That was how she knew he was hers, she supposed.
In the meantime, Tennessee formally adopted a dog from Matilda’s rescue.The creature looked like some kind of husky mixed with a wolf, with arctic-blue eyes and an immediate and unwavering loyalty to his new owner.
Tennessee called him Ace.And Ace sat in the diner like he was keeping watch and keeping the old men in line.Other than Tennessee, he let only Matilda pet him.
And as spring really got going in the way it only could in Montana—slowly, intermittently, every flower followed by a good snowstorm, just to keep everyone honest—Jenny was sure she wasn’t the only one who noticed that Matilda spent less and less time up the hill in her cottage, and more time at Tennessee’s house.
A lot like they’d both found their way home.
And when, a couple of months after that night that Tennessee had come to her house with a box and they’d cleared the air on some things that Jenny thought were half a lifetime overdue, Tennessee confessed that he and Matilda had eloped?
She’d suspected as much, but she didn’t say that.
“Good,” Jenny said instead, and hugged him tight.“That’s what I hoped you’d do.”
Then, when he brought Matilda over so they could have dinner, Jenny hugged her too, and kissed her on her cheek.And while she didn’t come out andsaythat she intended to be a better mother to Matilda than her own had ever been, she hoped that it was obvious.
Especially in the way she whispered, fiercely, “We are so glad to have you in this family, Matilda.I’ve always wanted another daughter.”
Matilda smiled back at her so wide, so bright, it almost—but not quite—concealed the tears in her eyes.
Jenny was pretty sure she could not have been happier.
“We’re keeping it a secret,” Tennessee told her.“Not because there’s anything wrong with us eloping, because there sure as hell is not.”
“Just because it’s ours,” Matilda said, looking at Tennessee like he hung the moon.But then, he was looking at her the same way.“Just for a while.”
“Just until people get used to commenting on what you do,” Jenny murmured, her eyes on her plate, where Tennessee had prepared one of his signature meals that was almost too good to be believed.“And taking bets on when you’ll break up.”
When she looked up, the two of them were eyeing each other ruefully.
Jenny suspected that the news of their elopement wouldn’t stay a secret for long.
She and Peyton sat together a few nights later, because long night phone calls had turned into what they call theirgirls’ nights.Without men,withwine.
“One down, and four to go,” Peyton said, clicking their glasses together.“Well done, Jenny.”
“Thank you,” Jenny said, inclining her head.“I like to take more credit for it than I probably should.”
Peyton sniffed theatrically.“You are Tennessee’s mother.Who else should take credit for his excellent choices if not you?”
“My thoughts exactly,” Jenny agreed.
It had been quite a week.That Tennessee and Matilda had eloped was everyone’s favorite story and Jenny had been called by pretty much every person she had ever met in this community, asking if she knew the news.
She’d been delighted to let them know that of course she knew.And when the caller in question was a little too intense for her liking, she followed it up with a careful, “Oh.Did you not see this coming?How odd.”
Because motherly duty was one thing, but a girl did like to have her fun.
And besides, if Matilda was pregnant the way certain people claimed she had to be, there was no need to gossip about it.The baby would tell its own tale when it arrived.
Or no baby would arrive, and there would be some crestfallen faces around town.Win/win, as far as Jenny was concerned.
Now she and Peyton sat in companionable silence.Sometimes they listened to music.Sometimes they watched movies.Sometimes they talked, though more and more they talked less about the past.She thought both of them liked that.
Jenny didn’t want to say it, because she worried that it was perhaps getting ahead of herself, but as far as she was concerned, Peyton Patrick had become her very best friend.Patrick might have been useless, but he’d brought them all together despite his failings.
Life was a funny thing.
