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Three weeks later, Jeni stood in her garage, bottling the first beer she brewed all on her own. The April weather was beautiful, and she left the garage door open to let in the breeze. A car pulled into her driveway, and Jeni looked up from her task, swiping hair back from her face with her forearm.
Lauren stepped out of her Honda. “Andrew said I might find you here.”
Jeni hadn’t spoken to Andrew, or anyone really, since the night at Lauren’s house. She hadn’t wanted to talk, especially since receiving the news her position would be cut from CPS. She had two weeks left and had no idea what she’d do when her time was up.
“He sent you to try and cheer me up?” Jeni lifted an eyebrow.
“No, he sent me for beer.”
Jeni snorted. “Well, get over here and help then. I could use someone to cap these after I fill them. Take as many of you want, but they can’t be opened for two more weeks.”
Lauren came closer, and Jeni showed her how to use the capper. Jeni went back to filling the bottles, setting them on the workbench when full.
“So, how are you?” Lauren asked.
“Fine.”
“Really?”
“No.”
Lauren squeezed the lever and inspected the finished product. “Not bad,” she said. “Wanna talk about it?”
“I don’t know.”
Lauren tipped her head in acknowledgement and remained silent, waiting for the next bottle. They worked side by side without speaking for several minutes.
“I got laid off,” Jeni blurted out. She hadn’t told anyone, not even Andrew. “And I miss Logan. I’m lonely. I don’t know what to do.”
“You got laid off? When?”
“My boss told me last week. Budget cuts.” Jeni didn’t blame Sandra even a little bit. The woman had cried when she broke the news, for goodness sake. “They didn’t have a choice. I’m done in two weeks.”
“I’m so sorry. Do you know what you’re going to do?”
“No.”
“Want me to look into social work positions at the cancer center?”
Jeni squinted. “Maybe? I don’t know. I really like working with kids.”
“I could ask at the children’s hospital where I volunteer.”
That could work. “That would be great, thanks. I haven’t really started looking yet. I think maybe I keep hoping something will change and Sandra will call me up to tell me they found something else for me at CPS.”
She wished there was another organization like FSD she could get involved in. After having seen the reach of the donations, she’d learned what a major impact nonprofits like that had—but with Logan at the helm, there was no way she’d seek a position at that one. So far, she hadn’t found another that appealed to her the same way.
“Maybe she will. But I’ll ask, just in case.”
“Thank you.” Jeni handed Lauren another bottle.
“And the other thing—want to talk about that?”
Jeni paused and dropped her head. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing or if I’m making the right decision when it comes to him. It feels like I’m not. In my heart, I know he’s different than my ex-husband. I know no two relationships are the same. And what I feel for him is so much stronger than what I felt for Jackson. So much that it terrifies me.”
“Why? What about it scares you?” Lauren finished capping the new bottle and put the tool on the table, giving Jeni her full attention.
“It used to be fear that any man I married would try to control me. But the more time I spent with Logan, the more I saw that’s not true.” Jeni’s shoulders slumped. She thought of his mother and Logan declining his dream job to move home and be with her during her cancer treatment. He’d proved that he put the people he loved before anything else. “Now though, I’m just scared that it will end. Because a lot of marriages do. And that I won’t recover like I was able to with Jackson. I went into my first marriage thinking it would be forever. Isn’t that what everyone thinks when they get married? Now I’m wiser, and I know it’s not a guarantee for life. What would it do to me if something came up and Logan and I couldn’t make it work? My heart wouldn’t survive.”
