Page 88 of Already Home

She felt everyone watching her. Tom and Serenity were sohopeful, her parents, carefully noncommittal.

“I’ll bet that coffee is ready,” she said and ducked into thekitchen.

She hurried into the other room, knowing her escape wastemporary. When she heard footsteps behind her, she turned, expecting to seeBeth. Instead Tom stood there.

“I know it’s hard,” he said, his dark eyes watching her. “Butwe’d really like you to come. Everything is beautiful right now. Growing. Newlife. Your mother...” He cleared his throat. “Serenity cried every night for thefirst six months. I would see her swollen eyes every morning when we went toschool. Beth and Marshall are wonderful, but they’ve had you your entire life.Please, Jenna, just give us this.”

His plea, so obviously from the heart, was difficult to ignore.Maybe she didn’t understand Serenity, but everything her birth mother had donehad been kind and loving. The least Jenna could do was respond the same way.

She drew in a breath. “Sure,” she said at last. “I’ll go withyou.”

Fourteen

Violet nearly danced with impatience. Shewas so excited about her new dress. Cliff was taking her to the theater thatnight and she’d wanted to look perfect. For once she’d blown out her hairinstead of leaving it casual. The soft curls complemented her more subtle makeupand subdued jewelry.

But the dress itself was the star. It was a vintage-inspiredblue cocktail dress that fell to the middle of her calf. The fitted bodice wasdecorated with black jet beads, while the skirt was full with layers oftulle.

She’d found a beaded black evening bag at a thrift store andwas wearing a pair of the Stuart Weitzman pumps she’d bought with Beth. For thefirst time in her life, Violet felt like a princess.

When Cliff knocked on the door, she had to bite her lip to keepfrom laughing with delight. She hurried to the door and threw it open.

“Hi!”

Instead of responding, he stared at her. “What are youwearing?”

She grabbed his hand and drew him into her apartment, then shespun in a circle. “Isn’t it amazing? I love this dress more than I’ve ever lovedany piece of clothing in my life. I’m so excited we’re going somewhere I canwear it.”

But instead of looking happy, Cliff scowled.

“What?” she asked.

“Where did you get it?”

“The dress? At a consignment store.” Her pleasure faded alittle. “Don’t you like it?”

“I know your style. You don’t dress like this.”

She stared at him, trying to read his emotions. But for onceshe couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“I went shopping with Beth,” she said, trying to keep the hurtfrom showing in her voice. She’d done this for him, and somehow it had goneterribly wrong. “Jenna’s mother. She helped me buy a bunch of clothes. I wantedto dress better. I wanted you to be proud of me.”

Cliff’s shoulders rolled forward and his face relaxed. “Youdidn’t have to do that, Violet. I’m always proud of you. You’re alwaysbeautiful.” He smiled. “Especially tonight.”

She stared at him. “Why were you upset at first?”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t upset exactly,” he began, then shook hishead. “Who am I kidding? I was jealous as hell. You looked so amazing and I knowI don’t deserve you. I thought you were going to tell me you didn’t want to seeme again. That it was over.”

“Why would I get dressed up to do that?”

“To show me what I was losing.”

Raw shame darkened his eyes, a wounded expression that told hersomewhere in his past, something like that had happened. Someone had been thatcruel.

“Cliff,” she whispered. “I would never do that. I bought thisdress for you. I want to be everything you could want.”

He lightly touched her face. “You don’t know how much thatmeans to me. I’m sorry I was a jerk.”

“It’s okay. I understand.” They’d both been hurt, she thought,going to him. They had that in common. The truth was Cliff wasn’t the mostexciting guy on the planet, but she was just fine with that. He was safe, andthat would always be the most important thing to her.

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