“Which is not his strength,” Karen said, linking her fingers through his. “But I want to do everything right this time. It’s going to last forever.”
Jeanette barely contained a sigh. Watching the romance blossom between those two had been amazing. Elliot had been fully committed practically from their first meeting, but Karen’s past with a man who’d abandoned her and their children, along with Elliot’s family’s disapproval of him marrying a divorced woman had complicated the situation. But he’d remained steadfast despite the obstacles. They were finally finding the happiness they both deserved.
As if he sensed Jeanette’s envy, Tom reached for her hand beneath the table and gave it a squeeze. She looked into his eyes and saw a depth of understanding there that sent another jolt of electricity through her. She jerked away in dismay. It was the second time he’d made her feel this way, all warm and fuzzy inside. Attraction was one thing, but she could not be falling for him, not even a little bit. She wouldn’t allow it. Despite his flirting, despite the undeniable sizzle between them—or maybe because of them—she couldn’t trust him or herself.
It didn’t matter how well he fit in with her friends. It didn’t matter that he was sensitive and kind. All that mattered was that eventually he would choose his career over her and leave. He’d said so himself.
As if he sensed that her withdrawal ran deeper than removing her hand from his, he met her gaze. “Everything okay?”
Jeanette forced a smile. “Just a close call,” she said. “But I’m fine now.”
“Am I supposed to know what that means?”
She shook her head, then got to her feet. “Thank you all so much for coming here tonight,” she said, deliberately avoiding Tom’s gaze. “I think I’ve hit a wall. I’m exhausted. Mary Vaughn, how about it? Can you give me a lift home?”
Tom frowned. “I can drive you.”
To Jeanette’s relief Mary Vaughn was immediately on her feet. “I’ll do it. We can go over a few things on the way, okay, Jeanette?”
“Sure. Good night, everyone.”
She all but raced out of Sullivan’s and beat Mary Vaughn to her car by a full minute.
“Want to tell me what that was about?” Mary Vaughn asked as she unlocked the car.
Jeanette shook her head.
“There are a whole bunch of people in there who would have been happy to drive you home. Why me?”
“Because I thought you might be the only one who wouldn’t have a million questions,” Jeanette said ruefully. “Was I wrong?”
Mary Vaughn chuckled. “Oh, I have questions,” she said. “But I can keep them to myself.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Jeanette said, leaning back against the seat with a sigh. “By the way, how are you doing? That wasn’t too uncomfortable for you, was it? Not just dinner, but the whole evening?”
“Actually it wasn’t half as awful as I was anticipating,” Mary Vaughn said. “Do you know how lucky you are to have friends like that?”
Jeanette nodded. “I do. I thank God for them every single day.”
As they pulled up in front of her small apartment complex, which Mary Vaughn had visited once before to pick up an order of skin cream after spa hours, she turned to face Jeanette. “Do you think...could we maybe grab lunch sometime? Or go to a movie? I know it probably seems weird since you know I was interested in Tom, but that ship has clearly sailed. I just want you to know there are no hard feelings. I’d like us to be friends, at least if it won’t put you in an awkward position with Dana Sue and the others.”
Jeanette remembered the wistful expression in Mary Vaughn’s eyes earlier. She understood loneliness all too well. “I can’t imagine they’d object to us having lunch sometime. I don’t have my schedule in my purse. Why don’t we set it up next time you come into the spa.”
“That would be great,” Mary Vaughn said. “Thanks for the sale today. If you have any questions when you go to the bank for the loan, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll see you at the spa later in the week. And I’ll do everything I can to push this paperwork through so you can close on the house as soon as possible.”
Impulsively, Jeanette leaned across and gave her a quick hug. “Good night. See you soon.”
The faint sheen of tears she spotted in Mary Vaughn’s eyes caught her off guard. It told her she’d done exactly the right thing by including her tonight. Underneath all her polish, beneath her aggressive attempts to go after whatever she wanted with single-minded determination, Jeanette sensed that Mary Vaughn had as many insecurities as the rest of them. It was something she never would have guessed before tonight.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jeanette’s phone rang off and on all day Sunday, but she did her best to ignore it. Eventually she went for a long walk just to escape the temptation to pick it up. She knew from caller ID that most of the calls were from Tom, but a few had been from Maddie, Helen and Dana Sue, all of whom were no doubt increasingly frustrated at not being able to figure out why she’d walked out on Tom the night before.
It wasn’t until late Sunday night, when the calls finally ended, that she realized she’d only postponed the inevitable. She had to face Tom first thing in the morning at the Christmas festival meeting. She couldn’t skip it again. It would show a level of cowardice that even she found unacceptable.
Before she went to bed, she laid out one of her favorite outfits as a confidence booster. She told herself the bright red sweater seemed appropriate, but the truth was, she’d chosen it because it flattered her coloring. She
