Page 64 of Wine and Research
Shoot. She hadn’t even thought about her clothes.
Elle snorted. “Yeah, he let me in.”
Jenna grinned and held up a hand. “Okay, good. Say no more.”
Funny thing was, there wasn’t much more to say.
“Uh oh…” Jenna frowned, her blue eyes, so like her brother’s, filled with concern. “You’re frowning again. What happened?”
It was now or never, and Elle really liked Jenna and needed to tell her what she’d discovered about their connection, regardless of the outcome. The woman deserved to hear it from her.
So she rose to her feet, and after taking a deep breath, she explained about seeing the article and how it related to her too.
“Oh, wow.” Jenna’s blue eyes filled with compassion. “Patrick was your brother?”
Elle nodded, blinking back tears. “I’m so sorry.”
The pretty woman jerked her head back. “Why? There’s no need. It wasn’t your fault any more than it was mine that your brother didn’t survive. Plain and simple, we both suffered a horrible loss that day,” Jenna said, pulling her in for a hug.
She nodded, holding the woman tight, blown away by her insight and compassion. Jenna Mercer truly was the sweetest person Elle had ever known. Such a stark contrast from her brother.
Although, he could be sweet. Like today, with the cinnamon bun…dang. It was still in a bag on his end table. Not that her stomach was anywhere near settled enough to eat.
Jenna released her and drew back. “So, what did my idiot brother do? Surely, he doesn’t hold you responsible for our father, does he?”
“No.” She shook her head and sighed. “But discovering I had a brother and an ex-husband in the span of five minutes didn’t bode well for me.”
Dawning entered her friend’s eyes. “Ah. Jeremy isn’t good with secrets, even ones that weren’t exactly secrets.”
Elle dropped back down in her chair and sighed. “Yeah. I know, and I wasn’t deliberately keeping it from him. I just don’t talk about my past.”
Her friend nodded. “I get it. It just may take him a little longer, but he’ll come around. Give him some time. He cares about you, Elle. A lot. He’s never looked at anyone the way he looks at you. Not even Naomi.”
Euphoria and apprehension didn’t mix well, but they were currently swirling in her chest. She’d love to give Jeremy time. But would time come back to bite them?
And on that thought, her stomach lurched. Elle swallowed a few times and decided to change the subject.
“Okay, so what did you call me here for? What kind of advice can I possibly give you?” she asked, watching a blush color her friend’s face.
“Well, uh,” Jenna stammered and began to pace. “What would you do if you’ve liked someone for years, but he never paid attention to you, and then you accidentally kiss, but after you’re both breathless, he goes and tells you it was a mistake?”
It took Elle a second to get the question straight in her head, then she smiled. “You and Scott finally kissed?”
Jenna turned beet red and sank down into her chair. “Yeah…how did you know it was Scott?”
“I’m a people watcher, remember? Your bodies are definitely into each other, but he is in denial.”
Her friend snorted. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“So, what happened?”
“I took a bouquet over to his grandmother’s house, because yellow carnations are her favorite, and she’d just lost one of her good friends, so I wanted to cheer her up. Anyway, Loretta wasn’t home, but Scott was there fixing a post on her back porch, and when he came in to wash up, we kind of bumped into each other and…”
“And caught each other with your lips,” Elle finished for her.
Jenna’s blush deepened. “Yes.”
“And it was good?”
