Page 9 of Already Home

There it was. A taco of sorts. She’d been mentally playing withthe idea of combining Mexican and Indian cuisine. Many of the spices were rootedin the same plants.

Jenna grinned. Rooted in the same plants. That was funny. Thenher smile faded as she turned her attention back to the food she’d made.

She was nervous about tasting it. Experimenting used to be soeasy, so joyful. Now it terrified her. Worse, it made her feel sick inside, asif something that had once been a part of her was now lost. She ached to be whoshe’d been before and didn’t want to admit that woman was probably goneforever.

After squaring her shoulders, she picked up the taco and took abite. The unusual blending of spices didn’t sit well on her tongue. She foundherself unable to chew, let alone swallow. She spit the meat into the sink andflushed it down with water. After running the garbage disposal, she threw outthe rest of the taco.

When the tears came, she ignored them.

* * *

“I’m worried,” Beth said as she stacked rinsed dishes onthe counter. “Jenna doesn’t know anything about making a store work. She doesn’teven like shopping, unless it’s for knives. Then she could spend hours. But thisis different. This is working with the public.”

“She’s a smart girl,” Marshall said as he loaded thedishwasher. “Give her a chance. She’ll figure it out.”

“She doesn’t have much time to make it work. All her money istied up in that place. Her savings and her half of what she and Aaron got forthat sad little house they owned. If the city hadn’t wanted to buy it and tearit down for that road, she would have had even less. You should have seen theinventory in her store. Thousands of dollars’ worth of kitchen equipment.”

Her husband glanced at her. “Did you want her to start abusiness without something to sell?”

“Don’t be logical. You know how I hate that.” Beth sighed,wishing she could learn how to let go. But when it came to anyone she caredabout, she couldn’t help worrying. Obsessing, Marshall would say.

“She knows what she’s doing,” Marshall told her.

“I’m not so sure. She’s a chef. She should be cooking. Sheunderstands that world. I wish I knew what really happened with Aaron.”

“Do you think there’s more than she’s telling us? Isn’t Aaroncheating on her enough?”

“It is,” she admitted, although her mother’s instinct told herthere was more to the story than Jenna had admitted. Something was differentwith her daughter. Not just the expected sadness and hurt from the breakup of amarriage. It was bigger than that.

“Jenna will figure out her store. Didn’t she hire someone?”

“Violet. She’s wonderful. Pretty. Black hair and dark eyeliner.I’m sure she has tattoos.” Beth thought of the other woman’s stacked braceletsand her three silver hoops in each ear and wished she had the courage to beunconventional.

“Does Violet have retail experience?”

“Yes. Several years of it.”

“Then she’ll help Jenna.”

The statement drew Beth back to the subject at hand. Her chesttightened a little. “What if it’s not enough? I understand that Jenna needs toregroup. She has to think and come up with a plan for the rest of her life, butopening a store? I don’t think that was smart.”

She finished rinsing the last two pots. Marshall fitted theminto the dishwasher. She handed over the soap. He filled the cup, then closedthe dishwasher and started it.

The end-of-dinner ritual had been the same for years. WhenJenna had still been in the house, the three of them had cleaned the kitchentogether. It had been a time of conversation and laughter.

“If she fails at this, too, she’ll be crushed,” Beth whispered,aching for her only child.

“You need to let it go, Beth. You can’t protect her fromeverything. Jenna’s a smart girl.”

“Worry’s my thing.”

He moved toward her and slid his arms around her waist. “I’lladmit you’ve turned it into an art form. Now you need to practice lettinggo.”

She rested her hands on his shoulders and stared into his darkeyes. Even after all these years, being close to him made her breath catch.

“I can’t help it. I love her.”

“If you love something, set it free,” he began.

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