“Away on business?” I asked in confusion.
“Yes. He had to go to New York at the last minute to take care of some business. I’m not sure when he will be back in the office, but I could get him a message if you like.”
New York.
My brain stalled on the word.
What is in New York?
The only thing I could think that was in New York was what he had told me. Vanessa had lived there. He and Vanessa had been together in New York. Did she still live there? Was he on his way to see her?
No, that didn’t make any sense. He had said that he divorced her for cheating on him. That definitely could not be it.
I was just trying to freak myself out.
Or I was just freaking out, period.
Why wasn’t he returning my calls?
What kind of business could he possibly have in New York the week of Christmas right after he had gotten back from purchasing Tarman? And what kind of business would he have where he had to disappear so quickly without telling me…or responding to any of my messages?
By the time lunch rolled around and I was off my shift, I felt like I was going insane. Jensen and I had had an awesome weekend. I’d left him alone with Landon to clear my head. Jensen had called and texted, and then when I’d responded, he’d gone radio silent.
What the hell had Landon said to him?
Before I could second-guess my train of thought, I canceled my standing lunch date with Heidi and swung by Jensen’s house. I rang the doorbell and impatiently tapped my toe.
When no one answered, I rang the bell again and again.
Finally, a bleach-blonde appeared at the door. Miranda’s gaze dropped to mine, and then she pursed her Barbie pink lips. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Fuck. I hadn’t counted for on seeing Miranda. I hadn’t even thought about her. I just wanted to talk to Landon about Jensen.
“Um…hi,” I said. This is not going to be fun. “Is Jensen here?”
“You can’t fool me,” Miranda said.
She eased the door open more, and I could see she was in some kind of tennis getup. But I didn’t know if she had been playing or what because her hair and makeup were still perfect.
“I know why you’re really here, and if you get near my husband, I’ll file a restraining order.”
I held my hands up. “No interest in your husband. Just trying to find Jensen.”
Right then, Landon’s face appeared. He looked green when he saw that I was talking to Miranda. “Emery? What are you doing here?”
“Came looking for Jensen. I haven’t seen him since last night. He’s not answering my messages, and his receptionist said that he was away on business.”
“Landon!” Miranda cried. “Why the fuck are you talking to her right now? I thought we discussed this before we left Tampa. I would come if you didn’t go anywhere near her!”
“Hello? Standing right here,” I muttered. “I’m not interested in Landon. I’m dating Jensen.”
“I’m not an idiot.”
Beg to differ, was what I wanted to throw back at her. But, instead, I just turned back to Landon. “Help? Thoughts? Anything?”
“Landon!” Miranda whined.
“Just give me a minute, honey, okay?” He kissed her forehead as he crossed the threshold. “Just one minute.”
“I cannot believe this. You are so going to owe me for this.”
“Just one minute. Don’t you have a tennis lesson?” he asked.
“Don’t you dare try to get rid of me.”
“I’ll be right back,” he said. I could hear the exasperation in his voice as he shut the door in her face. But he looked livid when he turned around. “What the fuck are you doing here, Emery? Miranda is going to murder me in my sleep.”
“Jensen is gone and not returning my messages. What did you say to him last night?”
“I don’t know. I was pissed last night. Said some dumb things.”
“What dumb things?” I demanded.
“It was just me overreacting. I was going to talk to him this morning to try to clear the air, but when I woke up, he was gone.”
“What did you say?” I said, my voice low and deadly.
“I might have said you were too good for him.”
“Ugh!” I groaned. “Great. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but he’s gone. He went to New York. Why would he be in New York?”
Landon’s face dropped, and he was utterly silent. When he glanced away, that was when I knew it was bad.
“What? Tell me!” I said, pushing him.
“Nothing.”
“Landon! Is it Vanessa?”
“I know Vanessa has a place in New York, but that doesn’t mean he went to see her. He’s probably working. That’s all he normally does anyway.”
“Landon, why would he go see his ex-wife? Why would he do that?” I didn’t really want him to answer. I didn’t want to consider why Jensen would go see Vanessa in New York after being upset last night. He’d promised he’d never cheat on me, and I had to believe that. I had to latch on to that with everything I was, or I might fall apart entirely.
“It’s complicated.”
I winced. “Then, make it uncomplicated.”
“I can’t. You should just…talk to Jensen about this.”
“I can’t!” I cried in frustration. “He won’t return my messages.”
“I’m sorry, Emery. I can’t talk about it.”
“Can’t talk about what?”
“Nothing,” he said quickly. “Don’t jump to any conclusions. It’s not Vanessa. This is normal Jensen behavior. He’ll come back soon and then all will be back to normal.”
I shook my head in disbelief. I couldn’t believe what Landon was saying. Things were complicated? Things were always complicated.
But Jensen running away from his problems was not solving anything. Whether this had anything to do with Vanessa or not…Jensen was purposely ignoring me. And that alone infuriated me.
Twenty-Six
Emery
Jensen didn’t return a single message for five whole days.