by Maria Geraci
Pilar waved off Sarah’s explanation as if it was a pesky mosquito. “You’ve just served Ben Harrison, the lawyer who’s representing Nora and Vince Palermo. In other words, Whispering Bay’s biggest enemy.”
Sarah craned her neck to get a better look at Ben. “Really? He seemed like a nice guy. Pretty good-looking, too.”
“And he loved my Cuban sandwich,” Lucy added. “So he can’t be all bad.”
“Everyone loves your sandwiches,” Sarah gushed.
Pilar narrowed her eyes at the two women. “Don’t let that pretty face fool you. Jaws probably seemed like the family pet compared to that shark.”
Sarah raised a brow, and Lucy giggled.
Mimi made a grumpy hungry sound. “Can we stop quibbling? If I don’t get some food inside me soon I’m going to faint.” The three of them ordered their lunches, then began searching for a place to sit. Unfortunately, the café was full.
Her aunt Viola waved them over to her table, which… Lord almighty, was right next to Ben’s. “Girls! Over here!”
Just shoot me now.
Jenna had no choice but to follow Pilar and Mimi toward the table. Sweet mother of pearl. Was she really standing just a few feet away from Ben Harrison? What was she wearing? Was her hair sticking out of her ponytail?
Jenna greeted her favorite aunt with a hug. Viola had been widowed for almost a decade. A retired school teacher, she now taught seniors yoga and had been dating Gus Pappas for almost two years.
“Do you know who this is?” Gus nodded toward Ben, who sat back looking serenely amused by all the attention.
“We do indeed.” Pilar put out her hand. Ben stood to shake it. “Pilar Diaz-Rothman, attorney for Whispering Bay. We’ve spoken over the phone.”
“Ben Harrison,” he said, but his gaze kept sliding over to Jenna. She tried her hardest not to seem flustered, but it was hard, because…what was he doing here in the middle of the day calmly eating a sandwich?
Pilar made a round of introductions. “This is our mayor, Mimi Grant, and Jenna Pantini, our new city manager. Maybe you remember her from college?”
Aunt Viola’s blue eyes sharpened in curiosity as she glanced between Jenna and Ben. “You went to college with my niece?’
Ben shook hands with Mimi, but Jenna was able to avoid a similar exchange by hanging back. “Of course I remember Jenna. We were at the University of Miami together.” Ben smiled at her like they were long lost best friends. “We were study partners one semester. Biology, wasn’t it?”
“Calculus,” she automatically corrected him.
His smile deepened, and in that moment, she realized that he’d known it was calculus all along. What? Was this some kind of sick little test of his?
“It looks like the place is full,” Mimi said, glancing around the dining area.
Ben motioned to the three empty chairs at his table. “There’s plenty of room right here. Plus, we can call this a friendly business lunch. How about it, ladies?”
Mimi was the first to sit down. “Sounds good to me.”
Great. There was no choice now that Mimi had agreed. The table was basically a small square, so Jenna could either sit next to Ben or across from him.
She chose across, which she immediately realized was a mistake. There was no way she could avoid his gaze from here. It was like she was in a bad dream. But she’d rather walk down the street naked than sit across from Ben Harrison acting as if they were just a couple of old college buddies.
Pilar and Ben began making lawyer small talk, and Sarah brought their orders.
“As I was saying,” Pilar said, spearing a tomato off her salad plate, “I get that Nora and Vince aren’t happy with Earl’s will, but honestly, this whole thing is pretty clear-cut. Earl had that will made out long before he began showing signs of dementia.”
“I’ve had a chance to look over all the notes, and I agree,” Ben said in what sounded like a perfectly pleasant tone of voice, but all Jenna could hear was the condescension behind it.
It was exactly what she needed to wake her out of her I-can’t-believe-I’ve-just-seen-Ben Harrison coma.
“You agree? Then what are you doing here? Don’t think you can just swoop in and use your fancy south Florida lawyering tactics with us. We might be a small town with just one attorney on the payroll, but the city council isn’t going to let your clients rob us out of Earl’s legacy. We can hire more than enough lawyers to keep this thing going as long as we have to.” She turned to Mimi for support. “Right, Madame Mayor?”
“Huh?” Mimi looked startled. “Uh, yeah, sure, no problem!”
Ben grinned. “Well, I do love a good fight.”
Oh, how she wanted to whack that smug look off his face!
Pilar leaned forward in her seat. “Mr. Harrison, if you’re not questioning Earl’s state of mind, then what grounds do you plan to use to contest the will?”
“Please, call me Ben. And I’m afraid that I really can’t divulge any more information on that until I confer with my clients.”
“So that’s what you’re doing here in Whispering Bay?” Pilar asked. “Meeting with Nora and Vince?”
“Naturally.”
“And then you’ll be gone?” Jenna blurted. They all turned to look at her. Okay, so maybe she said that with a bit too much enthusiasm.
“Actually, I’m going to be staying here in town for a while. I just rented a house on the gulf for the next month.”
Jenna nearly choked on her tuna salad sandwich. A month! Ben Harrison was going to be in Whispering Bay for a whole month!
“I grew up nearby and I thought this would be a good opportunity to rediscover my roots,” he explained, sensing her reaction.
It was a lie. Jenna could see it in his eyes.
Not the part about growing up nearby. He was from some small town an hour away. In the time they’d known one another he hadn’t liked talking about his family, but she remembered that he’d never known his father and that he had a younger half-brother named Jake. But whatever he was planning to do here in Whispering Bay for a whole month had nothing to do with revisiting the old homestead.
She wasn’t sure how she knew that exactly. It had been thirteen years since she’d last seen him and he’d certainly fooled her back then with the way those dark eyes had looked at her as if he’d actually cared. She might not have been able to read him correctly all those years ago, but then she’d been a naïve eighteen-year-old. She was now thirty-one and perfectly in tune with her instincts. Which said he was up to something, all right.
“Which house are you renting?” Mimi asked.
“A two-story Mediterranean on Tortoise Way.”
“I know the place. That’s Kitty’s listing,” Pilar said. “That house has what, four bedrooms? That’s kind of big for just one person, isn’t it?”
“I expect family to come visit.”
Mimi put on her mayor face. “It’s a nice time to stay here in town. The summer tourists are gone and the snow birds aren’t here yet, so traffic is low and the beaches are nice and quiet.”
“Of course, it is hurricane season,” Jenna added. “So it might not be the best time to be here.”
Mimi looked at her strangely and Pilar bit back a smile.
“We have hurricanes in Miami, too,” Ben said pleasantly.
Pilar stood. “I should head back to the office. You have my number if you need anything from me. Otherwise, I’ll be expecting your motion. Which naturally, I’ll answer with a motion of my own.”
“I know the drill, Counselor.”
Mimi and Jenna got up to leave as well.
“Jenna,” Ben said, catching her eye, “can you stay and have a cup of coffee? We can talk about old times.”
“Sorry, but we all drove in the same car, and I really need to get back to city hall. I have a budget meeting in fifteen minutes.” Which was partially the truth. The meeting wasn’t for another hour, but he didn’t have to know that.
“Let’s meet for
a drink then later tonight,” he suggested. “I drove by a place that looks nice—The Harbor House—I think it’s called.”
“Not a good idea,” Jenna said.
“Why? Are you married?”
“What? No, I’m not—”
“Serious boyfriend?”
“Jenna doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Aunt Viola, the traitor, said cheerfully.
Ben smiled, like he was extremely pleased about something. “Then there’s not a problem. We can make it dinner.”
Talk about being pushy! “The problem is I already have plans for tonight.”
“Then how about tomorrow night?”
“I’m busy then, too.”
His smile faded. “Too bad.” He took out his wallet and dug out a five-dollar bill, leaving it next to his empty plate. “Ladies, it’s been a pleasure.” He nodded toward Viola and the other occupants of her table. “Nice meeting you, folks. I hope to see you all around sometime.”
No one said anything until he was out the door.
“That guy’s cocky as hell,” Gus said. “Plus, he’s hiding something. I can see it in his eyes.”
Aha! Gus saw it, too!
“Well, I certainly liked him.” Betty Jean sighed heavily. “Until we found out who he was.”
Mimi gaped at Jenna. “Wow. I haven’t seen that much chemistry since Mr. Johnson’s class senior year in high school. Why didn’t you say yes to that drink?”
Everyone was looking at her now, including Aunt Viola, who was certainly going to want to know more about her relationship with Ben. Aunt Viola probably had Mom on speed dial. Jenna’s parents lived in Tampa, but that didn’t stop her mother from trying to butt into her love life. Between her mother and her aunt, they were on a mission to get Jenna married. If Aunt Viola thought Ben was a candidate on that front, then she was in for a big disappointment.
“I turned down the drink because I’m busy. In case you’ve forgotten, next year’s fiscal budget hasn’t been approved yet. Plus, you know, Gus is right. Ben Harrison is the enemy.”
“Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer,” Mimi chanted.
“I agree. You have to have a drink with him,” Pilar said. “Get him talking about old times. See if he lets his guard down and gives away any information.”
“You want me to spy on him?”
“Not spy, silly. Just get him to open up to you. All I know is enemy or not, if I was single and a good-looking man was looking at me the way he was looking at you, well, I wouldn’t toss Ben Harrison out of my bed for eating crackers, that’s for sure.”
“Pilar is right,” Mimi said. “He could hardly take his eyes off you. Even though you were being a little…rough on him, don’t you think?”
“Rough?” Jenna sputtered.
“Unfriendly, then.” Mimi made a face. “It’s hurricane season?”
“I was just stating a fact. And as far as me being unfriendly, you didn’t hire me to play nice with the opposition, did you?”
“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you had a personal dislike for this guy that you barely remember from college,” Pilar said.
Aunt Viola got a dreamy matchmaker-matchmaker-make-me-a-match look in her eyes. “He certainly remembered you, that’s for sure. Did you notice how he got you to admit you weren’t married or had a boyfriend?”
You were the one who told him I didn’t have a boyfriend!
Gus crossed his arms over his chest. “Like I said, the guy’s slipperier than an eel.”
“Poor Tiffany.” Pilar giggled. “Someone should tell her she’s got competition up here in north Florida.” Before Jenna could say anything to that, Pilar’s smile disappeared. “Seriously, though, the guy scares me. If Ben Harrison plans to play dirty, then we have to, too. You absolutely have to find out what he’s up to. The future of Whispering Bay depends on it.”
Chapter Four
If the future of Whispering Bay depended on her cozying up to Ben Harrison, then they might as well surrender right now. Jenna had managed to put on a good front for Mimi and Pilar, at least, she hoped that’s what she’d done, but seeing Ben again after all these years had rattled her. She needed to shake off all these…feelings. A good long run should do the trick.
She changed into her running clothes, then checked her cell phone one last time for any new messages. There was a call from Larry Jefferson, one of the city council members, that she immediately returned, because if you didn’t call Larry back right away, then you’d better be either dead or in the hospital having life-saving surgery. But Jenna didn’t mind catering to politicians like Larry. She’d waited her whole professional life for this job and she planned to make the most of it.
After receiving her master’s degree in public administration from Cornell, she’d gone on to work in city government in Tampa, then after a few years there, she’d accepted an assistant city manager position in Clearwater, a smaller but vibrant beach town in the Tampa area. And now here she was as the top dog in Whispering Bay, a city of ten thousand that basically served as a bedroom community to nearby Panama City and Destin. Despite her upgraded position, some of her former colleagues thought she was taking a step backward. But they were wrong.
For one thing, Whispering Bay’s previous city manager, Doug Wentworth, who was currently sitting in jail awaiting trial for burglary, had left the city budget in shambles. Jenna relished the opportunity to take a negative and turn it around into a plus. There was also the situation with Earl Handy’s will. He’d bequeathed the city miles and miles of beautiful beachfront property specifically to be used for public access. That would mean setting up a whole new infrastructure—adequate parking, extra roads, restroom facilities, maybe even a park. She’d be up to her eyeballs writing grants, but that was her forte.
She had a five-year plan that included turning this city around financially and leaving it the number one destination to live and play on Florida’s Emerald Coast, all while preserving its natural beauty. If that meant working twenty-four seven, then so be it. Who needed sleep? She was on a mission. And the word failure had never been in her vocabulary.
She tightened her ponytail, checked the music settings on her phone and slipped in her earbuds. The first mile of her run was a warm up, then she quickly picked up her pace, ignoring the way the sweat trickled down her back. They would enjoy a short fall season, but that wouldn’t happen till mid-October, maybe. Then the weather would segue way into the cooler, but still mild winter months. A few times each year, the temperatures would dip below freezing, and a panic would set in among the residents, but otherwise winter in the Florida panhandle was about as idyllic as you could get.
Her cell phone pinged, interrupting her music to signal that a call was trying to get through. She slowed down her pace and automatically hit the answer button. It was probably Larry calling to complain about something.
“This is Jenna Pantini,” she said trying not to sound winded.
“Your aunt Viola told me an old boyfriend of yours from college is in Whispering Bay.”
She’d been expecting this, only not quite this soon. “Hey, Mom.”
“Why did I never know you’d dated someone named Ben?” asked Marsha Pantini.
“Because I never—never mind. What did Viola tell you?” Jenna resumed jogging.
“Just that she met a man named Ben, a lawyer,” her mother said this part with an added gusto of approval, “and that you knew each other in college and that it was very obvious to her that the two of you had something.”
They had something all right, but it was nothing her mother would want to know about, that’s for sure.
“And this information warranted a phone call because?”
“Because you’re thirty-one going on thirty-two and I’m never going to get any grandchildren unless you get moving, that’s why.”
“I’m moving right now.”
“What are you doing? You sound breathy.”
“I’m running.”
; “All that bouncing around can’t be good for your ovaries.”
“You have two grandchildren, Mom. Or have you forgotten about them?”
“That’s different. They’re from your brother. I want grandchildren from you.”
“I’m thirty-one, not fifty-one.”
“Yes, but these things take time. First you have to meet a man and then actually go out with him. So tell me about this Ben person. Viola says he’s an attorney from Miami and that he’s very good-looking. She also said he asked you out and you turned him down flat. What? Are there so many good-looking available professional men asking you out that you can afford to snub one of them?”
She was on mile three of her run. The sweat was now dripping off the tip of her nose and the back of her T-shirt was plastered to her skin, but she’d gladly run all the way to Alaska if it meant avoiding this phone call from her mother. Just keep running… Just keep running… “Did Viola also tell you that he’s representing a client who’s trying to do something that isn’t in the city’s best interests?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“I’m the city manager, Mom. So it has everything to do with everything.”
There was a pause. “Your aunt says that Luke and that Sarah person are now a couple.”
Ah, a new tactic. Well done, Mom.
The Luke in question was Mimi’s older brother, Luke Powers. Luke’s mother and Aunt Viola had tried their best to set Jenna up with Luke when she’d first come to town, but neither of them had been interested in one another. Luke and Sarah Jamison from The Bistro were now happily living together and according to Mimi, even though the relationship was young, a proposal wasn’t far from coming. Jenna liked them both and was incredibly happy for them.
