Adam Kennedy wasn’t having a good day. In fact, the entire week was down the septic tank, and he blamed Shana Berrie for that. If she was trying to make him jealous, it was damned well working.
“That’s what women do to you,” his friend John told him. They sat across from each other at Navy Headquarters for the Pacific Fleet. “They mess with your mind and they make irrational demands. Take my wife, for example. Angie got upset with me because there was a cockroach in the house, as if it’s my duty as her husband to rid the place of bugs. Can you believe it? She’s afraid of a stupid bug, and if I don’t deal with it, I might as well not go home tonight.”
Barely hearing his friend’s rant, Adam scowled. Shana certainly hadn’t wasted any time giving up on him. As far as she was concerned, it seemed to be out of sight, out of mind. Well, fine, great, whatever. If she wanted to race back to lover boy, then that was perfectly fine by him.
The hell it was, Adam decided quickly. He hadn’t slept well; his appetite was gone and he had a sick feeling that refused to go away. He didn’t know how everything had fallen apart so quickly. In his view they’d had a promising relationship, with emphasis on the past tense.
The phone rang and Adam left it for John. What he needed was a bout of hard exercise, but with his shoulder golf was still out of the question and swimming would be just as painful. He could always jog, he supposed, but it wasn’t something he enjoyed.
John answered the phone, and Adam watched as his gaze shot across the room. He put the caller on hold. “It’s for you. A woman. Says her name is Shana.” He gave Adam a significant look, both eyebrows raised.
It took Adam a moment to assimilate that. His pulse accelerated and then immediately slowed. The call was most likely a courtesy to let him know she was going back to lover boy in Portland.
With that in mind, Adam reached for the telephone receiver. He responded in a crisp military tone, keeping his voice devoid of emotion.
“Adam, hello,” Shana said, her own voice friendly.
Adam nearly weakened, but he realized she was probably warming him up before she dropped the news. She’d led him on, he mused darkly, and now she was going to make a fool of him.
“I wanted to thank you for the leis. Jazmine and I were thrilled. It was so generous of you.”
Adam kept silent, bracing himself.
After an awkward moment, during which he said nothing, Shana said, “I feel badly about the way our last conversation went.”
“Forget it,” Adam said in the same emotionless tone. He wanted her to think it hardly mattered to him. He should’ve taken the hint then. Shana was trouble and he’d best get out of this unpredictable relationship. But even as the thought went through his mind, he didn’t believe it.
“I blame myself,” Shana added, “for picking a fight with you. I was just reacting to your leaving, I guess.” She hesitated. “We had so little time, and I knew I was going to miss you so much. Jazmine, too, of course.”
John had explained that this was the same reaction he got from his wife, but Adam couldn’t really accept that. Why would Shana care whether he was stationed in Hawaii if she was going back to the guy in Portland?
She seemed to realize he wasn’t responding. “Are you upset about something?” she asked tentatively.
“Should I be?” He answered her question with one of his own.
“I don’t think so.” Her voice gained conviction, but gone was the sweet joy he’d heard in her earlier. Now she sounded wary.
“I understand you were out of town,” he said, broaching the subject that was foremost on his mind.
His announcement was followed by stark silence. “You know about that?”
“I do. So if you’re planning to tell me what I think you are, I’d appreciate if you’d just say it and be done with it.”
“Say what?”
“You want out,” he said flippantly. “So let’s just call it quits.”
“You’re willing to end this without another word?” She seemed shocked—and annoyed.
“I’m not the one who drove down to visit an old lover. You never did say how things went between you and Bernie.”
“It’s Brad,” she corrected. “And you’re right, I didn’t.”
He waited, unwilling to cut off the conversation and at the same time reluctant to continue trading barbs.
“Isn’t this all a little silly?” Shana asked.
“When did you decide to go?”
“In the morning. It was a spur-of-the-moment idea. Jazmine and I spent the night with an old friend—an old female friend,” she added. “I saw Brad and we talked.”
“About what?” He didn’t mean to ask and wanted to withdraw the question the moment it left his mouth.
She paused, taking a moment before she answered. “I don’t remember if I told you I moved to Seattle in kind of a rush.”
“You might’ve said something like that.” He tried to play it cool, but the truth was, he hung on every word.
“So I needed to see Brad.”
“I’m sure you did,” he muttered, unable to disguise his sarcasm.
His comment generated a lengthy silence. “We had a chance to talk and to say certain things that needed to be said,” she finally told him.
She didn’t enlighten him as to what those things might be. “So you’re back in Seattle?”
“Yes. I have to go now. The only reason I phoned,” she said, “is to thank you for the leis. Jazmine and I love them. Now I should get back to work.”
Adam had to bite his tongue to keep from pleading with her to stay on the phone a bit longer. He wished they could start the entire conversation over.
“How’s Jazmine?” he asked, using the question as a delaying tactic.
“Fabulous...wonderful. Thank you again for the orchids.”
And with that, the line was disconnected. He waited a few seconds while the buzz sounded in his ear. Adam replaced the receiver and glared at the phone as he replayed the conversation. He knew he’d made a number of tactical errors, and that was because his ego had gotten in the way.
“So, how’d it go?” John asked conversationally.
“Not good.”
“Sorry to hear that. I told you—women mess with your mind. You should’ve figured that out by now.”
John was right; he should have.
The tension in Adam’s stomach didn’t diminish all day. At the end of his watch, he returned to his quarters to find the message light on his phone blinking. It was too much to hope that Shana had called him a second time. Holding his breath, he pressed the message button.
Jazmine’s voice greeted him. “Uncle Adam, what’s with you? You’ve really blown it now. Call me at the house when you get home. I’ll make sure I answer.”
Adam reached for the phone. Here he was, conspiring with a nine-year-old. That was a sign of desperation.