There was no point putting off the inevitable. Her mom had been pretty upset the other night hearing the scheme she and Erik were pulling. If she wanted to talk now, it was probably only to continue telling Jennyhow worried she was. But Jenny knew better than to ignore a call from her mother. And besides, with all that was happening, she felt like she could use a friendly ear.
So she accepted the call, bracing herself.
“Hi, Mom,” she said.
“How are you holding up, sweetheart?” Sure enough, her mom’s tone was a little too high. She was trying to be light and cheerful, but Jenny could still hear the worry there.
“I’m fine, Mom,” Jenny said with a calm she didn’t feel. “I’m actually glad you called.”
“Why?” her mom asked. “What’s happening?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Jenny said. “It’s just… I think this might be turning into something real.”
“What are you talking about?” her mother demanded.
“He asked me to go on a real date with him last night,” Jenny said. “We went out to dinner, and it was really, really nice.”
“I know you had a crush on him in college,” her mom said carefully. “But things are different now.”
Jenny blinked in surprise. She thought she’d kept such a good lid on her feelings back then. Hadeveryoneknown about her infatuation with Erik Anderson?
“You still there?” her mom asked.
“Yes,” Jenny said. “Sorry. How did you know that I liked him?”
“You talked about him constantly,” her mom said, chuckling. “It was very sweet. He really does seem like a lovely person.”
“Oh,” Jenny said. “But you don’t think I should give him a chance?”
“Listen,” her mom said, sighing. “Try to remove yourself from the situation and look at it from the outside. The man was just engaged to someone else a few days ago.”
“I know,” Jenny said. “But it sounds like it was an unusual situation.”
“That may be true,” her mom said. “But it doesn’t change the facts. And you can’t afford to be his rebound. Not when my grandson needs every bit of love and stability you can provide. I know you didn’t ask for my advice, but I think you need to pull back, honey.”
That last sentence was spoken softly, and with so much love that Jenny couldn’t find it in herself to rebel even a little bit.
“You’re right,” she said, blowing out a breath.
“I know,” her mom said. “I wish I weren’t. You and Gael should probably head home now, sweetheart, before you get in too deep.”
She thought about it. It probably would be a lot easier to take off this dress and tell Erik she couldn’t do it. She could just head back to Boston with Gael and try to forget all about the time they had spent together.
But then she thought about the veterans at the Center, and the looks on all those faces, young and old, when they saw her and Gael stop in.
“I think I have to stay,” she said slowly. “I don’t think we can disappoint the veterans, or Gael. They’re all so excited about the wedding.”
“Do what you feel you have to do,” her mom said. “But please don’t risk your heart, Jenny.”
They both fell silent.
Neither of them wanted to say it out loud, but Jenny was pretty sure they were both thinking about the time just after she lost Jason. She had been so devastated for so long. It was hard to eat or sleep, impossible to do anything but drag herself to work and home again.
Her mom had come out to stay with her for a while, and that helped some. But mostly she’d had to find her way out of the darkness very, very slowly on her own.
I can’t risk feeling like that again,she realized.Not even a little bit, not when I have Gael.
“Mom,”Gael called to her from outside the dressing room.“Ben has to go, but he wants to know if we can meet them in the park later.”
