by Lace Daltyn
Settled in the coffee shop with a double shot latte, Jenna reached for Sharon’s hands. “I want to thank you. I’d have never made it through that workshop without your encouragement.”
“Ah, that wasn’t anything, but you’re welcome.” She twisted Jenna’s hand, then nodded at Josh. “You two get hitched last night?”
Jenna couldn’t help her wide grin. “Yes, we did.”
“Good. That’s real good,” Sharon said. “Whoever put this together will be real happy to hear that.”
Whoever put this together? Jenna had completely forgotten the letter that brought her here. “Were you part of this—whatever it was?”
Sharon grinned as she nodded.
“How...? Why...?” Jenna had so many questions, she didn’t know where to start. She drew a deep breath. “Who sent me here?”
Josh had started to squirm in his seat.
“Dunno who did the sending.” Sharon shrugged. “Know who did the requesting, though.”
She looked to Jenna’s side.
Josh looked like someone lit a fire under his seat.
“What’s she talking about, Josh?”
“I...well, to be honest, it was a last resort.” He grasped Jenna’s hands. “Okay. Try not to get mad, but I saw this ad in a newspaper that said if someone needed emotional healing, they should fill out the application and send it in.”
He clutched her hands so tight she could barely break free, but she did. “You sent in an application?”
“Honestly, I hung on to it for weeks. Never planned to actually mail it in.”
Jenna shook her head, a slow, measured movement as she tried to make sense of what Josh was saying. He’d sent an application in asking for emotional healing? For her. “So,” she managed. “What made you send it?”
“A particularly gruesome day of watching you give in to all of your mother’s demands.”
She knew exactly which day that was. They’d ended it tense and barely speaking after he’d asked her to set her mother straight on just whose wedding this was.
“So I mailed the application. Never thought anything would come of it until you dodged the wedding shower and disappeared. Scared the crap out of me at that point, too. So trust me, if you’re thinking how you’ll get back at me for this, you already have.”
Unable to fully fathom that some application, from some random newspaper ad, had led them to this point, Jenna sat back and tried to think it through. She should be angry. Furious, even. She twisted the gold band on her finger. It was hard to be angry when she’d gotten everything she wanted.
“Don’t be too hard on him,” Sharon said. “He picked the best place possible to ask for help.”
That focused Jenna. “Who? And how?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I was just asked to help out a bit, since I’d be here at the conference anyhow. I’d have done it no matter what for the chance to meet you.”
“How can you not know who set this all up?”
“That I can answer. You see, I’m from Chicago. Live there with my mom, who runs a little establishment called Masquerade. She got herself into kind of a bind a year or so ago and someone—we’ve never known who—got her out of it. So now, every once in a while, we get asked to help someone who needs it. Like you.”
“So we may never know who helped us?” Jenna asked.
“Correct,” Sharon said. “But, hey, it all worked out, didn’t it?”
The last few days had been eye openers in more ways than one. Jenna couldn’t decide if not knowing would be worse than knowing how this all happened. In the end, though, it had been the not-so-gentle gentle nudge that set her on the path she’d wanted to find.
“You ticked off at me? You have a right to be,” Josh said.
Jenna twined her fingers through his and looked into the eyes of her husband, the man she loved. “How can I be? I got everything I wanted.”
Shortly thereafter, Josh and Jenna finished their coffee and rose to go.
“Sharon,” Jenna said. “I don’t know how to thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”
“Just keep writing those books, okay? And maybe, just maybe, one of your characters will be named Sharon some day?”
Jenna laughed. “You really want to be a character in one of my novels?”
“It’s about the only action I’ll have had, I think. So yeah.”
“Okay, you’ve got a deal.”
Jenna and Josh promised to keep in touch with Sharon and said their goodbyes. In the cab, Jenna watched all the flashes of Vegas neon, even in the bright sunlight. “I think I’m going to miss this town.”
Josh wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “We’ll come back. At least once a year, I think. We’ll have lots of anniversaries to celebrate.”
“I believe we will,” she mumbled as she melted into his kiss. “Yes, I definitely think we will.”
En route to the airport, Jenna didn’t see Vegas slip by. Holding onto Josh, she worried her lower lip, wondering what it would be like facing her mother. Praying her newfound strength would hold, and that her mother would listen to her, understand her, and realize it’s time to let Jenna live her own life.
A miracle. That’s what she needed.
Chapter Seventeen
“Hi, Mom. We’re at the airport. Josh and I.” Jenna cocked her head, listening, while Josh kept watch for Maggie’s car. “No, we’re not flying out. We’re—”
Again the cut off pause. Josh watched his wife on the phone and prayed these few days away had given her enough perspective to deal with her mother. If not, well, he didn’t want to think about that.
“Josh.”
Pause.
“Yes, Josh. We’ll—”
Jenna’s lips turned into tight, thin, white lines during this pause.
“If you’d listen to me for just a moment.”
Jenna pulled the phone away from her ear and gave it a talk-to-the-hand signal, then cupped her ear against it once again. Her face was as red as he’d ever seen it.
“Mother— Can you—” She took a deep breath and raised her voice. “Be quiet, Mother.” Jenna paused yet again. Josh knew her mother wouldn’t listen.
“Thank you,” Jenna said, surprising him. “Now, we will explain everything when we get to the house. We should be there in, oh...” She glanced at Josh.
“Forty-five minutes or so, if Maggie ever gets here,” he said.
“An hour,” she told her mother, then listened. “No, I’m not going to apologize for running out. And no, I’m not going to explain it on the phone. We will talk when we get there. Goodbye.”
She stared at the phone for a moment, then hung her head and he could see the sheen of tears forming. “This isn’t going to be easy.”
Josh enveloped her in his arms, trying to hug the hurt away. “We’ll keep you strong. And it has to be done. She needs to move on, find her own life. Living through you isn’t going to work anymore.”
He was gratified with a smile, albeit a wavering one.
“You can handle this. I know you can.”
Further conversation was cut off as Mags’ rattletrap car sputtered its way to the airport curb.
“We could have called a cab, you know,” Josh said, giving the eyesore car a little kick.
“Don’t start getting all hoity-toity on me now that you’re Mr. Moneybags,” Jenna laughed.
Mags leaped out of her car and attacked Jenna with hugs. “Oh, my God. I can’t believe you actually did it. Show me the ring. Was it like a fairytale? Did you get any pictures?” She went back and forth between Jenna and Josh, alternately hugging them and slugging them in the shoulder.
“I can’t believe you got married without me,” she said to Jenna after a slug that had his wife massaging her arm. “I’m glad you went ahead and did it, but I can’t believe it.”
When a police officer started in their direction, Josh threw their luggage in the trunk and they chugged their way out of the airport.
“Again,” Mags said. “You got married without me?”
“You knew we would,” Jenna said. “No way Josh picked out the, um, lingerie in that bag. You knew.”
“Maybe. Okay, so I had a pretty good feeling about it. But damn, I wish I’d been there.”
“We brought pictures.”
“Yay! I’ll look at them after things settle down. So,” Mags said with a gleam in her eye. “You two figure out the whole multi-millionaire thing?”
Jenna glanced at Josh before answering. “Not really. We kind of got swept up in the moment. I think we’re going to have to rely on our personalities keeping us from making his money matter more than other important things—like each other.”
“It’s not just his money,” Mags said.
Josh sat up. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, ever since Jenna started writing, she’s had me managing her money.” Mags shrugged as she turned her blinker on to change lanes. “Turns out, I’m pretty good at it.”
“And that means...?” Jenna turned to face her friend.
“It means, you’ve been making royalties hand over foot and hardly spending any of it. So I invested. And, well, you’re well on your way to your first million dollars yourself.”
“Seriously?” Josh asked.
Jenna’s mouth froze in a permanent “O.” If Josh weren’t so floored himself, he’d be enjoying her look of shock, just a little bit.
“Seriously,” Mags answered Josh. “Jenna’s got her own pile of moolah to draw on. And it’s sizeable.” She tapped Jenna’s hand. “Hello? You still with us?”
“Ummm, I’m just...stunned.”
Okay, so maybe he could have a touch of fun with this. “That means that all that time you were giving me crap for selling my company and making us rich, you were wealthy in your own right?”
Jenna, still apparently speechless, sank back into the worn cushions of Maggie’s car.
“Uh huh,” Mags said.
“Hey,” Jenna spoke up. “I didn’t know. Didn’t have a clue.” She turned to Mags. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Exiting the freeway, Mags shrugged. “Tried to. You didn’t want to hear it.”
“Holy cow,” Jenna said. “I can’t believe it.”
“And this moment,” Mags said with a grin Josh figured rivaled Garfield the Cat after playing a joke on Odie. “This moment is almost as satisfying as it would have been to be at your wedding. Almost.”
****
They all grew quiet for the remainder of the drive. Jenna’s shoulders tightened with each turn Maggie took in that last mile to her home. The only one Jenna had really ever known. She bit her lip, praying her mother didn’t forbid her to ever return. She had to find a way to convince her mother that this was a good choice for both of them.
When they pulled up to the curb, Josh and Maggie waited for her to make the first move. She took a deep breath and faced them. “I’m sorry, guys. I have to do this alone. Maggie, I know I promised you could be there, but it’s not fair to Mom if she feels we’re ganging up on her.”
“But—”
Jenna held up her hand and forestalled her best friend. “Plus, I need to know I can do this.”
She looked at Josh and saw him nodding his head. “I understand. We’ll head for the coffee shop around the corner.” He stepped out and opened her car door for her, then pulled her into his arms for a long kiss. “I’m proud of you, honey. Just remember what you have waiting.”
“How could I ever forget. And Mags?” She poked her head in the car. “Thank you. For the investments and everything.”
“My pleasure,” Mags said, grinning.
“I’m not paying you enough.”
“I was going to talk to you about that.”
“How about we start with a bonus,” Jenna said, eyeing the car. “Go get yourself a new car. Please. On us.”
“Woohoo! Josh, you got internet on that phone of yours? I need to do some searching while we’re waiting for the atomic bomb to go off.”
Jenna watched them pull away, then turned and entered the house without a backward glance.
In the master bedroom, her mother sat at her vanity, styling her hair. Jenna sank into the rocking chair that felt as familiar as her own skin. How many times had she sat here and watched her mother apply her makeup? Jenna had learned everything about maximizing your looks while she watched her prepare for some function or fundraiser. All while swaying back and forth in this chair, the same chair her mother had rocked her in as a new parent.
She rubbed the worn arms of the rocker. It had been several years since she’d sat here like this and it hit her with a barb of regret. Things were so different now.
Her mother’s rigid back belied the nonchalance she showed as she swept her hair up into a clip.
Jenna twisted the double ring set on her finger. Hating to disturb the calm, but knowing they must have this out, Jenna prayed to her father for a little help and dove in. “Mother?”
“You left me with a roomful of friends and no explanation.”
Jenna met her mother’s eyes in the mirror. “Those women are not your friends.”
“They are whatever I say they are and that’s not the point. You deserted me.”
Ouch. “Yes, I did.”
“There is no excuse, no reason you can give that could explain the shameful display of disrespect. None.” Her brush, now cradled in both her hands, shook slightly. Jenna watched her mother set the brush down very carefully and pick up a tube of lipstick, rolling it open.
Jenna raised her hand, the one with the new ring. “Josh and I eloped.” The words rushed out as if, in saying them quickly, they would bounce right off her mother’s mirror and shatter into peace and quiet upon the floor. Instead, the lipstick landed in a rosy-red blob on her cheek.
Her mother didn’t utter a sound, just reached for a tissue and wiped it off.
“We’re married, Mom. I hope you can be happy for us.”
Jenna’s spirit plummeted at her mother’s pursed lips. So much for her being happy for her daughter.
“I see,” her mother finally said. “So you tossed all of our plans...” she waved her hand in the air, “…in the trashcan. Your beautiful wedding.”
“Be honest. Those were your plans. Your wedding. It was never what Josh and I wanted and you know that.”
“I only know that, that man of yours—”
“Husband, mother. Josh is my husband now.”
Her mother winced. “Yes. So you say. He has somehow managed to sway you against me. You don’t listen to me anymore, Jenna. You haven’t for some time. It’s all his fault.”
“All Josh did was give me wings. He allowed me to blossom into my own person. And for that I will be forever grateful.”
“That’s no reason to marry him.”
“It helps that I love him beyond anything else.”
“Apparently. I hold him completely responsible for this mess. He put this elopement in your head.”
“He offered me nothing but love. This was my choice. He’d have come back here. Done the whole blasted church fiasco if that’s what I’d have wanted. Because he loves me.” Jenna squatted in front of her mother, placing her hand on Patricia’s arm. She tightened briefly, steeling herself against the quiver in her mother’s muscles.
“I love Josh. I’m Mrs. Josh Latham, and proud of it. I’m sorry that this isn’t the way you want it to be, but I’m a big girl now. I can take care of myself. I made the choice to not wait any longer, to get started on our life together. Not Josh. Me. I hope you can understand how important this is to me. And I hope you’ll give us your blessing.”
Her mother’s lower lip trembled. “I understand that you’ll now be stuck in the same situation I married into.”
“What happened, Mom? What happened to make you so bitter?”
Her mother stiffened. “You think he loves you. Maybe he does, in this moment. But you give it time. He’ll show his true co
lors. Men always do.”
“What do you mean? Where is this coming from? Daddy loved you beyond life.”
“Hogwash. Your father married me because he had to. Love never entered the equation.”
“Maybe not for you, but for Dad, it did. What made you so bitter?”
Patricia Wilton stood, her shoulders stiff, and moved to the window. She stood there for long moments before speaking, her voice a bitter wind. “You never knew your grandparents.”
“No. And you never spoke of them.”
“That’s because he didn’t approve of your father. And, when I turned up pregnant, his disapproval turned into a violent rage.” Her voice broke. “The only reason your father lived was because the police pulled my father off him in time.”
Jenna’s hand covered her mouth as she heard this family history. She’d never known.
Her mother, now that the floodgate had been opened, couldn’t seem to stop. “We had what amounted to a shotgun wedding. And that night, after your father helped me pack my bag and move out, my father fatally shot both my mother and himself.” She drew a deep, sobbing breath. “They called it a murder-suicide. Strange how that sounds. Like it’s an explanation for behavior so abhorrent it defies explanation.”
Shock ricocheted through Jenna like a bullet. Suicide? This wasn’t what she’d expected to hear, and maybe it explained a little—
Whispering, her mother continued to speak, seemingly unaware of Jenna’s presence. “How could he leave that horrible message? How could he say that the shame, my shame, made him do it? That being pregnant before marriage amounted to a death knell.”
Frozen, Jenna tried to assimilate what her mother said. It was inconceivable. How could anyone think a baby, an act of love, to be shameful? She couldn’t fathom it and quickly decided she wouldn’t try to.
Jenna threw her arms around her mother. Patricia initially resisted, then wilted into Jenna’s embrace. “I wish you’d told me this secret years ago,” Jenna said.
“I didn’t want you tainted by the ghosts in our closet.”
“But that is such a burden for you to carry.” Jenna nodded to herself, trying to find something to say, when everything fell into place. “Dad understood.”