CHAPTER SIX

November 26, 2009…

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked Jamieson one last time before we got in his large pearly white Ford F250 King Ranch Edition. It still struck me as odd that even though Jamieson was extremely wealthy he drove a pickup truck. Granted, his truck was completely customized right down to the tan leather stitched seats. He also has other vehicles which included a black Aston Martin Vanquish and a 1956 Jaguar XK-140 Roadster. I personally enjoy the truck the most though; it suited him in some weird way.

“Jenna I have already told you, I can’t wait to meet your family,” he said threading his fingers through mine and placing them on the center console between us.

“I’m just warning you, my family is bat-shit crazy and holidays are notoriously insane at my house.”

“Can’t wait, baby.” He flashed me a sexy grin as he steered the truck onto the main highway.

In only took us about thirty minutes to get across town to my parents’ home in Clifts Cove. Their house was a large, classically beautiful southern home. They both earned a good living. My father was a respected doctor and my mother helped run his office. They had met when they were in college and had been together ever since. They were more than a couple, they made an incredible team. I envied them.

I could tell by the shiny tan Lexus sitting outside my parents’ house that my sister and brother-in-law were also here. My sister is three years older than me and looks like a human Barbie doll. Jacqueline had always been beautiful from the day she was born. She was tall, thin, and blonde with huge boobs. She was every guys “type.” As you can imagine having an older sister who was a total bombshell made you very susceptible to having lots of guy friends who constantly wanted to be invited over to catch a glimpse of the beauty you lived with. My sister however, could hardly notice guys drooling over her. She had always been less than impressed with most of the would-be suitors. I was shocked when several years ago she fell for a confident German man who took European suaveness to a whole new level. Don’t get me wrong, I love Lukas now, but he did take some getting used to. Bluntness is the norm with Lukas but you just have to remember he doesn’t mean to be rude he just speaks the truth of the situation as he sees it. English is his second language so sometimes things do get lost in translation, which provides us all with a good laugh. I was excited to introduce them to Jamieson but I was also scared because I had no idea what they would do or say. That was the beauty of my family, anything was possible.

When we reached the front door I opened it walking hand-in-hand with Jamieson. He followed me down the hall toward the laughter coming from the living rom. They were in hysterics and I could only imagine what was happening.

“I told you this was the greatest show ever!” Lukas exclaimed as we entered the outer edges of the room.

“I don’t get it. They just take a bunch of B-level celebrities and lock them in a house for a couple of weeks?” my Mom asked, confused.

“Yes it is brilliant,” Lukas argued.

“More like ridiculous.” My Dad offered.

I could now see what they were watching and I wish I could say I was shocked, but like I said earlier, anything could happen at my house.

On the large mounted flat screen my entire family was watching an episode of the Surreal Life; trash T.V. at its finest. And it was of course that epic episode when a drunken Vern Troyer is so wasted he is peeing of the side of his motorized wheel chair. Yup, this was exactly what I feared.

“Hey guys.” I piped up, attempting to distract them from their reality T.V. watching.

“Oh honey, we didn’t hear you come in!” My mother jumped up from the large leather recliner she was sitting in.

“Mom, this is Jamieson Wellington. This is my mother, Georgiana.” I said as Jamieson reached out to take my mother’s hand to greet her.

My father also rose to greet us. “Hello Jamieson,” he said extending his hand.

“This is my Dad, Dr. Harrison Middleton.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Jamieson said in return shaking his hand as well.

“That insane German man over there enthralled with crap T.V. is my brother-in-law, Lukas.” I pointed toward the crazy German.

“Nice to meet you, bro.” Lukas nodded his head in our direction.

My very pregnant sister slowly lifted herself from the couch to greet us.

“Hello Jamieson.” She smiled warmly at him.

“Hello Jacqueline,” he replied returning her warm smile.

I instantly went still; I could tell they knew each other. There was something that passed between them, I saw it. I watched as my sister locked eyes with me trying to communicate something. I however, wasn’t getting whatever it was she was trying to tell me. My mind began to race with questions and it finally settled on one in particular, had my sister and Jamieson dated? They were closer in age and Jacks had always lived in Huntsville—she never left like I did, their paths could have easily crossed. Surely I would have known about it though, right? Jamieson would have said something, wouldn’t he?

“Honey let me take your coats,” my mother interrupted my mini melt-down and took my jacket along with Jamieson’s.

“I need to finish my cheesecake.” Jacqueline announced as she strolled into the kitchen with my mother hot on her heals; clearly she noticed something was off too and was determined to find out what the cause of it was.

“I’m going to go help her. Are you okay in here with the guys?” I turned to ask Jamieson.

“Of course, go help your sister and mother,” he kissed me on the cheek.

“Jamieson can I get you a drink?” I heard my father ask as I left the room in search of my sister.

In the kitchen, my mom and sister were working away and talking in a hushed tone. I didn’t waste any time, I needed to know how my sister knew Jamieson and now.

“What is going on Jacks?” I asked leaning against the granite countertop with my arms folded across my chest.

“What are you talking about, Jens?” She always called me Jens. My father had nicked named me Jens and my sister Jacks and the duo of Jacks and Jens had kind of just stuck all these years.

“How do you know Jamieson?” I cut to the chase.

“I don’t…well not really.” she responded quietly still stirring the mixture in the bowl in front of her.

“What does that mean? Did you guys date or something?” Please Lord don’t let it be true.

“No, we didn’t date,” she reassured me. “I dated his older brother, Ethan.” What?

“You did?” I was in complete shock.

“Yes. It was only for a few months, but I thought I was in love with him.” Jacqueline sighed and stopped working on her cheesecake to turn to face me. She placed her hands over her growing belly and I could see she was struggling with whatever she needed to say.

“What happened? Tell me everything,” I pleaded with her.

I watched her examine my face. She was contemplating how much she should tell me. I could see that clearly. She glanced toward the door for a quick second before she began. “There isn’t much to tell. We met through mutual friends and we had this amazing chemistry. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It took me by complete surprise. I quickly fell for him, but it didn’t last. He cheated on me. It gutted me. I was a wreck for a long time. Then I met Lukas and my life finally began again.”

I didn’t respond to her, I didn’t really know what to say. If Jacks and Ethan ever experienced anything remotely close to what Jamieson and I had, I could only imagine how much that must have hurt my sister.