“Oh, I’m being terribly rude,” Jenna said, a flush burning her face. “Yes, this is Isaac. He’s ...” She glanced at Isaac standing so protectively beside her and a flood of love washed over her, her heart aching with the ferocity of the emotions she felt for him.
“He’s the man you’re in love with,” her mother said with a laugh. “Oh darling, that much is very obvious, just as it’s obvious he loves you very much as well.”
“That I do, ma’am, and it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Isaac said, leaning to kiss her on the cheek.
Tears were bright in her mother’s eyes when she took the seat across from Jenna and Isaac. “I’m so glad she has you, that someone has been here for her when I couldn’t be,” she said to Isaac. “You look at her the way Jenna’s father used to look at me. I was devastated when I lost him and my sweet baby daughter on the same day. I’ve missed them both every single day of my life.”
Jenna tensed, and Isaac rubbed his hand up and down her leg as he quietly gave the waitress their order.
“I remember him,” Jenna said tearfully.
Her mother looked at her sharply. “You do? What do you remember?”
She smiled sadly at her mother. “My birthday party. It was my fourth, I think. It’s the last memory I have of him. He was swinging me around and there was a cake with lots of pink flowers and icing.”
Her mother’s expression changed to one of anger. “Yes, it was your fourth birthday. And the next day he was killed and you were taken from me.”
Jenna lowered her head, staring down at the hand clasped in Isaac’s. Her stomach knotted. She was suddenly besieged by nausea and she fought back the urge to throw up.
“Are you all right?” Isaac asked, bending his head so he could look into her eyes.
She nodded, not wanting to worry him even more. “I just need to eat,” she said. “I’m feeling hungry. Missing breakfast wasn’t such a good idea after all.”
“I don’t like you missing any meals,” he replied with a growl. “I don’t like anything that causes you so much upset or worry that you can’t eat.”
His expression eased into one of relief when the waiter arrived with their food. Jenna had never eaten shrimp, and on the commercials she’d seen for various restaurants as well as on the menu she’d absentmindedly perused, it had looked delicious. After Isaac had patiently answered all of the hundred questions she had about the foods she saw on television, she’d wanted to try the seafood the first opportunity she had. And so she was having a delectable-looking pasta dish with shrimp sautéed in butter and Cajun seasoning.
Isaac and her mother had both chosen succulent-looking steaks, and Isaac cut a piece and offered it to Jenna to try. As they ate, the turmoil in her stomach only grew, but she distracted herself by listening and responding to her mother’s excited chatter.
Isaac and the others had expressed the need for Jenna not to disclose any of what had happened after her escape from the cult and certainly not that a dangerous threat existed. The only story Jenna could relate was that she had made her escape days before the unfortunate murder of the rest of the cult and that Isaac had found her and stepped in to protect her, and they’d fallen in love in the process.
Jenna’s mother seemed to think the story was wildly romantic, though her expression hardened at any mention of the cult. Her only remarks were that the bastards had deserved exactly what they’d gotten.
“But certainly no threat exists to her now,” her mother said to Isaac, prompting him to tense.
“I’m protecting Jenna from anyone whose intention is to hurt or exploit her in any way.”
“I’m glad she has you, then,” her mother responded.
Then her mother’s sharp glance honed in on Jenna and her expression became one of concern. “Is something wrong, darling?”
Isaac immediately turned, and Jenna wished her mother hadn’t called attention to her. But the truth was, her stomach was about to revolt despite her huge effort to get through lunch without causing a fuss.
“What’s wrong, baby? You’re pale and you’ve hardly eaten anything.”
“I feel sick,” she admitted. “I’m not sure the shrimp agreed with me at all.”
“I’ll take you to the bathroom,” her mother offered, rising swiftly from her chair.
“She goes nowhere without me,” Isaac said in a steely voice.
Her mother smiled. “Of course not. But you can’t go into the ladies’ room with her, so I’ll go in and make sure she’s okay and you can stand at the door and make sure no one else comes in.”
Jenna could tell Isaac was about to argue that he’d damn well go into the bathroom with her and no one would stop him, so she laid her hand on his arm and looked pleadingly at him.
“Please just wait for us at the door. I’ll just be on the other side of it. I really do think I’m going to be sick.”
As she spoke, perspiration broke out on her forehead and her stomach lurched. Even her hands felt clammy and the room was starring to blur around her.
