Jared's Counterfeit Fiancee - Brenda Jackson [55]
“Isn’t there something you can do, Jared? I’m desperate.”
Sylvester’s words recaptured his attention. He stared up at the ceiling in deep thought for a moment. “Maybe there is,” he said, making a quick decision. “I’ll do my best to arrange for you and Jackie to have a private meeting, without me or her attorney present. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try. Once the two of you are alone, it’s going to be up to you to convince her that you’re worthy of forgiveness.”
He saw the hopeful gleam that appeared in Sylvester’s eyes and the optimism that lined the man’s features. It was evident he was struggling to hold on to his composure. If there had been any doubt in Jared’s mind of just how deeply Sylvester felt about his wife, it vanished at that very moment.
“Are you okay, Dana?” Cybil asked, studying her best friend’s face.
Dana looked up from the papers on her desk and forced a smile. “Yes, I’m fine.” She quickly glanced away, knowing she couldn’t hide her emotions from Cybil.
“If you’re fine then why have you been crying?”
Dana began studying the papers on her desk again. “Who says I’ve been crying?”
“I do,” Cybil said quietly, crossing the room to stand in front of Dana’s desk. When seconds ticked by and Dana didn’t say anything, Cybil spoke again, her voice low and imploring. “I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
Dana slowly stood from her desk and walked over to the window. She stared out until she was certain that her voice wouldn’t tremble with each word she was about to say. “I didn’t get hurt. I enjoyed each and every moment I spent with Jared.”
“And you fell head over heels in love with him,” Cybil said, stating the obvious.
Dana met Cybil’s concerned gaze. “Yes, I fell in love with him. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did. I love Jared with all my heart and I don’t have any regrets about it.”
Cybil crossed the room to stand in front of Dana. “All right. Now what?”
Dana looked away, to glance back out the window. “Now we’ve come to the end of our road. Tonight we end things and tomorrow I go back to being an unengaged woman.”
Pain settled deep in Dana’s heart. How could she go back to the solitary life she’d known after being with Jared for the past six weeks? Not only with Jared, but with all the Westmorelands. For a little while, they had filled a need in her she hadn’t realized existed—a need to belong to a family. It was going to be hard going back to being alone again.
“Ben and I are going to the Amelia Islands in the morning to attend the tennis tournament. Come with us.”
Dana gave Cybil a reassuring smile. “I’ll be fine. I will survive.” She chuckled. “It won’t be my first broken engagement,” she said teasingly.
“But it will be the one that really mattered—pretense or not.”
Dana nodded. “Yes, it will be the one that mattered.”
“And will you be ready for the questions on Monday? The speculations? The gossip?”
On a long sigh Dana ran her hand through her hair. No, she wouldn’t be ready for any of that but she would deal with it. She gave a wry smile. “I’m ready for whatever comes my way, Cybil.”
But she knew the moment she’d said the words that they were a lie.
“Why do I get the feeling that you’re not in a good mood tonight?”
Jared gave his cousin Storm a crooked smile and lifted the glass of punch to his lips, took a sip and then asked. “I don’t know. Why do you?”
A chuckle escaped Storm’s lips. “I’ve often heard if you want a straight answer, then don’t ask an attorney a question.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that one, too,” Jared said, giving his cousin a wink and taking another sip of his punch. He glanced around, seeing all the people who had shown up to celebrate Thorn and Tara’s first wedding anniversary. Even after a year, the thought of Thorn being married was still hard to get used to. Jared never thought there was a woman alive who was brave enough to put up with the surly Thorn Westmoreland. Evidently he’d been wrong.