“You don’t have to explain your relationship to me. Um, why don’t you both sit down. I’ll make breakfast,” she says, hurrying to the cupboards.
Maggie and I look at each other. Even though Maggie is her mother, at this moment we’re nothing more than two strangers to her.
Maggie continues to finish the coffee before joining me at the table. I take her hand as we watch Jenny flit around the kitchen with efficiency that only comes from familiarity. She’s been here a while.
How longhasshe been here? I want to know, so I ask.
Maggie’s brows pull together, letting me know she doesn’t want me to push her daughter.
This little girl needs a father figure. I want to be that for her … if she’s willing to accept it.
Jenny pauses for a second, but surprisingly she answers honestly. “I came here the week after Jackson was born.”
The look on Maggie’s face kills me. This news pains her.
Since we’re on a roll, I go with it. Let’s rip the band-aid off from the get-go. I think Maggie deserves all the answers, and she deserves them right now … today.
“Why the deception?”
Maggie pushes my arm lightly. “Ray.”
“No. It’s okay, Mama,” Jenny says, setting two plates in front of us. “Go on, get started. I’ll just fix myself one, and then I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
Maggie glances down at her plate, finding a full breakfast. The girl has her mama’s flair for cooking. This looks delicious.
When Jenny lowers herself into the chair across from us, she finally answers my question.
“They threatened me, but that’s not all. I can’t blame everything on them. I … I couldn’t be a daughter, let alone a mother. I didn’t know if I could even … be.”
Maggie lets a little sound of distress out, covering her mouth. I pull her chair closer to mine and place my arm over her shoulders.
Jenny continues to tell us the story of how Rachel saw her when Jackson was born and how she found her on the bridge. How she saved her life … and then how she helped her escape it.
“I had to completely start over. I couldn’t bring anything with me to my new life if I was going to have one. It was the only way I survived.” She closes her eyes. “I … I didn’t like myself very much back then.”
When she opens them, I see her determination to come clean.
“Rachel sent a man named Bill to help me. Neither of us told him who I was, but I think he knew.”
“Wait a minute here. You knew Bill?” I ask. Bill was one of my best friends. He took my nephew, Dirk, under his wing and got him on the right track in life.
She nods. “He would talk to me about the club …”
Her gaze becomes distant, and before long she’s lost to her memories.
Chapter Fourteen
Jenny
Ihand Bill a beer and sit down in the chair beside him.
“I love coming up here,” he says. “It’s always a trip to see how much you and this place have changed.”
“Oh, we haven’t changed that much.”
He laughs that I used the word we, but it’s true. This place and me are one.
“I like the new look.” He motions down my frame.
