Chapter 2

2

J enna's hands trembled as she stood on the wide front porch of Calvin's farmhouse. Nausea pitched high in her stomach. Coming face to face with her ex, begging for his help, was the last thing she wanted do right now. Her history with her sister was riddled with bumps and hardships, but nothing had ever lessened her love for Stella.

And now she was gone, and the last words they'd spoken had been out of anger.

A familiar guilt nagged at her conscience. She'd never have the chance to make things right with Stella. And worse yet, she couldn't even take a second to properly grieve the sister who'd once been her best friend. Not if the police had a target on her back. Gritting her teeth, she tamped down her roiling emotions. She had a son to protect.

She straightened her posture, hoping Calvin couldn't read her as well as he used to. It seemed like only yesterday Calvin was the man she thought she'd spend the rest of her life with.

Now she'd stand before him and hope that he'd actually talk to her. Unlike when she'd refused to abandon her sister after Stella's actions cost him his job and he'd walked away from everything they'd built. Everything they might have been.

A beat of silence passed then footsteps hurried toward her, spiking her nerves. The door squeaked open, and Calvin stood behind the storm door. Scruff covered his jaw, and his dark hair was a little longer than the last time she'd seen him.

"Hey." She lifted a hand hip-high in a little wave, hating how awkward this moment was. Maybe this was a mistake. There had to be someone else she could go to. Someone else who could help her untangle the mess she'd been forced into.

"Hi." Calvin tightened his jaw then dropped his gaze before opening the storm door wide. "Come in. My office is right inside."

He turned his back before she could utter another word. The sight of him stole her breath and tangled her in even more knots. She had to pull herself together if she was going to persuade him to help. The stiff set of his shoulders as she followed him around the corner and into his office told her that he wouldn't be won over easily.

Sliding behind his desk, Calvin cleared his throat. He fixed hard eyes on her. "Why did you call me, Jenna? Out of all the people who could help you, why me?"

Slinking through the doorway, she took a seat in a leather bucket chair across from him and clasped her hands in her lap. Unable to meet his eyes, she studied a photograph of Calvin and his father perched on the built-in shelves behind the desk. A photograph she'd taken the day he'd been accepted into the police academy.

Back when all his dreams were about to come true, and they still loved each other.

"Jenna?"

Heat invaded her cheeks. Had he caught her staring? Could he read her mind and know how much it tortured her to sit in front of him as if they were strangers? Shifting, she finally focused on his hazel eyes. "Because you know me."

He snorted and folded his arms over his chest. "I haven't known you for a long time."

She winced against the hard, cold truth but pressed on. "You know I'd never kill anyone. Especially my sister."

"Why do the police suspect you of murdering Stella? I thought she left town a couple years ago." He tilted his head to the side, studying her.

Squirming under his scrutiny, she struggled to keep tears from falling. Fear of being a murder suspect and grief over the death of her sister caused emotional whiplash she didn't know how to handle. Not to mention what seeing Calvin was doing to her insides. All she wanted to do was drive home, hug her baby, and forget everything else. "She showed up at the shelter I volunteer at last night."

"And did the police say anything to you about her murder?"

She shook her head. "An officer from Pine Valley asked where I was last night then told me not to leave town. He wouldn't tell me how it happened."

Silence weaved through the square room, punctuated by the abrasive cadence of the clock. The grating tick tick tick increasing the suffocating tension.

Calvin sucked in a deep breath. "I'm sorry about what happened to your sister. I know how much you loved her. But this is too personal, too close. I can't help you."

Panic pushed her to her feet. If Calvin didn't help her, she had no one else. "Please, Calvin. I have to find out what happened to Stella. I need to make sure the police know I had nothing to do with it—need to find the person who took her life."

"I'm sorry." Calvin kept his face expressionless.

Determination straightened her spine. She couldn't leave until Calvin agreed to help. Her and Oliver's future depended on it. Her head was on the chopping block, and she had too much at stake to just stand back and wait for the blade to fall. "You have to help. You're my only hope."

A familiar stubbornness tightened Jenna's plump lips into a firm line and set a tingling sensation in Calvin's stomach, quickly followed by irritation. This was why he avoided Jenna at all costs, which hadn't always been easy in a small town like Water's Edge, Tennessee. All it took was one look, one memory, one second to lose himself in a snapshot of the past. One slip of self-control for all the stupid feelings he locked deep inside to come bobbing to the surface. For all the misspent longings of his youth to pound him over the head like a hammer.

Only now, her dark hair tumbled over her shoulders and the womanly shape beneath her leather jacket was curvier. She was more beautiful than ever, making her even more dangerous. Which was exactly why he couldn't help her. "Sorry to disappoint you, but not going to happen."

The hurt that flashed in her blue eyes put him on edge, and the beige walls of his office suddenly closed in around him. He couldn't stand in front of her, looking at the face he knew so damn well, for one more second.

Rubbing at the lump forming at the base of his throat, he rounded the side of his desk and led the way back to the front of the house. He concentrated on the feel of the soft runner under his bare feet and not the way his lungs pressed against his insides, stealing his breath.

Hurried footsteps followed, announcing Jenna's annoyance with each muffled thud.

He opened the door then nodded toward the exit, his lips set in a firm line. The breeze filtered inside, doing little to cool the turmoil boiling in his gut. Freshly fallen leaves rustled around the porch, trapped in the corner with no escape—forced to whirl in aimless circles because the weather decided to pick them up and dump them where they didn't belong.

A feeling he understood all too well.

Jenna rubbed the back of her neck as she darted her gaze around his home. A home that, until now, was free of any memories of his first love. She rested a hand on his forearm. "Please, Calvin."

The heat of her touch singed his arm, and he yanked away. There was a time when he'd have done anything for Jenna, but that was in the past. He couldn't let lingering sentiment lead him to take this case.

Hell, just hearing his name on her lips was enough to crush him. He believed Jenna was innocent of anything the police suspected, but he couldn't be around her. Especially when he harbored so much resentment toward both her and her sister.

With all the strength he could muster, he squared his shoulders and met her eyes. "I can't fight for you and act like it means nothing to me. My judgement is clouded. I wouldn't have my mind where it needed to be in order to give you the service you require."

"But Calvin. I need?—"

He held up a palm. He couldn't hear what she needed, couldn't put her needs in front of his own. A time once existed when he wouldn't have hesitated to make a decision he dreaded just to make her happy. But that boy was long gone. "You need to find someone else."

She hung her head. "I understand. Thanks for hearing me out."

He took a step back to give her space to leave. The last thing he needed right now was for her body to brush against his. A simple touch was enough to turn his limbs to mush.

Her hunched shoulders and deer-in-the-headlights expression twisted his heart. "Wait."

The old, whitewashed porch floorboards creaked as she faced him, hope lifting her brows.

"I'll call Pine Valley Police Station and poke around a bit. I know some of the officers over there. That's the best I can do." He couldn't investigate a case involving Jenna, but maybe he could find out what evidence the department had against her. That could be enough.

Jenna smiled and the sight lifted his heart more than he cared to admit. "I appreciate it. I spoke with a man named Officer Sawyer."

"I'll be in touch when I have some information."

With one slow nod, Jenna quirked her lips to the side then gave a small wave before bounding down the steps.

He watched her retreat to her car, climb inside, and drive away.

On a sigh, he closed the door and padded down the hall to the kitchen. The heaviness of his conversation with Jenna weighed him down. Damn, he needed a shot of something strong to calm his jittery nerves, but he'd settle for the coffee left over in the bottom of the pot he'd made earlier.

Grabbing a mug from the cabinet, he filled it with the black magic and leaned against the marble countertop. He took a long sip, the bitter liquid like heaven on his tongue. How had he avoided Jenna for so long, only to have her show up at his house to discuss the same sister who was the reason for their breakup?

A sister who was now murdered, and Jenna possibly a suspect.

If the situation wasn't so sad, he'd laugh at the absurdity of it all. His life had taken a lot of unwanted twists, but this was at the top of the list. And the hell of it was, setting eyes on Jenna had made him feel like he was fourteen years old again, falling in love at the sight of her.

Unshed tears burnt his throat, and he slammed his half-empty mug on the counter. No. Four years had passed, and he wasn't the same disillusioned schmuck who thought Jenna could do no wrong. He would do what he'd promised—call the police station, relay whatever information he gathered, then stay the hell away from Jenna and her problems.