It was private, he knew, and he shouldn’t snoop, but she’d left him alone in here.
He walked into the room and squatted down on the floor.
There was some copyrighted sheet music, but also blank pages where she was writing her own.
Huh. He had no idea she was a songwriter.
He didn’t know a damn thing about music, but obviously Jenna did. There were pages and pages of handwritten music in here.
Interesting.
JENNA THREW OFF HER COAT AND HURRIED INTO THE kitchen while she rubbed her cold hands together.
Everyone was already here and the smell of food made her stomach growl. Bacon and some kind of baked goods. She was starving.
“Morning. Am I late?”
“Right on time,” her mother said. “Everyone’s already in the dining room. You can take this plate of muffins in.”
She kissed her mother on the cheek and grabbed the muffins.
“About time you showed up,” Gavin said. “We’re all about to waste away waiting for you.”
She rolled her eyes as she took a seat. “It’s five after eight. I don’t think you’re going to die.”
She hugged Tara, who absolutely glowed with happiness. “Good morning, Mrs. Riley.”
Tara grinned. “It’s going to take me some time to get used to that. Tara Riley. I can’t believe it actually happened. He’s mine.”
Mick came up and put his arm around Tara. “It did happen. You’re my wife. No backing out now.”
Tara tilted her head back and cast adoring eyes at Mick. “Not a chance. I’m never letting you go.”
“You two are making my stomach hurt. Or maybe that’s just hunger.”
Mick and her mom sat down and they all dug into the wonderful meal Mom had made. Obviously everyone was hungry, and talk turned to rehashing the wedding.
Jenna enjoyed the conversation and listening to everyone’s stories about the night before. Mick had been nervous, afraid he’d forget his vows. Tara had been ecstatic, and Nathan had been glad to get through it without tripping over his fancy shoes. Gavin and Liz were starry-eyed with thoughts of their own upcoming wedding, and her parents looked on all them with such joy it made tears spring to Jenna’s eyes.
This was her family, and she loved them so much.
She poured another cup of coffee from the carafe on the table, then added cream and lifted the cup to her lips, closing her eyes and breathing it in as she sipped.
“Rough night?”
She opened her eyes and looked at Liz. “Late night, same as the rest of you.”
“I don’t know,” Tara said, giving Jenna a thorough once over. “You’ve got dark circles under your eyes, yet your cheeks are pink.”
The guys had all moved into the living room to watch something on television, and Mom was in the kitchen, leaving Jenna alone in the dining room with Liz and Tara.
Liz tilted her head. “Dark circles and flushed cheeks? That can only mean one thing. You had sex.”
Jenna’s eyes widened. “I did not.”
“You did, too,” Tara said. “You think we’ve never had sex before? We know the look.”
Jenna looked around to be sure no one heard. The TV was blaring and obviously if her mother heard anything she wasn’t going to come running into the room for details. Thankfully.
“So who was the guy?” Tara asked.
“I don’t want to talk about this.”
Liz looked at Tara. “She doesn’t want to talk about it. She isn’t denying it, which means she definitely had sex last night.”
She raised her chin. “I plead the fifth.”
Tara nodded at Liz. “I was obviously busy the entire night. Who was she with?”
Liz tapped a perfectly manicured fingernail on the table. “Let’s see. She didn’t bring a date, and as far as I know she isn’t seeing anyone.”
“No one that I know of. I could ask Mick.”
“I could ask Gavin.”
“Stop it, both of you. There’s no one. Just a random hookup.”
“Random hookup my—oohh,” Liz said. “It was Ty.”
Shit.
“Ty Anderson? The hockey player?” Tara asked. She turned to Jenna. “Oh, he’s gorgeous. And so hot, Jenna.”
“And a hockey player, and you know how I feel about sports and the men who play them.”
“That shouldn’t matter, if you like him,” Tara said. “And if you had sex with him I assume you like him.”
Liz looked from Tara to Jenna. “What does sports have to do with you staying up all night screwing his brains out?”
“She won’t date anyone involved in sports,” Tara explained.
Liz frowned. “Why not?”
Jenna shrugged, realizing it sounded stupid. “Because I live it in my job and I’m surrounded by it with my family. I’d just like a freakin’ break when I date a guy, you know?”
“But sports are in your blood, Jenna.”
“No, sports are in their blood.” She motioned toward Gavin and Mick. “Not mine.”
Tara leaned back and sipped her juice. “Okay, well I get that, really. And as someone who was the queen of denial herself, I understand about your reason for not wanting to be with Ty—”
“As stupid as that is,” Liz interjected.