He hated gossip? I almost laughed out loud. Jesse Hennessey was the king of the gossip mill! But it would probably be rude to mention it out loud at that moment. Besides, now that I thought about it, even though Jesse did like to dish the gossip, he probably would’ve hated to be the center of it.
It was a little surreal to realize that just last week, Jane and I had had a good laugh about Jesse claiming to have a hottie for a girlfriend. Jane had called it yet another figment of Jesse’s overactive imagination. But now that figment was here, in person. The girlfriend we hadn’t believed existed.
Althea was talking about the last time she saw Jesse. “He came over and I cooked dinner. I’m not the world’s best cook, but I can stuff pork chops like a real pro.” She chuckled at the memory and Jane smiled. Seconds later, Althea dissolved into tears.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, soaking her handkerchief with all the additional tears. “The memories are catching up to me. I can’t seem to stop sobbing.”
“Please don’t worry,” Jane whispered. “You have every right to be upset.”
“Oh, but you must be so tired of all this crying by now. Let’s please talk about something happier.” She blew her nose. “Jesse told me about your new bed-and-breakfast and I hope I’ll have a chance to see it one of these days. He claimed it was simply beautiful and I’ll bet he was right.”
“Thank you. We’re having the grand opening soon. I hope you’ll come and stay there sometime once we’re up and running.”
More waterworks threatened and Althea pressed her hand to her lips. “That’s so sweet. I would love to. And will these damn tears ever stop?”
Jane laughed softly. “I know how you feel. It’s just rotten that we had to meet on such a miserable occasion.”
“It really is.” Althea took a deep breath. “I know you need to mingle and talk to your other guests, but I would love to keep in touch with you. Maybe we can have lunch sometime.”
“I would like that, too.” Jane reached over and squeezed her hand.
“You’re as sweet and generous as Jesse said you were.”
It was true. Jane had such a generous soul, and that was what concerned me. She was so open and giving anyone could come along and take advantage of her.
Was I wrong to be suspicious of Althea Tannis? What did she want from Jane? She seemed so genuine and it was obvious that Jane really liked her, but I wanted to find out more about her before I would be willing to accept her at her word.
“Oh, Shannon,” Jane said, turning my way. “Can you believe we’re just meeting Althea for the first time?”
“I’m in complete shock.” I hesitated, then plunged ahead. “Do you mind if I ask you a question, Althea?”
“Not at all.” She looked slightly mystified.
“Did you two really meet in an aerobics class? Because I can’t picture Jesse walking into one, ever.”
She laughed. “We really did. He confessed a few weeks after we started dating that he’d set the whole thing up. He happened to be visiting an auto shop in Blue Point and he saw me walking into the gym. He pulled his car over and followed me inside. When he saw which class I was in, he enrolled.”
“That devil,” Jane said.
I grinned. “You’ve got to give him points for determination.”
“Oh, I do,” Althea said with a laugh. “Later he confessed he’d never been to an aerobics class before.”
“Then he must’ve been very impressed by you,” I said.
“You’re being kind,” she said, touching my arm. “Thank you.”
We chatted for another minute; then Althea handed Jane a card. “This is the number for my shop in Blue Point. It’s also got my personal cell phone number on the back. I hope you’ll call me soon. Or come down and go shopping. It’s a fun shop. If I don’t hear from you in a few days, I’ll call you and we’ll set up a lunch.”
“Wonderful,” Jane said, and gave her a warm hug. “I’m so glad you came today.”
As Althea walked through the crowd to the door, I realized I was going to have to shift my opinions around. I hadn’t believed that Jesse had a girlfriend, and yet here she was. I’d just met her, talked to her. And much to my surprise, I liked her. I could tell Jane really liked her, too.
A few minutes later, on a trip to the bar for a glass of water, I glanced out the front window of the inn and saw Bob, Jesse’s navy buddy, standing out on the sidewalk, talking to Althea. Did they know each other? Of course they did. It made sense that if she was Jesse’s girlfriend, he would’ve introduced her to his oldest friends. Even if none of us had met her.
Bob looked dazzled by her and I couldn’t blame him. She was very pretty and she wore a kind smile as she listened to him. A few moments later, she laughed, patted his cheek fondly, and walked away.
Bob stood transfixed, staring as she walked down the block and turned the corner, disappearing from his view.
“Having fun?”