Second Hand Jane (32 page)

“Hey, are you
alright? You seem a bit preoccupied.” Nick’s expression as his face
was momentarily illuminated by a street light was concerned.

This was her
chance to come clean and tell him who Brianna was before they met
face to face in about five minutes’ time. She had no choice. It
wasn’t fair to either of them not to say something and so, licking
her bottom lip, Jess took a deep breath, opening her mouth to
explain just as Nick braked violently. Her head snapped forward as
the car skidded to an abrupt halt. Slamming his palm down on the
horn, Jess saw in the car’s headlights a fluffy white cat pause to
glare at them before sticking its tail in the air and meandering
off the road.

“Bloody cat! It
came out of nowhere. Sorry about that—are you okay?”

Jess rubbed her
neck. “Yes, I’m fine; a bit of a fright, that’s all. At least you
didn’t hit it.”

And just like
that, the moment for confessing all had gone.

“Okay, you turn
right here and see that white picket fence up there on the left?
That’s where we are going.”

Nick pulled
over, flush with the kerb, before getting out of the car and coming
round to open her door for her. Treat her like a princess he may
but Jess felt as though she were on her way to the gallows as she
literally led him up the garden path.

***

“Do you know
you look really familiar? I’m sure we have met somewhere before,”
Briana said, glancing back over her shoulder as she led Nick and
Jess through to the warmth of their dining room. Pete stood by the
sideboard, wrestling with a bottle of red and, as Brianna turned to
smile at them both, Jess felt her insides contract. Any moment now
there would be fireworks.

“Do I? I don’t
think we’ve met before,” Nick replied to her question, smoothly
holding out the bottle of wine he had bought with him. “It’s a 1986
cabernet. I’m Nick, Nick Jameson. It’s lovely to meet you.”

“Are you sure
we haven’t met?” Brianna frowned as she took the bottle from
him.

“Positive. I
never forget a face, especially not a pretty one.” He shot Jess a
peculiar look as Brianna did the introductions.

“Nick, this is
my husband Pete—Pete, Nick.” Pete gave up on the bottle and leaving
the cork screw sticking out of the top of it, he held his hand out
in greeting. “I hope your wine’s screw top, mate.” He shook hands
with the taller man in front of him.

Jess risked a
sideways glance at Brianna, whose mouth had dropped open. Uh-oh,
she thought, as her friend clamped her mouth shut and shot her a
nasty look.

“Could you come
and give me a hand in the kitchen for a sec, Jess?” Her smile was
sweet but her tone was saccharine and Jess was not fooled.

“Um, yeah, of
course.” She dragged her heels behind her friend.

“Where’s Harry
tonight?” Maybe a change of subject would stave off the bollocking
she was about to receive.

“At his Nana’s
and don’t try to fob me off. It’s bloody well him, isn’t it?”
Brianna hissed once they were out of earshot.

Jess didn’t say
anything, studying the floor tiles beneath her feet instead.

“For God’s
sake, Jess, why didn’t you tell me you were dating the man who
wants to tear down our community centre!”

“Shush, Brie,
keep your voice down! I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d go
mad, that’s why. Please don’t say anything.”

“
I won’t make a scene—my mammy raised me
better than that. But you should have told me instead of putting me
on the spot like this. I am not happy with you.” Brianna prodded
her in the chest and Jess had the grace to look shamefaced. “I knew
there was something up with you where he was concerned but I just
put it down to his being a bit too good to be true and you being
wary. I mean
it’s a 1986 cabernet and I never forget a pretty
face.
Really,
Jess?”

It had been a
bit cringe-worthy. “I’m sorry, Brie; I really am. Could you please
try to keep an open mind about him tonight, though, for me? I know
that if you just give him a chance, you’ll see past all that other
stuff and you’ll like him. The community centre—well, it’s just
business to him; it’s not personal.”

“Don’t push
your luck because it feels pretty bloody personal to me right now,”
Brianna muttered, piling little pieces of brown toast with oysters
atop them on to a platter.

Jess decided to
take her friend’s advice and not push her luck. Brianna not giving
out to him was the best she could hope for under the circumstances
and as her friend carried the nibbles through to the dining room,
she arranged her own face into a cheery smile and marched out to
join Nick and Pete. Somehow they would all get through the evening.
It could have been worse—at least Nick had been none the wiser as
to whom Brianna was.

***

It had been a
most peculiar dinner party, Jess concluded as she hugged Pete and
Brianna goodnight. The food had been delicious—Brianna had done
them proud on that front—but she had also artfully steered the
conversation away from Nick’s line of work and talked about Harry
for most of the night. Granted, he was a fascinating subject at the
best of times but being a childless couple, the topic of children
wasn’t one Nick and Jess could contribute much to. In fact, Jess
had thought if Brianna kept it up, Nick would be heading for the
snip on his way home. She was sure he had been in danger of nodding
off at one point. For his part, he had sneaked in the odd golfing
titbit whenever Brianna paused in her monologue to draw breath,
which wasn’t often.

She had managed
to stick a few jibes in, too, about the importance of having
somewhere in the community to meet up with others when you were at
home with a small child twenty-four/seven. Pete, bless him, puzzled
by the strange undercurrent at the table, had gabbled on about his
latest project at work. Jess had tuned out as she always did when
Pete got started on that subject but at least it was a topic Nick
could relate to. She’d been on tenterhooks all night and had hardly
said a word through dinner but to put a positive spin on the
evening, at least they had gotten through it with no showdown of
clashing opinions. It might have been awkward but at least it had
been civil and the food, judging by everybody else’s clean plates,
had been great.

Waving their
hosts goodbye from where they stood backlit in the front door, Jess
decided she’d phone Brianna and thank her in the morning for
keeping quiet. It wouldn’t have been easy for her, she thought,
sliding into the passenger seat. The temptation for her to slip
Nick a dodgy oyster or spit in his chicken parmigiana must have
been huge. She crossed her fingers and hoped Nick didn’t come down
with any food poisoning symptoms in the next twenty-four hours as
he got behind the wheel and slammed the door shut.

Jess glanced
over at him and was startled by the thunderous expression on his
face. Before she could ask what the matter was, he had gunned the
engine into life and taken off down the street at a rate of knots
that would have impressed a Concorde pilot. Oh dear, she cringed,
hoping Brianna and Pete had already gone inside. Nick’s hasty exit
would not endear him further to her friend because last year she
had spearheaded the “Slow Down in our Community” campaign.

“Nick?” Jess
asked, clutching at the sides of her seat. “Is everything ok?”

She saw his
bottom jaw muscles clench and he slammed his hand against the
steering wheel. “No, it’s bloody well not! I don’t know what you
were playing at, Jessica, but that holier-than-thou friend of yours
is the main rabble-rouser holding up my Bray project. She’s costing
me a shitload of money.”

Jess squirmed.
“I know. I’m sorry but she’s not holier-than-thou; she’s just very
committed to her cause. You must see her side of things?”

He turned to
glare at her, his knuckles white against the steering wheel. “So
you knew then? And no, I don’t see her side of things at all.
Bloody do-gooder.”

Jess studied
her own hands, which were now clenched in her lap. “I twigged
awhile back but I didn’t know how to tell you or her.” She looked
over at him. “I really am sorry but come on, Nick, be fair. I feel
awful for not saying anything but what you do with your work—well,
it’s nothing to do with me—us. And Brie is a grown woman who backs
her own causes. I didn’t want to get caught up in the middle.”

“So you said
nothing while I confided the problems I was having with my
project.” He shot her look of pure disgust and shook his head. “I
recognised her as soon as she opened the door and let me tell you,
it took supreme willpower on my part not to turn and walk away but
I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt. I figured maybe you
didn’t know what your little pal gets up to in her spare time so I
kept quiet and played nice for your sake. It’s a shame you didn’t
show me the same courtesy.”

Neither said a
word for a moment until Nick made her jump. “Jesus, Jessica!”
Spittle flew from his mouth. “Have you any bloody idea how much
money I have tied up in this?”

Jess squeaked.
“A lot?”

“A tonne and I
stand to lose the lot thanks to that stupid cow and her cronies.”
His voice was a snarl. “I can’t stomach women like that; they have
no life outside the home so they create their own little
dramas.”

“Hey!” Jess
didn’t like his tone at all; it was pure venom. This was a side of
Nick he obviously kept well-hidden underneath his smooth veneer.
“She’s not a cow—she’s one of my best friends and for what it’s
worth, I think she has a point. That community centre is a good
thing—it brings people together. The only people who will benefit
from a shiny new apartment complex are the developers.”

It was a barbed
comment and Jess was certain that were it physically possible, Nick
would be emitting steam out of his ears. She decided it was best,
considering he was behind the wheel, to keep her mouth shut for the
duration of the ride home. So, they sat in tense silence until he
pulled up outside Riverside Apartments. She was about to say a curt
goodnight when he was upon her. Pulling her to him by her hair
which he had wrapped his hand in, he began kissing her so roughly
it made her mouth and teeth hurt. He shoved his free hand up her
top and groped at her breasts. Jess could feel the violence lurking
just beneath the surface and it took her a moment to react.

“What do you
think you’re doing? Get off me!” She shoved him off her and managed
to open the car door, all but falling out onto the pavement.
Scrabbling to her feet, she slammed the door shut and then, with
one last sneer in her direction, he was gone, leaving nothing but
smelly exhaust fumes in his wake.

Jess hurried
inside and headed for her apartment. As she closed the front door
behind her, she leaned against it for a moment, feeling sick at
what had just happened. How could she have misjudged him so badly?
She breathed deeply for a few minutes and then burst into tears as
the shock hit her—the way he had turned on her like that had really
frightened her.

As her heart
rate slowed to its normal beats per minute, she made herself a
milky cup of sweet tea, shoving down a couple of chocolate biscuits
that had somehow survived the week in her pantry. The sugar hit
made her feel better and taking the mug through to the living room,
she sat down on the settee, nursing it between both hands. Nick’s
reaction had shocked her; she could see now why he was so
successful at what he did because using bully-boy tactics was
obviously second nature to him. Needing to tell someone what had
just happened in order to make it a reality in her own mind, she
picked up the phone and punched out Nora’s number.

She answered
after the sixth ring. “Hello?”

“Hi, it’s
me.”

“Hey, Jess! I
was just saying goodbye to Ewan. God, I can’t wait until he gets
back—only five days to go. I tell you, Skyping just doesn’t have
the same allure as phone sex. You feel kind of silly peering into a
computer screen, making lusty noises. What are you doing home,
anyway? I thought you’d be spending the night at Nick’s.”

Jess let out a
little sob. Life sucked.

“What’s up?”
Nora asked, alarmed.

It all came
flooding out and when she’d finished, Nora announced she would
personally hunt Nick Jameson down and cut his gonads off. Jess
wouldn’t put it past her and she spent the next five minutes trying
to dissuade her friend from becoming the next Lorena Bobbitt.

“
He didn’t get the chance to do
anything
that
bad; it was
just the way he did it. He was so angry with me, Nora; it was
horrible. It was like being mad at me turned him on or something.
Ugh.” She shuddered at the memory.

“God, I’m so
sorry, Jess. I had no idea he was a sicko. I feel awful pushing you
at him the way I have been—it’s just that he seemed so nice. I only
wanted you to be happy.”

It was a
sentiment she had heard a lot lately. “I know you did and I thought
he was nice, too,” Jess replied despondently. “Appearances can be
deceptive but you know, Nora, if I am honest, I think I knew
something wasn’t right with him. He reminded me way too much of a
Galaxy chocolate bar.”

“Smooth, you
mean?”

“Yeah and if
you have too much of it, you feel sick.” She burst into tears.
“What’s wrong with me? Why do things like this always happen to me?
If the men I meet aren’t losers then they are nut cases. It’s not
fair.”

“Hang tight,
sweetie. I am on my way over.”

True to her
word, Nora arrived half an hour later with a bottle of wine tucked
under her arm. By the time she tucked Jess into bed sometime in the
wee hours of Sunday morning, neither girl was feeling any pain. Nor
did they have any voices left, having screeched so loudly to
Melissa Etheridge that the neighbour had banged on the wall.