Page 21 of The Other Plan

“You don’t say?” I teased.

“This is just so awkward. I’m not sure how to act around you.”

“Oh, and this isn’t awkward for me? I mean, the girl who broke my heart that I hadn’t seen in a decade is now the wedding planner at my best friend’s wedding. And she has a boyfriend, so I can’t even shamelessly flirt with her.”

Her cheeks flushed pink at the last comment, and then she looked away. “I do. Have a boyfriend. He’s—”

“Really ‘handsome’ and ‘great.’ Yes. I know.” I had to force my eyeballs to stay in place and not roll around in my head.

The blush in her cheeks deepened. “I don’t really want to talk about Evan if that’s okay.”

I already regretted bringing him up. The thought of another man kissing the lips that used to be mine sent a primal urge rumbling through me... an urge to pound on my chest, yank her into my arms and reclaim them as my own. Something I couldn’t do as much as I wanted to. She was right. Better we not talk about this “handsome” and “great” boyfriend that got my blood boiling, so I nodded my agreement.

“No more talk about your really handsome and great boyfriend,” I quipped before moving on. “Then tell me more about your life, Jenna. How long have you been in Door County?”

“I grew up here, actually,” she said as the trolley pulled out.

“You did? I didn’t know that. I knew you were from Wisconsin but thought it was Madison.”

She looked out the window at the small vineyard passing by the window. “Yep. My whole life. Then I went off to school at UW-Madison. That’s where I was going when we met.”

“Now that I remember,” I said, remembering fondly listening to her stories about going to Badger games and partying on State Street. I almost spit out that I’d tried desperately to find her after she’d disappeared and even had some friends at UW-Madison try to hunt her down for me. But it was a huge school, and without her last name to tell them, my search for a Jenna in a huge school had ended in vain. Not wanting to let her know that I’d gone a bit stalker over her, I kept that little tidbit of truth to myself.

“So, you came back here after school?”

“Yep. After doing some interning and grunt work for other wedding planners, I came back here and started my own company. I mean, Door County is the ultimate romantic destination for weddings, and there actually was only one other planner up here who was so booked up she had to turn people away.”

“Then you saw an opening and took it. Smart girl.”

She grinned proudly. “I did. And my little business grew into something I’m really proud of.”

“And you love what you do?”

The way her eyes lit up answered the question before her words did. “Yes. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I get to help people create their dream weddings in a place that I love more than anything.”

A pang of envy snapped inside my gut. And this time not just toward the man lucky enough to call Jenna his own. I didn’t feel that way about my job at all. I could barely remember a time when I woke up excited to go to work. The last time I’d felt that way was when I’d been a kayak guide the last summer before I’d left college. Every day out in the open air and on the water while getting paid had been like living in a perpetual dream world. I’d never felt passionate about trading commodity futures, but it paid far more extravagant bills than I could have covered on my meager hourly wage taking tourists out paddling around. After growing up without much, I appreciated every dollar bill that made it into my bank account.

Cameron’s deep laugh pulled Jenna’s attention for a moment, then she turned it back to me. “And you? You’re in sales now, I heard? I’m having such a hard time picturing you in a suit working in an office. Although you have changed your looks quite a bit, so I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised.”

I instinctively reached to tuck my hair behind my ear, something I hadn’t done in years since I’d cut my chin-length waves to fit into the business world. But as my fingers brushed nothing but skin, I realized it wasn’t there anymore. It seemed being next to Jenna reminded me of who I was back then, and for a moment, I felt like the same tanned skin surfer in flip-flops who always had sand stuck between his toes. Now, I wore oxfords and rarely got any color in my cheeks since most daylight hours I spent in my office.

“Yeah. I own a company in New York.” I lifted my chin with pride. “I opened the firm a couple years ago, and it’s grown exponentially. I trade commodity futures.”

Her brow scrunched. “Trade what?”

“Futures. It’s like...” I stopped myself before I went into a long spiel about my job. “You know what. Doesn’t matter. It’s boring.” I chuckled. “Just think of it like selling stocks, but different.”

“Yeah. I don’t know anything about all those big city jobs.” She shrugged and laughed. “I have a guy who invests for me, and I couldn’t tell you the first thing about the stock market or futures or whatever you call them.”

“It’s a very profitable career if you know what you’re doing. And lucky for me, I do.” I waggled my brows.

“Wow. Look at you, Mr. Big Shot city guy. Never in a million years would I have thought you’d end up in some fancy New York career.”

The quiet snort she made after the sentence caused me to furrow my brow. “What’s wrong with being in trading in New York? I busted my ass to get where I am. I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth, so I’d say it’s a really big accomplishment to be my own boss.”

Her face softened. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t making fun of you. It’s really incredible what you’ve accomplished on your own. It’s just that the Carter I knew, the laid-back, go where the wind blows guy never ever would have wanted to work in a big city... much less in an office. If I recall, you aspired to open a surf shop on the beach in California after college.”

I smiled softly and shook my head. “Yeah, I remember that. I guess I have taken a really different path than the guy you met in Hawaii had planned out. Not that he made plans.” I laughed. “Hell, I could barely make a plan for what to do in the next hour back then.”