The Lake House Secret, A Romantic Suspense Novel (A Jenessa Jones Mystery) Page 2

  “I’m sorry, it’s been a lot of years since I’ve seen anyone from high school. You do look familiar, though,” she said, more to be polite than anything else. “What’s your name?”

  “Are you kidding? It’s me, Michael Baxter.”

  “Michael?” She hoped her surprise didn’t show. He didn’t look like this in high school. They had been friends, both of them working on the school newspaper, but back then he was gangly and awkward with braces and pimples all over his face. He wasn’t as tall or as well built as he was now, that’s for sure, not to mention the clear skin and straight teeth. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you, you’ve changed so much.”

  “Well, you haven’t. Pretty as ever.”

  “Not fair, you got to look at my driver’s license.”

  “Fair enough, but I think I still would have recognized you. Those green eyes are hard to forget.”

  Was he flirting with her?

  “What’s it been? Ten or twelve years?” he asked.

  “Twelve.”

  “What are you doing back in town?”

  “My dad just died.” The words caught in her throat.

  “Oh, man, I’m sorry to hear that. He seemed like a nice guy. Attorney in town, right?”

  “Yes, he was. Thanks for saying that, but I really need to get going. Are you going to give me a ticket?”

  “Since it’s you, Jen, and you seem to have a pretty good reason for not watching your speedometer, I’ll let you off with a warning.” His gaze met hers and lingered for a moment. “I’d love to catch up while you’re in town. Maybe I’ll see you around.” He handed back her license and other items.

  She accepted them and nodded. “Yeah, maybe.”

  He put a hand on the door, pulled himself up and walked back to his car. She watched him in her side mirror. That was really her old high school friend Michael Baxter? She rolled her windows up and turned on the air conditioner full blast, wondering what he’d been doing with himself for all these years. College no doubt, and obviously he became a policeman at some point.

  The heaviness of regret settled on her, thinking about how she’d lost contact with all of her friends from high school, all except Ramey. Since she couldn’t change what had happened and had no reason to return to Sacramento now, it was best not to replay the past over and over in her mind. Her future, whatever it would be, lay in the town straight ahead of her. Hidden Valley would be home for now, and the thought that she might run into Michael again sometime spread a hopeful smile across her face.

  As promised, Jenessa phoned Aunt Renee to let her know she was almost there. But before heading to her aunt’s house she decided to stop by The Sweet Spot, a popular bakery and café, to see if Ramey and Sara might still be there.

  Ramey and Jenessa’s mother had opened The Sweet Spot six years ago. Her mother had gone to culinary school while her dad had begun his law practice in San Francisco, before they started having babies. Her mother loved to bake and became an expert pastry chef. She never worked for anyone else, but she would whip up the most delicious treats for her husband’s clients, filling gift baskets with delectable goodies or making a fabulous cake for a partner’s birthday. Often people from the firm would ask her to make something spectacular for one of their client parties, which she loved doing.

  As Ramey spent more and more time at the Jones’s house, Jenessa’s mother began teaching her about pastries, cakes, breads, and cookies. Jenessa and Sara never seemed that interested in baking, so her mother was thrilled to share her passion with Ramey.

  After Ramey graduated from high school, and her alcoholic mother ran off with her latest boyfriend, she and Jenessa’s mother spent more and more time in the kitchen. Eventually, they came up with the idea of opening a bakery together.

  Her dad had tried his best to discourage them. He wasn’t pleased that his wife wanted to work, afraid the community would get the idea he wasn’t able to support his family—at least that’s what her mother had told her. Eventually, he gave in to their pleadings and The Sweet Spot Bakery and Café was born.

  As Jenessa drove into town, she eyed the quaint stores and shops that lined Main Street. Sure, there was a Costco and a Wal-Mart out by the freeway, not far from the university, but downtown Hidden Valley was as pristine and charming as she remembered it. The Sweet Spot sat on a corner with small tables and chairs arranged outside under the pink-and-white striped awning with the name printed in black script across it.

  Jenessa pulled into a diagonal parking spot in front of the shop and went inside.

  “Oh, my gosh, Jenessa!” Ramey exclaimed with a broad smile, her blue eyes wide and her red curls bouncing around her neck. She came around from behind the counter and threw her arms around her friend. “I’m so glad to see you.”

  Ramey stood a couple of inches taller than Jenessa’s slender five-foot-five-inch frame and had a good twenty pounds on her.

  Jenessa returned the hug. She had been so lonesome in the big city, trying to make it on her own, that she almost didn’t want to let go.

  “Isn’t it the worst thing in the world? Your dad passing away?” Ramey gushed, her voice cracking with sadness. “I’m so, so sorry.”

  “Thank you, Ramey.” Jenessa patted her friend’s back. He had been like a father to Ramey, as well. “I know he thought of you as part of our family.”

  “Aww.” Ramey released Jenessa and wiped a few tears from under her eyes, then took a deep breath. “Well, we were just about to close for the day. Sara has already gone over to Aunt Renee’s. They’re expecting you.”

  Sara had been doing the books for her mom and Ramey part-time after they opened the business, but since her mother’s passing, she had left her full-time job to take a more active role in running the place.

  “I was headed there next,” Jenessa replied.

  Like Jenessa, Sara had gone to college after high school, but she was considerably more interested in boys and partying than she was in getting an education. So, she’d decided after two years she’d had enough. She got her Associates Degree in Business and called it good. She had worked as a bank teller and then became the bookkeeper for a general contractor in the area. But since her mother’s death, The Sweet Spot had become her main focus.

  “Why don’t you start on over and I’ll meet you all as soon as I’m done here.” Ramey lowered her voice. “I guess I should have closed the minute we got word, but since I’m not really family, I thought I’d give them some time alone.”

  “You’re just like family.” Jenessa draped an arm around her friend again.

  The little bells jingled as the front door opened and Ramey looked past Jenessa to see the next customer. “Sorry, but we’re about to close.”

  “I just wanted a coffee to go.”

  I know that voice. Jenessa stiffened and her heartbeat quickened. Hoping she was wrong, she slowly turned around.

  Standing before her was a tall, thirty-year-old man with wavy blond hair and piercing blue eyes.

  “Jenessa?”

  She swallowed down the lump that had risen into her throat, seeing that his broad shoulders and engaging smile were just as she had remembered them.

  Chapter 3

  “Logan.”

  It had been a long time since Jenessa had seen her old boyfriend and he had grown into quite a handsome man.

  He spread his arms out and stepped toward her.

  She let him give her a quick hug, wondering if he could feel her stiffness. She remembered the tears she had spilled on the drive down and hoped her makeup wasn’t smeared all down her face. It had been years since she had seen him, and this was not the way she wanted to run into her ex again.

  “I heard about your dad and I’m so sorry,” Logan said.

  “You already heard?” Ramey asked.

  “He was my father’s attorney,” he replied, his brilliant blue eyes still on Jenessa. “My dad phoned me a little while ago about it. I wondered if you’d be back in town.”

  �
��You didn’t think I’d come for my dad’s funeral?” Jenessa snapped.

  “Well, I know you two didn’t exactly get along.”

  “No thanks to you,” she huffed.

  “You know, Ramey,” Logan raised his gaze to the redhead, “I think I’ll take a rain check on that coffee.” He backed toward the door, shifting his attention again to Jenessa. “I am truly sorry about your dad.” He turned and stepped outside.

  Jenessa watched through the large storefront windows as he walked down the street and out of sight. That wasn’t the way she had envisioned running into her old flame. She had played the scene repeatedly in her mind over the years—what she would say, what he would say, what she would be wearing and looking fabulous in. Not that she wanted him back. Rather, she wanted him to want her back, to feel some of the pain he had caused her back then.

  It all seemed so silly now. They had been high school sweethearts, little more than children at the time. She shook her head at the thought. He had obviously moved on, probably dated a long string of gorgeous coeds in college and now had some other lovely creature in his life.

  “What was that about?” Ramey arched an eyebrow at her.

  Jenessa turned away from the window. “I don’t know. I didn’t think I’d have that reaction the first time I ran into him. Just hearing his voice somehow dredged up our dirty past.”

  “After all this time?”

  “Yeah. Crazy, huh.” Jenessa grimaced.

  “Well, I’m sure he’ll forget about it. Things will be better the next time you see him.”

  She peered up into Ramey’s smiling eyes. Her friend was always the optimist. “Maybe.”

  Ramey walked back behind the counter. “I need to close up. Why don’t you head over to Aunt Renee’s and let her know I’m right behind you.”

  Jenessa loved her aunt Renee. With her mother gone, Aunt Renee had tried to step in as the buffer between Jenessa and her father whenever she could. But her aunt was not all sugar, she could sometimes be rather spicy and a bit pushy, believing she always knew what was best for everyone, and she wasn’t shy about letting them know.

  Jenessa moved to the door. “Okay, see you over there.”

  ~*~

  Jenessa pulled into the long driveway in front of Aunt Renee’s stately home on Monte Vista Drive, a neighborhood overflowing with large and expensive homes built in a bygone era. She rolled her windows down, and her little car sputtered a few times after she turned the engine off. Parked in the shade of the tall trees that divided the properties, she hoped there was nothing among the boxed possessions in her old Toyota that would melt in the sizzling July heat.

  She crossed the front lawn and stood before the two-story red brick Georgian with its crisp white trim and black shutters. Almost as soon as she pushed the doorbell, the wide black door swung open.

  Her sister flung her arms around Jenessa and sobbed on her shoulder. “I’d almost given up on you,” Sara said. “What took you so long?”

  “I’m happy to see you too,” Jenessa responded.

  “Come inside, girls,” she could hear their aunt calling from somewhere inside the house. “You’re letting all the heat in.”

  Sara stepped aside to let Jenessa in and followed her down the wide hallway. Passing the grand staircase, they continued down the hall with its dark, polished hardwood floors, an array of family photos and artwork strategically hung on both sides. Aunt Renee sat on a barstool at the breakfast bar with a slab granite countertop that enclosed half of the expansive, newly renovated kitchen.

  As the girls approached, Aunt Renee slid off the stool and opened her arms to Jenessa, pulling her into a firm embrace. Jenessa noticed Aunt Renee’s lower mascara was smudged a little and her pale green eyes were rimmed with red.

  “I can’t believe he’s gone,” her aunt said in little more than a whisper. She released Jenessa and dabbed at the side of her eyes with a white handkerchief.

  “I didn’t know he had anything wrong with his heart. He seemed so healthy to me.” Although, Jenessa had to admit, she hadn’t seen the man for quite some time.

  “He had a pretty stressful job,” Sara said, “working for that Grey Alexander. Seems like Daddy was always having to clean up his messes.”

  Daddy? Jenessa hadn’t called him that since she was a kid, but then, he and Sara had a different relationship than she’d had with her father. A twinge of jealousy pricked her heart.

  “It was a long drive,” Jenessa said. “Mind if I freshen up?”

  “Sure, sweetie, you know your way to the powder room.” Aunt Renee delicately blew her nose.

  Jenessa closed the door to the half-bath and stood before the mirror. She had spilled her tears for her father on the drive down and no more threatened to come at the moment. She wondered if Ramey, Sara, and Aunt Renee might think she didn’t care—there was certainly no shortage of tears between the three of them. Yes, she mourned her father’s passing, but she also grieved for what could have been between them. At the moment, she simply felt numb.

  After drawing in a long breath, she exhaled slowly, feeling some of her stress leaving with the air as it passed through her lips. She ran her fingers through her hair, wiped clean the bit of mascara that had bled under her eyes, and applied a fresh coat of lip gloss. The fading redness in the whites of her eyes made the green more intense, particularly against her dark hair.

  As she stared at herself in the mirror, she thought about her unexpected run-in with Logan, but she quickly pushed him out of her thoughts. There was grieving to be done, funeral plans to be made, and decisions to be mulled over for what she would do with her future. Now was not the time to lament over lost love.

  By the time she emerged from the powder room, Ramey had arrived. She and Sara were seated on the floral sofas in the great room with Aunt Renee, talking quietly, surrounded by a wall of french doors and white-paned windows that overlooked the garden and pool area. The room had been added to the rear of the old house, off the new kitchen and breakfast area, in the latest remodeling project, Jenessa assumed.

  Ramey raised her head in Jenessa’s direction as she walked in. “If you’re hungry, I brought some muffins and bagels that didn’t sell today. They’re still fresh.”

  “Thanks.” Jenessa grabbed a plump cinnamon bagel out of the paper bakery bag and joined the others. She kicked off her flip-flops and tucked her feet under her as she dropped down onto a sage-green overstuffed chair nestled next to one of the sofas. “Did anyone see Dad’s body?”

  “I did,” Aunt Renee replied. “Since he was already gone when the paramedics arrived, they took his body to the morgue. The medical examiner recognized him and knew I was David’s sister—his wife is on a couple of charities with me—so he phoned me.”

  “What do we do now?” Sara asked, her eyes moist and red from crying.

  “Does anyone know what Dad wanted, in terms of a funeral or cremation?” Jenessa tore off a piece of marbled bagel and stuck it in her mouth.

  “We hadn’t talked about it,” Aunt Renee said. “I assume he wrote his last wishes down somewhere. Attorneys are like that, you know.”

  Jenessa swallowed and cleared her throat. “I’ll look through his office at the house.”

  “Are you staying there?” Sara asked.

  “That was the plan.”

  “I thought you might want to stay here,” Aunt Renee offered. “Are you sure you want to be in that big old house all alone?”

  “I think it’ll do me good to go through his things. I’ll see if I can find his Will and his burial instructions.”

  “How long can you stay, Jenessa?” Ramey asked.

  “As long as I need to.”

  “What about your job?” Sara asked. “Won’t they expect you back after a few days?”

  Jenessa hesitated. She hadn’t wanted to tell anyone, but now was as good a time as any. “Not really. I got laid off a few weeks back. I’ve been job hunting, but no luck yet.”

  “So the timing is perf
ect,” Aunt Renee said. “I hope you’ll stay in Hidden Valley for a long time, hon. We’ve missed you. Haven’t we girls?”

  Ramey quickly agreed. Sara shrugged.

  “And speaking of perfect timing,” Ramey leaned over and patted Jenessa’s knee, “just last week I heard that the Hidden Valley Herald is looking for a reporter. Maybe you should go down and apply.”

  She did need a job. Even though, career-wise, taking a position at a small-town paper would be a step backward from the Sacramento job, her mother always told her that beggars can’t be choosers.

  “Maybe I should wait a few days, until we work out the funeral arrangements and all.” Jenessa had hoped to settle in and get used to the small-town life again before going out and trying to find another job.

  “I wouldn’t put it off,” Aunt Renee countered. “The job could be gone by then. If you’re out of work, you need to strike while the iron’s hot.”

  Beggars can’t be choosers? Strike while the iron’s hot? Where did the older generation come up with all these sayings?

  Jenessa pulled another piece of bagel off and chewed on it. She really couldn’t afford to be choosy. Earlier that morning she had been willing to clean toilets for cash. How bad could a small-town newspaper be?

  It would put some money in her bank account, which was in dire need of an infusion, and maybe she could finally fix that bucket of bolts she drove. With her family home empty now, she had a place to live rent-free, at least for a while. This job, if they hired her, would give her time to think about what she might do with the rest of her life.

  With all eyes on her, eagerly awaiting her answer, she relented. “All right, I’ll go down and apply tomorrow.”

  “And you won’t have to worry about running into Logan again,” Ramey said. “He works at his father’s real estate office, not the newspaper.”

  Aunt Renee’s eyes lit up. “Run into Logan again?”