Sunset on Moonlight Beach - Sheila Roberts Page 0,107
oil, that kind of thing. Got a house that I’m fixing up.”
“For anyone special?” asked Mom. Just a little nudge, subtle as a bulldozer.
“For someone very special,” he said.
Next Gramps wanted to know how Courtney’s business was doing.
“It’s going great,” she said. “I’ve still got tomorrow and our Seaside with Santa festival coming up, and that will bring in customers. During the off season I’ll work on designing more clothes and building my inventory back up. Actually, it was a little slow the last few weeks, so I’ve already started.”
“We’re so proud of you,” Mom said to her. “You’ve come a long way since...”
“Your starter marriage,” her older sister Angela supplied.
“Best mistake you ever made,” he said, not at all ruffled.
“It’s all about landing on your feet,” added Dad.
Courtney had definitely landed on her feet.
“When is that boy going to give you a ring?” Mom demanded as the women gathered in the kitchen and began cutting the pumpkin and pecan pies.
“He’s waiting for the perfect moment,” Courtney said.
“Every day has twenty-four hours’ worth of perfect moments,” Mom informed her. “You need to hurry up. The longer you wait the harder it is to get pregnant. Your eggs are getting old.”
“My eggs are fine,” Courtney replied, irritated.
“Mom, give her a break,” said Angela, coming to her rescue.
“Don’t listen to your mother. She’s always been a bossy thing,” Aunt Marlys said to Courtney, patting her shoulder on her way out to the dining room with the first two plates of pie.
“I’m not being bossy,” Mom insisted. “I’m being encouraging.”
Was that what you called it?
“I’m so done seeing parents until the new year,” Courtney said as she and Jonas started the drive home. “Mom is making me nuts.”
“I like your mom,” he said, flipping on the windshield wipers.
“You would. She gave you half a pie to take home.”
“You’re jealous ’cause she likes me better,” he teased.
“I almost think she does. And who could blame her? You’re as close to perfect as a man can get.”
“I’ll remember that when you give me a hard time about leaving my clothes lying on the floor.”
“I bet you don’t do that at the station.”
“That’s different. Gotta keep things neat there.”
“Gotta keep things neat once we’re official and living together,” she said.
“We’re already official. Don’t doubt it.”
She didn’t. But maybe there was more of her mother in her than she cared to admit. Like Mom, she was starting to get impatient.
* * *
It was the first Thanksgiving Jenna’s mother wasn’t with them. Mel had gone to Bellevue to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of Ellis’s family, proof that they were easing into something more serious than friendship. It seemed odd not to have her at the dining table, sharing their feast.
And it felt all wrong not to have Aunt Edie with them. Even though Sabrina was in the kitchen, helping Jenna get the meal ready, it wasn’t the same without Aunt Edie there, fussing over the dressing and baking the pumpkin pies.
Pete had examined them as they sat cooling on a rack and gave them his seal of approval. “They look good, kid,” he said to Jenna.
Kid. This was a new nickname. At least he wasn’t calling her old girl.
“They look good, kid,” Jolly Roger agreed from his kitchen perch.
“Thank you, both of you,” Jenna had said.
Aunt Edie would have been happy to see Roger being allowed in the kitchen to watch the goings-on. And she’d have been delighted to see Jenna and Pete actually getting along. Who knew how long that would last? Probably until spring, at least, when they’d be busy sprucing up the Driftwood. By then, Jenna suspected Pete’s back would start acting up and they’d slip into the old familiar patterns once more.
Spring. She had until the end of May to convince Brody to sell her the Driftwood.
She pushed the thought out of her mind. She was going to concentrate on today and today only, and think about the things in her life that were good.
Even with Mel and Aunt Edie missing, the table was full. Celeste and Henry and the baby were there, eating the first of two Thanksgiving dinners, the second to happen when they spent Saturday with Henry’s family. Seth was at the table, also.
Jenna had been surprised he’d accepted when she’d stopped by his new house and invited him, sure that he’d be making the trek to Tacoma to see his brother.