one as well. More than once Jenna caught her mother sneaking peeks at him.
“I can’t believe how much I still have left after everything I got rid of,” Mel said when Brody came in with yet another box.
“Hard to get rid of a lifetime of memories,” Ellis said to her as he set one down marked Books. “I was lucky my girl took a lot of our stuff off my hands, all those things women love.”
“You have a few things,” said Jenna. She’d been to Ellis’s house for more than one chamber of commerce party.
“Oh, yeah. A couple of glass floats I’ve found on the beach. Gotta have that, and some things the granddaughters made for me. But the good china and the fancy figurines and jewelry are all gone. My wife always said she’d have no problem with me finding someone else if she went first, but if her replacement got her things she’d haunt me. I think she was only half kidding.”
“Guess she didn’t have to worry about you replacing her,” Brody said, setting down the box he’d brought in.
“Not yet,” Ellis said. “But you never know,” he added, and smiled at Mel, who blushed and got busy digging pots out of one of the kitchen boxes.
“This is the last of it,” Brody said to Mel. “You’re officially moved in.” He came over and put an arm around Jenna. Seth, who’d come down the hall from depositing a box in one of the bedrooms, arrived in time to see, and his lips pressed together so tightly the skin around them turned white.
Jenna knew her skin was far from white. She probably looked as red as the nail polish on her hands. Although what the heck did she have to be embarrassed about? She and Brody were an item now.
“Okay, then, time for food,” she said, stepping out from under his arm and grabbing her cell phone from the counter. “Drinks in the ice chest, men, and I’ll order pizza.”
Ellis helped himself to a can of Coke and settled at the kitchen table with Aunt Edie. Henry and Brody joined him, and Seth distanced himself, parking on one of the bar stools at the counter. Yep, buddies for life, those two.
Mom looked at Jenna as if to say, I told you so, and she shrugged.
Ellis, however, was relaxed and right at home. “I hope you’re going to be happy here,” he said to Mel.
“I’m sure I will be. I’m with my family and I’m making some wonderful new friends.”
“We’re a very friendly bunch,” he said.
“Yes, we are,” Brody agreed, and grinned at Jenna.
Seth said nothing. Mr. Green-Eyes.
If he was feeling jealous seeing her with Brody, it was nobody’s fault but his own. Seth Waters had his chance and he blew it.
The pizza arrived, and the men wasted no time in digging in.
“Pepperoni, my favorite,” Brody said to Jenna.
“Mine, too,” said Seth. “Thanks for feeding us.” Green-eyed but determined to be civil. And let her be with another man. Well, it was his loss.
“Thanks for helping,” she said.
“Happy to,” he replied.
“You bet,” said Brody, injecting extra enthusiasm into his voice to make up for getting beaten to the politeness punch.
The heavy lifting was done, and once the pizza was finished there was no reason for the men to remain. Seth was the first to leave, offering to help Mel with any handiwork she needed.
Not to be outdone, Brody said, “I’m here if you need anything.” Then, making sure everyone knew exactly who had the claim on Jenna, he gave her a kiss. “Give me a call when you’re done. I’ll take you to the Porthole.” With that he left to go with Henry to turn in the rental truck.
Ellis was the last to leave. “Going out to eat sounds like a good idea,” he said to Mel. “You’re going to be pooped after all this. How about I take you out to dinner?”
All right. Things were moving along quite nicely for her mom.
But as soon as Jenna looked at her mother, she knew what the response would be.
Good Lord, what was with the Jones women? Why was it so darned hard for them to sort out their love lives?
CHAPTER TWELVE
“I think I’d better pass,” Mel said to Ellis. “I’m pretty tired.”
She saw a flash of disappointment roll over his face, but he was a gentleman. “Another time, then,” he said.
“Another time,” she agreed, and wondered if she really wanted there to be another time.
Ellis was a kind man, good company