing.
People like her dumped food on others’ laps.
She tried to take a deep breath. She probably shouldn’t have done that. It was reckless and impulsive. Rather than calmly and reasonably defending herself, she’d let her emotions take over. She’d succumbed to the urge to lash out.
Just as her mother would have done.
And she was her mother’s daughter. The apple and the tree and all that. Why did she ever think she could escape that simple truth? The rest of the world wouldn’t ever let her forget that fact.
It didn’t matter how hard she worked, or how many hours she put in. All the years of studying and working her butt off didn’t mean a thing to people like Cabe Jordan. The only thing they saw when they looked at her was where she’d come from.
She’d been fooling herself.
Well, if Cabe hadn’t intended to fire her right there on the spot, there was no doubt he would now. She’d dumped his lunch in his lap! Never mind that she’d never actually stolen anything. She wouldn’t even get a chance to defend her innocence now.
She no doubt should have handled it better. But she’d been barely functioning given what little sleep she’d gotten and the stress of being prepared for Cabe’s visit.
How could he have even suggested such a thing?
She didn’t realize she’d asked the question out loud until a voice across the room responded.
“Trust me, it wasn’t easy.”
Jenna’s head snapped up. Cabe stood in her office doorway, pants stained and shirt wet. She resisted the urge to cover her mouth in horror.
She pulled her planner out of the desk drawer. “I was just leaving.”
“Could you recommend a good dry cleaner first?”
He had the nerve to joke at her predicament? God help her, if the coffee tray were still here she might have very well dumped more on him.
“Jenna, listen—”
“What?” she interrupted. “What could you possibly say to me? Do you want me to confess?”
He stepped into the room and shut the door gently behind him. “I simply want to talk.”
“About how I stole from you?”
“I was given the information from my head of security. About a theft at the Boston store.”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Right. And then you decided that if something had been stolen, it must have been that no-good Jenna Townsend. She must have had a hand in the whole mess. It only makes sense. She comes from bad stock. She’s never had much to begin with and she can’t be trusted.”
“Jenna, stop. That’s not how this all came to be.”
She merely glared at him. How dare he deny it?
He walked up to where she stood and gestured to the chair. “Please sit.”
“Why? Would you like to accuse me some more? Should I call an attorney?” Now that she’d said it, she had the frightening thought that she may actually need one.
Her vision grew dark. This couldn’t be happening. After today she may very well have no job. And no hope of finding one if word got out that she couldn’t be trusted. Despite all the years of hard work and sacrifice, she was going to end up penniless on the street. Exactly what she’d feared all along.
To think, the cause of her nightmare would be none other than Cabe Jordan, the man of her teenage daydreams. Who would have thought?
“Jenna, let’s try to talk this out.”
She lifted her bag. “Perhaps you want to go through this. Maybe pat me down before you let me go.”
He blinked. “Pat you down? No. Of course not. I just want to clear all this up.” He leaned over with both palms on the desk between them. “About a week ago my head of security requested an urgent meeting. Apparently, someone realized that a piece of rare jewelry at the Boston store had been switched out during a routine security department inventory. The real piece had been replaced with a cheap replica that looked exactly like the original.”
“And you assumed I did it. Because you know where I come from and what I might be capable of.”
He held one hand up. “Hold on. That’s not what happened. The management team is always considered under such circumstances. It’s just routine.”
At her silence, he continued. “Additionally, there’s an electronic log of anyone who’s used their key to access that particular case, the one with the higher-end items. Your key was the one used.”
Her blood went cold. But that just couldn’t be. “Who says?”
“My head of security up at headquarters. He’s always been very good at his job. I had no reason to distrust him.”
Of course he didn’t. “But you had every reason to distrust me.�
��
Something shifted in his eyes. “Listen, Jenna. The only reason I came here personally was because it was you. I wanted to get to the bottom of it myself, do some investigating. But there’s a sudden matter that needs my attention with a store opening in the Caribbean. I have to get down there. In my haste, I handled it very badly. I see that now.”
People tended to do that with her, rush to judgment. She couldn’t expect to be granted the benefit of the doubt, not given where she came from. Cabe may claim objectivity by saying he came to look into the matter personally, but it hardly mattered. No, she would have to find a way to fully clear her name, in such a way that there would never be any more doubt.
“There has to be some kind of mistake,” she muttered, trying to think. There had to be an explanation, a way to prove her innocence. But how? She suddenly felt deflated. How could this be happening? Pulling out her desk chair, she plopped herself into it.
A sudden, encouraging thought occurred to her. She looked up at him. “The video? There has to be video footage. We have cameras all over the store.”
He gave her a sympathetic look. “The video surveillance system was conveniently disengaged for a forty-eight-hour period on the fifteenth and sixteenth of last month. We believe that’s when the theft occurred.”
Oh, God. His words knocked the wind right out of her. If there was no video to exonerate her, she had no other ideas. Her eyes began to sting. There was nothing she could do, no way to clear her name. She had no job. She had no real family. She’d probably end up with a criminal record. Despite everything, all the years of busting her behind to get ahead, she’d end up like her mom after all.
Cabe Jordan would always question whether she was a no-good thief.
Wait a minute.
She snapped her head up. “Wait. What date did you just say? The fifteenth of March?”
He nodded. “Yes, that’s correct.”
“You’re certain?”
“That’s what I was told.”
She knew it! Hopeful relief surged in her chest. “Cabe, I wasn’t even in town the week of the fifteenth. I was away at a jewelry designers’ expo in San Diego.”
