Jenna had always been the active and outdoorsy type. But she’d gotten away from that recently. Her office job kept her indoors and Jason hadn’t really been very sporty. He’d been more interested in art and culture.
The sound of Gordon’s retreating footsteps reached her ears, followed by the slap of the screen door.
“So how did Gordon end up coming here instead of flying home?”
“Oh, you know how it is. We just weren’t ready to part ways, and it was easy enough for him to change his flight.”
Jenna bit her lip as she carefully considered her response. “And you feel you know him well enough to have him here at the house?”
“Of course. You’d be surprised how well you can know someone after all the time we spent together. I feel like I’ve known him all my life.” She shoved the last of the load into the dryer.
“It’s just... this isn’t really like you, Mom. You don’t bring home strange men. I’ve never known you to bring home a man at all.”
“You needn’t be concerned. Gordon’s harmless. And he’s staying in the garage apartment, for heaven’s sake. It’s all perfectly proper.”
Well, Jenna was glad of that at least. Her mom had renovated the apartment over the winter with hopes of renting it out. “I thought it wasn’t finished just yet.”
“It only lacks a few pieces of furniture and all the extra touches. But he’s a man—give him a bed and a shower and he’s good to go. After that tiny ship cabin, he’s living large.”
When the slap of the screen indicated Gordon’s return, Jenna lowered her voice. “Do you know how long he’ll be staying?”
Mom gave her a look intended to convey that Jenna was treading on thin ice. “We haven’t exactly set a deadline. We’re just playing it by ear.”
“He doesn’t have a job to return to?”
“Jenna,enough. He’s retired. And I’m well beyond the age of being interrogated about my love life.” Mom shut the dryer door and started the cycle. “Now, I’m going to help Gordon put away the groceries and get supper started. Did you already have something to eat?”
“I had a burger on the way.”
“All right then.” Mom squeezed her arm and offered a warm smile. “It’s good to have you home, honey.”
“Good to be home, Mom.”
Excepthomenow seemed to come with a strange man who had no immediate plans to leave and unspecified intentions toward her mother.
The familiar creak of the porch swing soothed Jenna’s nerves. It had been hanging out here as long as she could remember and bore so many coats of white paint that the slats sported rounded edges.
She’d spent many summer evenings out here with Dad, listening to the night sounds, smelling the lilac bushes and scent of the ocean. She’d gotten her love of the outdoors from him. Mom didn’t mind a walk in the woods or a day at the beach. But she preferred the indoors to the heat of summer and all the mosquitoes and flies that came with it.
Across the street The Sand and Saddle B and B glowed. The white clapboard farmhouse boasted black shutters and a front porch wide enough for an entire family. An American flag angled from a post, fluttering in the breeze. A porch light illuminated the broad stairs leading to a welcoming entryway. How many times had she run up those steps and knocked on that door?
She’d always been welcomed into the Parkers’ happy, chaotic home. The couple and their three sons had moved in as she was starting sixth grade. She formed a tentative friendship with the boys—especially Tyson. He was in her grade at school, but they’d never known each other well. Like most elementary kids, Jenna hung with her girlfriends and Ty with his guy group.
Then, several months after the Parkers moved in across the street, her dad had died unexpectedly, and her whole world turned upside down. The shock of loss was as cruel as it was confusing. The pain of missing him was a deep-down ache no one could even touch, much less fix. Though her mom tried. But she was grieving too, and that seemed like one more pain than Jenna could bear.
She navigated the days afterward in some kind of trance. Learned that most people didn’t know what to say or do, so they said and did nothing.
Except the Parkers.
They wrapped their arms around Jenna and her mom, literally and metaphorically. They brought meals and shopped for groceries and picked Jenna up from softball practice when Mom worked second shift at the clinic. That led to suppers at their house most nights. They made Jenna feel like part of their family.
Alex, Seth, and Tyson were the siblings she’d always wanted and never had. Okay, she’d always wanted sisters, but she learned boys could also be fun. They knew how to play football and basketball, and over the years their size and strength made her a tougher competitor.
A truck rumbled down the road, slowing when it neared. As she recognized Ty’s Silverado, relief swept over her. Finally someone she could talk to about this situation with her mom.
After parking at the house he crossed the street, heading toward her. His long legs ate up the distance between them, and by the time he was loping up the porch steps, she was on her feet, ready with a hug.
Ty’s arms swallowed her up and that feeling of relief swelled. She’d somehow forgotten the comfort of his embrace. He was so big and strong. Felt so different in her arms than Jason with his leanfive-foot-ten frame. Ty smelled pleasantly of sunshine and the outdoors. She hung on an extra beat as he set his head on top of hers.
