Sunset on Moonlight Beach - Sheila Roberts Page 0,10
school when she met Tristan. He’d been a senior, already accepted to the college of his choice. Long-distance relationships were hard, especially when one member of the couple was a teenager still in high school and one had moved on to college. College changed things. Still, the relationship had lasted longer than she’d thought it would.
“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” Jenna said, hugging her sobbing daughter.
“He f-found someone else.”
Which was what Jenna had suspected would happen. Oh, how it hurt when the one you gave your heart to found someone else. She thought of Damien, her ex, and his someone else and fought the urge to grind her teeth.
“They’re engaged even. He’s been cheating on me!”
Tristan was so lucky he wasn’t anywhere within strangling range. “He doesn’t deserve you,” Jenna growled.
Truer words were never spoken. Her daughter had outgrown her teen brat phase and turned into a sweet young woman.
Alas, at a time like this, words held little comfort.
Aunt Edie, who had been puttering in the kitchen, came into the hall, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “Oh, no. What’s happened?”
Nora was dressed again, and she, too, joined them.
“Tristan broke up with her,” Jenna explained.
“He was my true love,” Sabrina wailed.
“I know, baby.” Jenna walked her into the living room and settled her on the couch, the other two women following.
“How could he do this to me?” Sabrina looked at Jenna, her blue eyes red and teary, lower lip trembling.
As if Jenna had an answer. How could Damien have dumped her after how hard she’d worked to support them all while he pursued his career as an artist? The human heart was a mystery.
She shook her head. “Do you want it straight or do you want it sugarcoated?”
Sabrina swallowed. “Straight,” she whispered.
“He found someone he thought was a better fit for him.”
“But we were so happy,” Sabrina protested on a fresh sob.
“I know you were. And I’m sorry,” Jenna said. She put a hand to her daughter’s cheek. “This is not really about you. It’s about him. You are fabulous.”
“If I’m so fabulous, why wasn’t I a fit? I thought I was a fit. I thought we fit together perfectly.”
“I thought I was a fit,” muttered Jolly Roger from inside his cage.
“Oh, Roger, do be quiet,” Aunt Edie snapped. “I’m going to make you some hot chocolate,” she said to Sabrina. “That will make you feel better.”
“Nothing will make me feel better. Ever,” Sabrina insisted. “It’s not right.”
It never was. “I know,” Jenna said, and put an arm around her. “I know.”
Nora dug a tissue out of her purse and handed it over. “The love of my life broke up with me when I was about your age,” she said as Sabrina blew her nose.
Sabrina sniffed and looked at her hopefully. “How did you get him back?”
“Get him back? Are you kidding? Why would I want someone back who didn’t have enough good taste to appreciate me? I got my hair done, bought some new clothes and stood up in my homeroom class and announced that I was taking applications for a new boyfriend.”
Sabrina managed a weak smile at that.
“And?” Jenna prompted.
“And none of them were good enough. I didn’t find the real love of my life until I was in college. But he was worth the wait.”
Aunt Edie returned with a steaming mug of instant hot chocolate and handed it over to Sabrina. “This will turn out. You’ll see. Every storm brings a rainbow.”
Jenna smiled at that. It was her mother’s favorite saying. Maybe she’d learned it from Aunt Edie.
Eventually Sabrina was soothed and went to her bedroom to text her girlfriends with details of Tristan’s perfidy and plan for how she would get on with the rest of her forever ruined life. Aunt Edie returned to the kitchen and Jenna let out a sigh and leaned her head against the couch cushions.
“Another crisis survived,” Nora said with a smile as she dug the money she owed Jenna out of her purse. “I guess I’ll go on home now.”
“Thanks for the words of wisdom,” Jenna said. “You saved the day.”
“It’s hard being young and in love.”
It was hard being in love at any age. Or, in Jenna’s case, being confused. How could you love two men at the same time, for crying out loud?
She should just make a decision, she thought after Nora left. It was obvious. She needed to grab Brody and say, “Let’s do it. Let’s go to the courthouse right now and get married.” He was