Page 38 of A Thistle Beyond Time
“Never had pizza before, huh?” Jenna queried.
“Nae. ’Twas verra delicious. How do they make it?” Cormac wondered aloud.
“Well, it’s really not that hard. You just need to make good dough and have a really hot brick oven.”
She could tell he was thinking about that concept.
“What is it made from?” he asked.
“I have a recipe at home. I’ll copy it for you and you can take it with you when you go.” The thought made her sad, somehow. She didn’t want him to go, but she couldn’t expect him to stay either. He had told her he missed his family. That wasn’t a feeling she had ever experienced. She missed Dylan when he wasn’t around for a few days, but her parents were another story. They hadn’t been around much since she was a kid. She missed Ashley, who was off wandering around Scotland with her new husband, and she missed Ashley’s mother and father, who were both deceased. She’d spent most of her childhood with the Moore’s. Of course, her parents had always provided for her, she never lacked for anything, but they were never really involved in her life. They were busy travelling around the world all the time. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d seen them in person. It had been years. She spoke with them often, or at least, as often as she possibly could. Dylan was the only person she could really rely on since Ashley left, but she couldn’t expect him to drop everything to babysit her when she needed him. She was going to have to get her act together and get on with her life. Jonathan had destroyed what little faith she had in humanity, but somehow Cormac was giving that back to her.Damn. Why does he have to be leaving so soon?
Back at the San Francisco house, Jenna started the preparations for their evening. Cormac didn’t have much to do. He just needed to shower and put on his tux. She, on the other hand, had a manicurist coming by to do her nails, a hairdresser for her hair and a makeup artist. She had to look amazing tonight. She was accepting an award for her parents, who had generously donated an entire wing to the Children’s Hospital. She was only slightly nervous about getting up there in front of all those people. Her speech had been memorized and would be followed by a video montage of her parents doing good deeds all over the world. She felt guilty, because it bothered her that she had to share her parents with needy children around the globe. She felt selfish and it embarrassed her to even think about it. She had everything she could possibly want, there was no way she was going to begrudge any child the help they needed, when they needed it. If her parents could do that for so many, surely she could suck it up and be grateful to have been born to such giving parents.
Jenna directed Cormac to a spot on the sofa and turned the television on for him. She showed him how to use the remote control and let him flip through the channels to find something to watch that suited him. While he was doing that, she opened the door to the manicurist, who set up shop in the dining room.
Cormac tipped his head back on the sofa to get a look at what was going on behind him. He had been pushing buttons on the remote control Jenna had handed him and found himself more confused than when he’d started searching ‘for something to watch’ as Jenna had suggested he do. He had many questions for her, but knew from experience she would not believe he didn’t know the answers. She had left the thing she called her ‘phone’ sitting on the table in front of him and it was buzzing loudly. He picked it up and marveled at the small square pictures all over it. He touched one and before he knew what was happening, he was seeing more things he couldn’t comprehend. He took the phone with him and got up to see what was causing the odd smell coming from the dining room.
The manicurist practically dropped the open bottle of nail polish when she got a glimpse of Cormac coming up behind Jenna.
“What is that smell?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.
“It’s the nail polish,” Jenna offered. “Melanie’s almost finished, so it’ll be gone soon.”
“Jenna, yer phone was buzzing like a bee. I know you like to keep it close by, so I brought it to you.”
“Oh, thanks. You can put it down over there. I’ll check it when my nails are dry.”
“Jenna, I must ask ye,” he hesitated, looking unsure of himself.
“Yes,” Jenna responded. “It’s okay. Ask me anything – within reason.”
“How did the wee dancing bird get inside of yer phone?”
Jenna burst out laughing, as did the manicurist.
“Cormac, you are so funny. Oh gosh, it’s a good thing I haven’t had my makeup done yet, I’d have mascara running down my cheeks,” Jenna said.
The two women continued giggling, even as Cormac stood there dumbfounded as to what he had done that had them laughing so hard.
“I dinnae ken why yer laughing. I saw the wee bird and wondered how it got into yer phone, and how did it learn to dance? I truly dinnae understand this thing,” he said as he waved his hand over the phone and placed it on the table. “Or that thing in there.” He indicated the television across the room.
“I’ll try to explain it to you later, or you can ask Dylan. He’s much better with technology than I am,” Jenna sounded different to him today. She hadn’t gotten angry with him for his questions. She had laughed, but that was better than yelling, he supposed.
The doorbell rang and Jenna asked, “Can you get that for me, Cormac. It’s probably my hairdresser.”
Cormac turned and walked to the door. He opened it to a smiling young woman with red hair, who was wheeling a trunk behind her.
“Hi,” she said. “Is Jenna here?”
“Aye, lass. She be right in there,” Cormac said, pointing towards the dining area.
“I love your accent. Where are you from?” she asked.
“Scotland,” Cormac said, wondering why all the women in America were in love with the way he spoke. No one at home had ever said anything to him about it. He followed the nameless redhead as she bustled over to Jenna.
Melanie was packing up her bag and getting ready to leave. “Becky,” she gushed as she hurried over to the new arrival and offered her a hug. “How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in ages.”
“I know. Can you believe how long it’s been?” Becky responded.
