No way. The can of worms was open and Pete wasn’t about to stop there. “No, Pop, I’m not leaving. We need to talk about this, even if it’s difficult. I worry about you.”
“You have no idea what it’s like to lose the person you loved most in this world, and I pray that you never do. I know you worry about me, and you know I love you for it. But do yourself a favor, Peter. Go live your life, and stay out of mine.” His voice was as icy as his words, and when he walked away, Pete felt his heart split down the middle. Living his own life sounded easy, even doable. But he could no sooner turn his back on his father than he could walk away from Jenna.
“This isn’t the end, Pop.”
His father stilled.
“She was my mother, and she’d be ashamed of me if I didn’t try to help you. And whether you choose to remember it or not, you have kids who love you, and you owe us more than this.”
His father’s neck bowed, but he didn’t turn to face Pete. He stood still, staring at the floor, and Pete couldn’t imagine what was going through his head.
“I’m not giving up on you.” The promise sailed heated and honestly from Pete’s lips. “You have a lot of years left. Years to refit boats with me, years to meet your future grandchildren. Mom died, Pop. You didn’t.”
Chapter Seventeen
WHEN JENNA WAS young, her mother volunteered in the elementary school library, and later, in the town library. Now Jenna watched her mother sorting through books and chatting with the other men and women library volunteers who were closer to her mother’s age. She pictured her mother as the person she’d been before her father had sent her world spinning with the news of his impending marriage. She missed that person, and she hoped she wasn’t gone forever.
Amy sidled up to Jenna, her eyes on Jenna’s mom. “Even though she’s acting weird, it’s really good to see your mom. I missed her.”
“I still miss her,” Jenna admitted.
“Aw, Jenna. She’ll be back to her old self in no time.” Amy patted Jenna’s shoulder. “This is a phase, like when a man goes through a midlife crisis. Did you tell her about Pete yet?”
Jenna sighed. She’d received a sweet text from Pete saying to do what felt right and that he wasn’t going anywhere, but she knew it was wrong to keep their relationship a secret. “No, but I need to. She’s talking about going to drag queen karaoke tonight in P-town, and I want to ask Pete to join us. Is that awful of me? Should I give her all of my attention? I’m so torn. I know she’s only doing this because she’s hurt over my dad getting remarried—speaking of a midlife crisis.” She rolled her eyes. She had no idea if her father was going through a midlife crisis or if he really loved the woman he was marrying, and she didn’t really care either way. She just wanted her parents to be happy, and she didn’t want to be part of defining how that happened.
“I wish your father would just wake up and realize he’s made a mess of things and fix it,” Amy said.
Jenna crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes in her mother’s direction. “You don’t really think she’d take him back? After all this time? I think she’d feel humiliated after he’s been with someone so young.”
Amy shrugged. “Love’s a powerful thing.”
You’re telling me. Jenna thought of waking up in Pete’s arms, and the intimate things he’d shared with her and said to her over the past few days. It wasn’t fair to Pete, or to herself, to act as though they weren’t in love. In love. She was definitely, one hundred percent, in love with Pete, and as she watched her mother heading in their direction, she drew in a deep breath and prepared to do what she should have done at the cottage.
“Speaking of love.” Jenna nodded to her mother. “I guess I better come clean about Pete.”
“That’s my cue to take off. Good luck.” Amy hurried to another table and went back to sorting and pricing books.
“Well, that was nice. It was refreshing to be with people my own age and not feel like I had something to prove.” She looked fondly at the group she’d just been talking with. “Thanks for bringing me with you today. At home I feel like I have to prove something to my friends because, before they were my friends, they were our friends. There’s a whole different dynamic.”
Something to prove? She’d never considered that her mother might be facing such pressure. “I’m sorry you’re going through that, Mom.”
Jenna’s mother patted her hair. “How are you, sweetheart? You look a little worried.”
You could say that. “I’m good.”
She brushed Jenna’s hair from her eyes. “I do love your hair this way. It’s less severe. Sexier.”
“Mom. It’s weird to hear you talk about things that are sexy.”
“Oh, honey. Please. You’re a grown woman.”
“Yes, but you’re still my mother.” And Dad’s still my father. And Pete’s the man I’m in love with. She didn’t know what was worse, knowing her mother was comparing young men to her father or worrying her mother would say things about having sex with Pete. Jenna took a deep breath and took her mother’s hand in hers.
“Can we go outside and talk?” They went out the back door and walked through the lush, flowering garden behind the library. Jenna’s stomach fluttered nervously. She sat on an iron bench and patted the seat beside her.
“Sit with me, Mom.”
“It’s lovely back here, isn’t it? I miss coming up during the summers, and I really enjoyed working in the library. Maybe I should think about going back to work.”
“That would probably be good for you, Mom. Then you’d get your mind off of…” Shoot.
“Your father?”
She said it so matter-of-factly, without the venom that usually laced anything having to do with him, that Jenna had to take a second look at her.
“Yeah. Dad.”
Her mother patted her leg. “Sweetie, I wanted to talk to you about that whole situation. I’m thinking of selling the house.”
Jenna’s eyes opened wide. “Your house?” Jenna wasn’t sure she was ready for her mother to sell the house she grew up in. Selling the house would signify the end of what was. Or maybe the beginning of what is yet to come.
“Well, I can’t exactly sell your house, now, can I?” She smiled, and it was sincere and reminiscent of the genuine smiles Jenna knew so well and missed so much.
Miranda’s smiles had changed dramatically over the last few weeks. They’d become a little conniving, and it was disconcerting. This smile softened the discomfort that Jenna had begun to associate with spending time with her mother.