Chapter Sixteen #2
“As a matter of fact, I do.” She met her mother’s gaze. “I’ve been seeing somebody, and she’s invited me to her parents’ house later. I don’t want to be late, so that’s why I’ve been checking my watch. I apologize. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
Nathan grinned at her, and Jacob jumped in with “That’s great, Jen. What does she do?”
Thanks to her brothers, she spent the next fifteen minutes extolling the virtues of Sawyer Hall, and while her parents were their usual quietly unimpressed selves when it came to their daughter’s sexuality, they didn’t interrupt.
In fact, they seemed to be attentively listening, taking it all in, and that felt new.
Different. By the time Jenna had helped clear the table and load the dishwasher and was getting ready to leave, her mother approached her in the kitchen, a homemade apple pie in hand.
“Here. Take this.”
Jenna frowned. “Mom, I love your pie, but I can’t eat the whole thing by myself.” She wrinkled her nose. “Well, let me amend that. I shouldn’t eat the whole thing by myself.”
Her mother smiled and said, “No, it’s to take with you today. You can’t show up to somebody’s house empty-handed.”
While she had two bottles of wine in the car, as well as a new romance for Sawyer’s mother, she knew enough to appreciate her mother’s gesture for what it was: a peace offering. She took the pie. “Thanks, Mom.”
Her mother wrapped her in a hug, and Jenna tried to hide her surprise.
Not because her mother hugged her, but because she hugged her.
Held on tight. Squeezed her close. It was new and different, and when she heard her mother whisper, “It’s nice to see you so happy,” close to her ear, her eyes welled up.
When they parted, she saw her mother was also teary, and they both laughed about it.
Her mother waved her away. “Go. Say goodbye to your father and then get a move on. You don’t want to be late. And be careful driving.”
Ten minutes later, she was backing out of her parents’ driveway, a fresh apple pie on the passenger seat and an oddly pleasant feeling in her soul, despite the remnants of slight shock that still hung on, so opposite of how she usually felt after spending the day at her parents’ house.
While she had no idea what had happened today, she wasn’t about to ignore that it had been something.
Interestingly, she couldn’t wait to talk to Sawyer about it.
She followed her GPS, pulled into the Halls’ driveway just behind Sawyer’s Accord, and then flipped the visor down to check herself in the mirror.
Hair, mascara, good. She swiped on some peach-flavored lip balm, gave one nod at herself, flipped the visor back up, and let out a little cry of surprise.
Sawyer was looking in her car window waving.
Jenna pressed a hand to her chest and laughed. “Are you trying to scare me to death?” she asked as she pushed the door open.
“Oh, no, if I was trying to do that, I would’ve borrowed the Ghostface mannequin my dad keeps in the attic for Halloween decorating.”
“Yup, that would do it,” Jenna said as she handed both bottles of wine to Sawyer, then picked up the pie.
“You made a pie?”
“Nope. My mom did.” At Sawyer’s wide eyes, she said, “I know. Tell you all about it later.” She held Sawyer’s gaze for a moment, then said, “Hi, you,” and pushed up onto her toes to kiss her quickly on the mouth.
“Hi.” Sawyer’s smile was radiant. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me too.”
“Come on.” Sawyer took her hand and led her up the driveway of the modest, white-sided house with an open front porch. When she pushed the front door open, Jenna was shocked by the difference between her parents’ house and Sawyer’s.
Not that her parents’ house was cold or uninviting.
It wasn’t. But the Halls’ house was like an invitation on steroids.
It was warm—both in temperature and in atmosphere—and it seemed to pull Jenna in without her consciously making a decision to enter.
The aromas of turkey and bread and baked goods hung in the air like additional guests, making Jenna’s mouth water, despite her having already eaten.
Laughter came from a room on the left, and Sawyer led her by the hand into the dining room where it seemed impossible that the joyous sounds were coming from only four people—Sawyer’s mom and dad, her sister Courtney, and a man Jenna assumed was Courtney’s husband.
“Jenna!” Sawyer’s mom stood from her chair, arms outstretched and crossed the room before Jenna even had a chance to take off her coat. The next thing she knew, she was wrapped in a warm embrace.
“Mom’s had a little wine,” Sawyer stage-whispered, and that earned her a playful slap from her mom.
“I have not.” Ally met Jenna’s gaze and held her thumb and forefinger close together as she whispered, “Just a little bit.”
“You can have as much wine as you want,” Jenna said, and Ally stuck her tongue out at Sawyer. Jenna held out the pie. “From my mom.” She felt a weirdly new sense of pride as she said it, and she could feel Sawyer’s surprise as she stood next to her.
“Oh, that looks amazing.” Ally took the pie into the kitchen.
“Come on,” Sawyer said, tugging Jenna’s coat off. “I saved you a seat.” She pointed at the empty chair and place setting between Courtney and what Jenna assumed was Sawyer’s chair.
Jenna sat and gave Courtney a one-armed hug. “How are you feeling?”
“Like my child wants to kill me,” Courtney said. “It wants me to eat constantly, so I do, and then it gives me heartburn and nausea and leg cramps, and do you wanna know something, Jenna?” She leaned close. “I am fucking over it.”
“You only have to hang in there a little longer.” Jenna looked at the handsome man with the sandy hair and neat beard sitting next to her. “Hi. I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Jenna.”
“Ugh,” Courtney said, waving a hand. “Sorry. Jenna, my husband Marshall, who I hate for getting me into this”—she waved an open hand in a circle in front of her swollen belly—“situation. Marshall, this is Sawyer’s girlfriend, Jenna.”
The descriptor came as a surprise to Jenna—and to Sawyer as well, who stopped in her tracks on her way back in from hanging up Jenna’s coat, if her wide eyes were any indication. Jenna met her gaze, smiled and gave her a subtle shrug, and that’s all it took for relief to wash over Sawyer’s face.
Jenna spent the rest of the evening in awe of how different their families were.
It wasn’t like she’d never been to the houses of others for holidays.
She had. Maybe because this was Sawyer, and Sawyer was starting to mean something to her…
maybe that was why it was all so glaring.
While her own parents were nice, decent people, they weren’t riotous.
They weren’t hilarious, not like Sawyer’s family.
Sawyer’s father, Jeff, was just as warm and welcoming and funny as her mom, and between the two of them and Courtney’s constantly comparing her baby to various monsters or very large food, Jenna laughed almost nonstop for the entire visit.
By the time she and Sawyer got ready to leave, she was overly full, a little tipsy, and her sides hurt from laughing so much.
Deciding they’d leave Sawyer’s car there to be picked up the next day so she could drive Jenna home, they hugged everybody, said their goodbyes, and piled in. Sawyer had started the vehicle ten minutes before, and it was all toasty when Jenna dropped into her own passenger seat.
“Oh my God, that was so much fun,” she said, leaning back against the headrest as Sawyer put the car in gear and backed out. “Your family is hilarious. My face hurts from laughing.”
“I’m really glad you came.” Sawyer flicked on her turn signal and made a left.
“Me too.” Jenna blew out a long breath. “I told my family about you today,” she said quietly, and she felt more than saw Sawyer look at her.
“You did?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And…how did that go?”
Jenna rolled her head to her left to study Sawyer’s profile—the strong jawline and perfect nose with the dark-rimmed glasses perched on it, her tousled dark hair—and smiled at her. “Better than you or I would have expected.”
Sawyer looked at her as they sat at a red light. “Really?”
“Really. My brothers got me talking, and my parents didn’t say much, which was exactly what I expected.” Her mind took her back to that moment in the kitchen. “But my mom hugged me so tight, and she told me I seemed happy, and she gave me a pie so I wouldn’t show up empty-handed.”
“Wow.”
“Right?”
The light turned green and Sawyer pressed on the gas. “And are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Happy.”
Jenna had no control over the smile that broke out across her face as she continued to study Sawyer’s gorgeous face. “Very.”
And then it was Sawyer’s turn to smile.
A few minutes later, they were home, and it was by unspoken agreement that Sawyer would stay at Jenna’s.
She didn’t even go into her own side of the house, Jenna having already gotten her a toothbrush.
Once inside, Jenna’s slight intoxication became a bit more pronounced, and she tipped a bit into Sawyer, who steadied her with a soft laugh.
“Why don’t you head up? I’ll take care of Arnold and the cats.”
Normally, Jenna wouldn’t entrust her boys to anybody else, but Sawyer was different.
She kissed the top of her dog’s head and sent him on his way to the back door, then stood at the base of the stairs and watched as her dog and her “girlfriend” headed down the hall and into the kitchen.
She could hear Sawyer talking to him, heard the door open and close, then heard her chatting to the cats, who surely had congregated in the kitchen expectantly.
The sounds of dishes and utensils came next, and it was all so wonderfully domestic, so normal, that it brought tears to Jenna’s eyes.
With a scoff, she chided herself for having had a smidge too much wine and headed upstairs with a smile on her face she couldn’t seem to shake.
Once she finished brushing her teeth and washing her face, she undressed, then pulled out her pajamas…
and put them back. She slid under the covers naked just as she heard Sawyer and Arnold coming up the stairs.
“Okay,” Sawyer said as she came into the room.
“Everybody’s fed and watered, and Arnie did all his business.
” Arnold jumped up onto the bed for some loving from his mommy.
“I’ll be right there.” Sawyer disappeared into the bathroom, and Jenna heard the various sounds of her nightly routine.
By the time she finished and came back into the bedroom, Arnold had retired to his dog bed in the corner, and Jenna watched her cross the room.
She took her glasses off, got in bed, and said, “Hoo, what a day. I am ex—” and that’s when she noticed Jenna’s state of undress. “You’re naked.”
“I am.”
“And I’m suddenly no longer tired.”
Jenna grinned. “I was hoping that would be the case.” She reached for Sawyer’s head and pulled her into a searing kiss, then rolled them so she was completely on top. She looked down into blue eyes and whispered, “I’d like to give some thanks…”