Mia Ross - Finding His Way Home

“Because I feel like having company, and no one ever turns down my cooking.” She looked from him to Jenna. “Should I plan on seeing you two or not?”

Jenna had been planning to work late to finish up the doggy painting for her clients. But since she didn’t have a domestic bone in her body, she never could resist the lure of a home-cooked meal. “Sounds good to me. Six o’clock?”

Olivia gave her grandson a questioning look, and after hesitating, he gave in with a grin. “Works for me. While I’m here, I’ll tighten up that loose railing on your front steps.”

She beamed at him as if he’d just offered to build her a whole new porch. “That would be wonderful, honey. Thank you.”

“I’d imagine there’s a lot more jobs like that around here,” he commented as she walked Jenna and him to the door. “I know Paul and Jason have their hands full with the mill, so you go ahead and make a list. It might take me a while, but I’ll make sure everything gets done.”

“I’ll do that.” Pausing on the porch, she hugged him again, grasping his arms as she gazed up at him. “Welcome home, Scott.”

His sheepish grin made him look about ten years old, and he stooped to kiss her cheek. “Thanks, Gram. See you Friday.”

Back in the truck, Jenna couldn’t help gloating a little. “So, that went well.”

“As blatant manipulation goes, it was a ten.” While he fiddled with the ignition, he sighed. “But I can’t blame you for taking a shot. I wasn’t getting anywhere on my own, but now I feel stupid for being so worried about seeing her.”

“Your grandmother is a very forgiving person,” Jenna reminded him gently. “Actually, your whole family’s like that. It’s one of the big reasons I enjoy spending time with them. They don’t expect anyone to be perfect, and that makes it easier for me to be myself.”

“Mostly, they don’t have patience for a lot of nonsense.” When the ancient truck finally let out a hacking cough and started, Scott pulled out of the driveway and headed out of town. “Mom sees right through that kinda thing, and she seems to think a lot of you. That’s good enough for me.”

“Good to know.”

“So, what’ve you got planned for Gretchen?”

“No plans,” she replied with a shrug. “I’ll let her run the show. If she wants to confide in me, I’ll listen. If not, that’ll be okay, too. She’s old enough to decide stuff like that for herself.”

Slanting her a look, Scott opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. His reserve came across to her as more of a habit than part of his real personality, and she seized the opportunity to take another whack at this very stubborn nut. “You wanted to ask me something?”

“None of my business.”

“That never stops anyone else,” she informed him with a laugh. “What did you want to know?”

Another hesitation, then very quietly he asked, “What happened with you and your mom?”

Jenna’s heart thudded to a stop. Of all the things he could have questioned her about, her mother was the last one she’d anticipated. In the past year, the only person she’d confessed her sordid history to was Diane Barrett, and then only with a lot of patient—and persistent—encouragement.

Keeping secrets, that one especially, had become a bad tendency for her. Gradually, she’d come to recognize that it served no purpose other than to lead her in never-ending circles back to a time in her life she was trying desperately to leave behind her. But Scott had been forthright with her about his own past, she reminded herself. It was only fair for her to do the same.

“It’s not a nice story,” she cautioned him.

“I kinda figured that when I saw your reaction to what my mom said about Gretchen’s mother taking off.” Pulling onto the graveled shoulder of the road, he swiveled to face her squarely. “You looked upset, but you covered it up pretty fast. It’s been bugging me ever since.”

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