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“I was just keeping it warm for you.” Aunt Rosalie patted it and Jenna walked over.
“Jenna this is my nephew Glenn, he was a boxer and that’s his daughter Bree. Glenn this is Jenna, her ex-husband works with Eric, she moved here about a year ago and took over The Beauty Spot when Delores retired and she has a teenager, can you believe it? Isn’t she beautiful?”
“Hi.” Glenn stood as Jenna took her seat. When she was seated, he lowered back down.
“I’ll go get you a plate.” Aunt Rosalie clapped her hands together.
“Oh no...you don’t have to—” Jenna’s protest fell on deaf ears. Or should he say disappearing ears. His aunt was already back in the kitchen.
This was clearly an ambush. He wondered if it was only an ambush on his part or if Jenna was just as blindsided.
The table had grown oddly quiet and Glenn glanced around to see Gabe, Adriana, all of his cousins, and their wives staring in his direction. His uncle was the only person not looking their way. He was shoveling his food down. The man sat down and once he started eating he didn’t stop until his plate was clean.
As if the rest of the looky-loos all realized at once that they were staring they broke off into conversation.
“That wasn’t awkward at all,” Glenn said addressing the situation.
Jenna smiled. “Sorry about this. I didn’t have any idea...Rosalie just asked if I’d like to come to dinner. And it’s Hope Falls so I thought she was just being welcoming...”
“No worries,” Glenn assured her.
His aunt was back with a plate filled with food and Jenna’s eyes grew wide. “Thank you.”
“Mangia, mangia!” Aunt Rosalie commanded before heading down to the other end of the table and taking a seat next to his uncle.
“Wow, this is a lot of food.”
“Aunt Rosalie likes to feed people.” It was his aunt’s love language. Just like it had been his mom’s.
He’d been missing his parents a lot.
“Apparently.” Jenna grinned and lifted her fork, spinning it so that noodles wrapped around it. “So, you used to be a boxer?”
“I did,” Glenn answered before taking a large bite of spaghetti.
“Professionally?”
He nodded and continued chewing.
Over the past decade he’d rarely talked about his fighting days. But over the past ten days it was a constant subject of conversation.
Being back at the gym and working with a world-class athlete like Arturo Cruz had lit a fire in him. One that he thought had been extinguished forever.
“Why did you stop?”
Glenn grabbed his beer and took a swig.
“Sorry, was that too personal?”
Jenna seemed sweet. She was beautiful. Owned a business. Was a mom, which meant there would be a shorthand for being a parent.
But all he could think about was the wild woman who he was renting a house from. Vivien Wells was everything he shouldn’t be attracted to and the only thing he wanted.
