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Was her mother really going to act as if none of this was happening?
And then she saw Nancy take a deep breath.
“As we’re all together round the table, I thought this would be a good time to have an honest talk.”
Really? Jenna thought. Did anyone in her family know how to have an honest talk?
“That sounds healthy,” Greg said, and Jenna frowned.
It sounded out of character.
Nancy served casserole onto plates and handed them round. “Now that Lauren has had time to recover from her jet lag, we need to talk about what happens next.”
Jenna added rice to her plate, appalled by her mother’s lack of tact. While she had the spoon in her hand, she added a mountain of rice to Lauren’s plate. Her sister needed to eat. “There’s plenty of time to think about the future.”
“No,” Nancy said. “In fact there isn’t.”
There was an awkward silence and Jenna felt a rush of irritation.
Couldn’t her mother just once deliver soothing platitudes as she was supposed to?
“Mom?”
“We need to help Lauren formulate a plan.”
“Plan?” Jenna failed to keep the irritation out of her voice. “You mean about Scott?”
“No. I assume there’s nothing to be done there or she would have done it years ago.”
“I’m here.” Lauren hadn’t touched her food. “Sitting right here at the table. And I know I need to make decisions. I need to find a job and somewhere to live.”
“There’s plenty of time for all that, isn’t there, Mom?” Jenna tried to smile but only managed to bare her teeth. “You have ten bedrooms, so the house isn’t exactly overcrowded. Lauren can live here while she decides what’s best for her and Mack. The rest can wait.”
Nancy sat down hard on the nearest chair. “It can’t wait.”
“It’s only until I’m back on my feet again,” Lauren said. “We won’t get in the way. You’ll hardly see us if you don’t want to, and we certainly won’t stop you painting.”
And there it was. The truth.
Because they both knew that was the only thing that mattered in their mother’s life. Painting.
“This has nothing to do with painting,” Nancy said. “You have no idea how I have struggled with this, but I know it’s the right decision.”
“What is? What decision?” Jenna realized with a lurch of her stomach that this wasn’t about saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. This was something more.
Her mother gripped the edge of the table. “I’m selling The Captain’s House.” There was a ripple in her voice that almost sounded like emotion. “The place is too big for me now. I’m on my own. I don’t need ten bedrooms.”
Jenna couldn’t have been more shocked if her mother had clocked her with a skillet.
“You said you would never sell it. You said your ancestors would turn in their graves.”
“Things change.”
Lauren was the color of hospital sheets. “Who are you selling it to?”
Nancy studied her hands for a long moment and then looked up.
“That’s the part that might be a little awkward. I’m selling to Scott Rhodes.”
