as difficult as hers if not for the random hand of fate all those years ago. Pure luck so often determined the entirety of one’s life. He knew how lucky he’d been.
“Listen, Jenna,” he began, not sure exactly where to start. Business school didn’t prepare you for every scenario. “About my visit to Boston. There’s something I came here specifically to see you about.”
“Yes?” Her question was barely a whisper.
“I want you to know that I can be a friend as well as your corporate CEO.”
Was she trembling? “You can be straight with me,” he added. “I hope you realize that.”
She gave her head a quick shake. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“You really don’t have anything you might want to talk about? Regarding the store, perhaps?”
“No. Not really.” She swallowed. “Have I done something wrong?”
Cabe leaned back in his chair. If she did know anything, then she had the acting skills of a Hollywood-caliber actress. “Huh. You really have no idea what I might be talking about?”
“Not a clue.”
Cabe tried to regroup. Damn. This conversation was becoming way too messy. “Allow me to explain. A routine inventory check last week by security resulted in a troubling discovery.”
She sucked her bottom lip, and heaven help him, he lost his focus for a split second. “Why wasn’t I made aware of this? As the regional manager of that store?”
“It’s our policy to keep such matters quiet until a thorough investigation.”
She gave her head a quick shake. “Investigation? What exactly was this troubling discovery?”
“One of the more valuable pieces seems to be missing. A bracelet.”
Cabe watched as understanding dawned. Jenna sucked in a breath and grew as pale as the white linen tablecloth. “Oh, my God. You think I took it.”
Whoa. He hadn’t expected her to go there quite so soon. “Jenna, wait just a second—”
Her cheeks suddenly grew cherry red. “That’s why you came down here yourself. You think I stole from my own store. You think I stole from you!”
It came so fast he didn’t have time to react. Before he knew it, he wore the rest of his sandwich on his lap and his shirt was drenched in iced tea.
As he watched her storm away, Cabe came to three distinct conclusions. One, Jenna Townsend moved as fast as a prizefighter ducking a punch. Second, judging by her confusion and the vehemence of her reaction, she was most definitely innocent.
And third, if he didn’t get to the bottom of it all real soon, he was likely to lose a damn talented regional manager.
* * *
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. She would never learn.
Jenna bypassed the elevator and ran up the three flights of stairs to get to the floor that housed her office. She didn’t want to risk running into anyone. How would she explain the tears?
To think, for a while there she’d believed Cabe Jordan might actually be in town to promote her! What a laugh. Instead, he’d accused her of stealing from him.
People like her weren’t promoted to corporate-level positions. They were suspected of thievery. They were the first ones investigated when valuable jewelry went missing.
People like her dumped food on others’ laps.
She tried to take a deep breath. She probably shouldn’t have done that. It was reckless and impulsive. Rather than calmly and reasonably defending herself, she’d let her emotions take over. She’d succumbed to the urge to lash out.
Just as her mother would have done.
And she was her mother’s daughter. The apple and the tree and all that. Why did she ever think she could escape that simple truth? The rest of the world wouldn’t ever let her forget that fact.
It didn’t matter how hard she worked, or how many hours she put in. All the years of studying and working her butt off didn’t mean a thing to people like Cabe Jordan. The only thing they saw when they looked at her was where she’d come from.
She’d been fooling herself.
Well, if Cabe hadn’t intended to fire her right there on the spot, there was no doubt he would now. She’d dumped his lunch in his lap! Never mind that she’d never actually stolen anything. She wouldn’t even get a chance to defend her innocence now.
She no doubt should have handled it better. But she’d been barely functioning given what little sleep she’d gotten and the stress of being prepared for Cabe’s visit.
How could he have even suggested such a thing?
She didn’t realize she’d asked the question out loud until a voice across the room responded.
“Trust me, it wasn’t easy.”
Jenna’s head snapped up. Cabe stood in her office doorway, pants stained and shirt wet. She resisted the urge to cover her mouth in horror.
She pulled her planner out of the desk drawer. “I was just leaving.”
“Could you recommend a good dry cleaner first?”
He had the nerve to joke at her predicament? God help her, if the coffee tray were still here she might have very well dumped more on him.
“Jenna, listen—”
“What?” she interrupted. “What could you possibly say to me? Do you want me to confess?”
He stepped into the room and shut the door gently behind him. “I simply want to talk.”
“About how I stole from you?”
“I was given the information from my head of security. About a theft at the Boston store.”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Right. And then you decided that if something had been stolen, it must have been that no-good Jenna Townsend. She must have had a hand in the whole mess. It only makes sense. She comes from bad stock. She’s never had much to begin with and she can’t be trusted.”
“Jenna, stop. That’s not how this all came to be.”
She merely glared at him. How dare he deny it?
He walked up to where she stood and gestured to the chair. “Please sit.”
“Why? Would you like to accuse me some more? Should I call an attorney?” Now that she’d said it, she had the frightening thought that she may actually need one.
Her vision grew dark. This couldn’t be happening. After today she may very well have no job. And no hope of finding one if word got out that she couldn’t be trusted. Despite all the years of hard
