“Do you have your own business?”
She laughed. “No. It’s just something I do for fun.”
“You’re very good at it. You could go into the design business.”
She seemed to ponder the idea. “I could, couldn’t I? I hadn’t thought about it. It was just a hobby.” Then she waved her hand in the air. “But it’s too late for me to do something like that.”
“No, it’s not. It’s never too late to start your own business. You’re still young and you obviously have the talent and the ambition.”
“You think so?” Her eyes lit up. “I don’t know anything about starting my own business.”
“My family owns their own business. I could give you some pointers on what you’d need to do.”
Jenna and his mother spent the next couple hours—including through dinner—discussing small business ownership. Ty had expected the worst. His mom had never liked any girl he’d ever brought home. She’d been rude and unpleasant and had found something about the girl to pick apart. Then again, the last girl he’d brought home had been when he was in his early twenties and still in college. She’d wanted him to focus on school, not on women. And she’d still been bitter over the divorce.
He’d just assumed his mother would always be bitter.
She was different now. More mellow. Or maybe it was Jenna who brought out a different side to her. Jenna didn’t hang on him or put a possessive stamp on her relationship with him. She seemed genuinely interested in getting to know his mother, not trying to make his mother like her, or trying to make his mother see that she and Ty were a couple.
But that was who Jenna was. She was good with people, knew what it took to make them at ease. That’s what made Riley’s so successful. She made her customers happy, and it wasn’t just serving them drinks.
After dinner they had dessert, and Jenna told his mom all about her family.
“So you have brothers who play sports, too?”
“Yes. Mick plays football and Gavin plays baseball.”
“Did you ever play sports?”
“I played basketball and volleyball in high school. These days I only play when the family forces me into a basketball game at the house.”
His mother laughed. “I can imagine it was difficult growing up with those boys.”
“It was a challenge. But I held my own.”
“I’m sure you did. I’ll bet you can handle my son, too.”
Jenna looked at Ty and smiled. “Nothing to handle. You raised a fine son, Louise.”
His mom blinked rapidly a few times. “Thank you. I’m very proud of him.”
Uh-oh. He needed to get them out of there before the waterworks started. “Well, we need to go.”
“So soon?”
“Sorry, yeah.”
They stood and Tyler went to get their coats.
Jenna hugged his mother. “It was such a pleasure to meet you, Louise. I hope I get the opportunity to again. But you have my number. If you’re serious about getting that business started, call me.”
His mother hugged Jenna tight. “I will definitely be calling you.” She held on to Jenna’s arms. “I don’t often say this, in fact, I don’t recall ever saying this about any woman my son dated, but I’m very glad to have met you, Jenna Riley. And I hope I get to see you again.”
“Likewise.” Jenna grinned and headed out the door.
His mom pulled him into a tight hug. He bent down so she could kiss his cheek.
“I don’t know where you found this girl, son, but don’t let her go.”
TWENTY
ONE DOWN, ONE TO GO. THEY HEADED DOWNTOWN where his dad and stepmother had a condo.
“I have no idea why you were so afraid for me to meet your mother.”
He glanced over at Jenna. “I never said I was afraid.”
“You intimated that she was some maternal version of Medusa.”
“I did not.”
“It was close.”
He shrugged. “She’s changed. She used to be more uptight.”
“She’s a wonderful, warm, and friendly woman. I had a great time with her.”
“Obviously she’s gotten over her bitterness about the divorce, because believe me, I expected something completely different.”
Jenna laughed and patted his hand. “You worry too much.”
“Probably.”
“Okay, now tell me about your dad.”
“He’s a big, friendly bear of a man, who uses his—I don’t even know how to explain this—overly sociable nature to mask any sense of unease or diffuse an uncomfortable situation. That’s how it had always been. If there was stress, Sean Anderson would crack a joke to allay it. Always laugh your way out of a problem. He’ll also insult you with a smile and an easy laugh. His way of thinking is, if he’s smiling while he’s calling you a bitch or a useless asshole, then it’s okay.
“Of course it hadn’t worked so well when my mom and dad had been fighting. My mother hadn’t found Dad’s sweep-it-under-the-rug-and-laugh-it-off way of dealing with their problems a good solution.”