Already Home

by Susan Mallery

  Her mother took her in her arms and held her tight.

  Everything was familiar, she thought gratefully. The feel, the scent, the secure embrace that never let go too soon.

  Beth guided them to the wooden bench across from the desk. The young woman who had gone to find Beth excused herself and disappeared into the main room of the studio. Beth touched Jenna’s face.

  “Tell me what’s wrong. Are you hurt?”

  “No. I’m fine.” She couldn’t figure out where to start. “We’re talking no warning. One second they were just there, saying…” She touched her chest. “I can’t breathe.”

  “You can.” Her mother kept an arm around her and studied her. “Tell me what happened, Jenna. This is starting to scare me.”

  “My birth parents are here.”

  Beth’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

  “Tom and Serenity Johnson. They waltzed into my store this morning. Right when it opened. They acted as if they knew me. I thought they were going to rob us or something. Then they announced they were my birth parents.”

  Jenna didn’t want to think about any of it. Her stomach flipped over, making her swallow against rising nausea.

  “They’re hippies and weird and vegetarians. Serenity said she’d been waiting for a sign from the universe to come find me and it arrived.”

  “Via FedEx?” Beth asked.

  Jenna glared at her. “This isn’t funny.”

  “Oh, honey, it kind of is.”

  “These are my birth parents! What are they doing here? I don’t want to know them. I don’t want this.”

  Beth smoothed Jenna’s hair. “They’re family.”

  “They’re biology. You’re my family.”

  “You came from them. That’s something.”

  “Why are you taking their side? You haven’t met them.

  Oh, wait. You have, back when you adopted me. You never told me about them. Why?”

  Beth touched her cheek. “Calm down. You’re making too much of this.”

  “Because it’s a big deal. Why aren’t you upset? Why aren’t you threatened? Tell me I can’t ever see them again, please.”

  Her mother smiled at her. “They gave me the greatest gift of my life. I am grateful every day for you, Jenna.

  Oh, sure. Rational thought. Like that was going to help.

  “I think it’s nice that they’re here,” Beth told her. “They can answer questions I never could. About where you come from and your DNA.”

  “I don’t care about my DNA,” Jenna muttered, annoyed that Beth wasn’t shrieking and insisting she keep her distance from the Johnsons.

  “You will when you have children of your own.”

  “Like that’s ever going to happen.”

  Her mother kissed her cheek. “I know this must be a shock. How did you leave things with them?”

  “I told them I had an appointment and I ran.”

  Beth raised her eyebrows.

  Jenna stood. “Don’t you dare get on me, Mom. This was horrible. I had to get out of there. I’ll be polite later.”

  Nothing made sense. Not the unexpected arrival of her biological parents or her mother’s calm acceptance. She knew for sure her mother had watched soap operas in the past. Beth understood how these things were supposed to go. Where was the insecurity, the melodrama, the terror of losing her only child?

  “You’re too calm,” she told her mother. “It’s not natural.”

  “I’m curious about these people. I want to meet them again.”

  “You didn’t think to warn me what they were like?”

  “Back then they were teenagers, Jenna. We were delighted to be given a chance at adopting. They weren’t very different from any other young couple. You need to talk to them.” Beth stood. “Give me a few minutes to get changed, then we’ll go see them.”

  Jenna tucked her hands behind her back. “No. I don’t want to.” She didn’t need another set of parents. The ones she had were perfectly fine. “Besides, I have a risotto class in fifteen minutes.”

  “Then I’ll pick you up after that.”

  “That doesn’t work for me.”

  “Jenna, they’ve come a long way to see you.”

  “They could have called first, or sent a letter. You don’t just drop in on a kid you gave up at birth.”

  “Maybe not, but this is the situation we have. It will be fine. You’ll see.”

  “And if it isn’t?”

  “Then you can say you told me so.”

  “I’m not sure that’s enough of a reward.”

  Beth drove her Mercedes through the midday traffic. Jenna sat next to her, arms crossed, her expression stubborn.

  She had to admit, she was surprised by her daughter’s reaction. For herself, she was very curious about seeing Jenna’s birth parents after all this time.

  Just over thirty-two years ago, she and Marshall had gone to San Francisco to meet with the pregnant teenager who had picked them to adopt her baby. Serenity had been young and scared and very pregnant. Her parents hadn’t been with her—instead a young man had been at her side. Tom, Beth remembered. Funny how they’d stayed together all these years.

  Serenity had asked most of the questions, had cried more than once and explained that her parents were making her give up her baby. They told her it was for the best. Serenity said she hadn’t believed them until she’d met Beth and Marshall. And then she’d known they were the ones.

  The four of them had signed the necessary paperwork. Two weeks later, Beth and Marshall had flown back to pick up their baby daughter. They’d never seen either of the teens again.

  To think that after all this time, they were going to meet again was amazing.

  “Give me the address,” she said as she turned onto a quiet residential street.

  Jenna did, sounding more like a sullen teen than a successful businesswoman.

  “I’m glad Violet thought to get their address.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “Yes, it was very thoughtful of her.”

  “Why are you being so difficult about this?”

  “I don’t need them,” Jenna told her. “I don’t like how they just showed up. If they’ve had the contact information for all this time, why now? Why is this moment better than ten years ago or ten years from now? What do they want? I’m also worried about you. I don’t want you to get hurt in all this.”

  “It’s sweet of you to worry,” Beth told her, “but I’m fine. Jenna, you’re my daughter. No one can take that away.”

  They pulled in front of a pretty two-story house with an apartment over the garage.

  “Violet said they’re renting an apartment while they’re in town,” Jenna said grudgingly.

  Beth parked the car and led the way upstairs. She had a few nerves, she admitted to herself, but more curiosity. At the top of the stairs was a small landing and a red front door. Beth knocked.

  It was opened quickly by a tall, slender redhead who looked enough like Jenna to make Beth blink.

  “I knew you’d come,” the woman said happily, then embraced Beth. “I knew it would be exactly like this.”

  “Serenity,” Beth said and hugged her back. “It’s been a long time.”

  “I know. Too long.”

  The other woman stepped back to let them in. Beth glanced at the small but tastefully furnished apartment. Jenna barely slipped inside the door.

  Beth returned her attention to their hostess.

  Serenity was as tall as she remembered but more beautiful. She’d aged well and stayed slim. There had only been the one meeting, and they hadn’t exchanged pictures. Over time, she’d forgotten what Jenna’s birth mother had looked like.

  Now she saw the similarity in the shape of their faces, the eyes. By contrast, Beth was short and round—not exactly a comfortable way to think of herself.

  “Tom’s out getting us some lunch,” Serenity said. “I was resting. Travel exhausts me.” She turned to Jenna. “It’s nice to see you again.”
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  “You, too,” Jenna said, sounding more grudging than pleased. “I have to admit, I don’t know what to say to you. I wasn’t prepared to meet you.”

  Serenity sat on the square footrest, leaving the two wing chairs for Jenna and Beth.

  “Perhaps we should have called,” Serenity murmured, looking concerned as she studied Jenna. “Tom mentioned it. I never wanted to hurt you or frighten you, but the idea to finally come and find you was so strong.”

  “From the universe,” Jenna told her mother, then pressed her lips together.

  “I’ve been waiting,” Serenity admitted to Beth. “For her to come to us. I started to think she never would, but then the universe let me know I needed to go to her.”

  Beth wasn’t usually critical of people, but this time she had to agree with her daughter. Serenity definitely fell in the crazy category. Although this kind of crazy was often harmless.

  “How long are you in town?” she asked.

  “We’re not sure. A few weeks.” Serenity smiled at Jenna. “We wanted to give you the chance to get to know us, to ask any questions.”

  “That would be nice,” Beth said, before Jenna could respond. “Jenna’s busy with her store, but I’m sure there will be time for you to discover each other. Where do you live?”

  “Napa Valley. We have a family winery. It’s beautiful there.”

  While Serenity answered Beth’s questions, she looked only at Jenna. The hunger in her eyes made Beth a little uncomfortable. But she was determined to do the right thing.

  “Any other children?”

  Serenity finally turned to her. “Two boys. Despite our parents’ refusal to believe Tom and I were in love, we stayed together all this time. We married out of high school. I got pregnant almost right away. I did love being pregnant.”

  She would have loved it, too, Beth thought grimly. If she’d been able to carry a baby to term.

  “What do your boys do?”

  “Wolf, our youngest, runs the winery. Dragon—” The smile returned. “Dragon is a lawyer. We can barely believe it ourselves, but he swears he loves it. I’m not sure how he can exist in a city, away from the land and the sun. He’s not one with the earth, but he never has been.”

  “Children will go their own way,” Beth said, refusing to look at her daughter. The last thing she needed was to see Jenna right now. Odds were they would both break out into hysterical laughter. One with the earth?

  Then her humor faded. Serenity had been blessed with two more children. Beth would have liked that.

  “Would you like some tea?” Serenity asked. “Dandelion root. I dried it myself.”

  “No, thank you,” Beth murmured. “Two boys. That’s so nice.”

  “But you’re my only daughter.” Serenity turned back to Jenna. “You would have loved growing up with us.”

  “I’m happy with the life that I had,” Jenna said. She cleared her throat. “Although you do paint a vivid picture.”

  Serenity swayed slightly on the sofa. “We would have called you Butterfly. If we’d kept you. Tom wrote a song about you. You’ll have to ask him to play it when he gets back.”

  Jenna did her best not to choke or run for the door. Butterfly?

  “The boys got to be animals and I’m a bug?” she asked before she could stop herself. Only to slam into the realization that the “boys” in question were not only adults, but her brothers. As in brothers. She’d been an only child her whole life and now she had brothers.

  “Technically Dragon is short for Dragonfly, but he’s asked us not to call him that.”

  Jenna looked at her mother, only to see Beth mouthing the words “Be nice.”

  “Dragonfly?” Jenna asked, then wished she hadn’t.

  Serenity laughed. “He wasn’t happy about it, but I kept seeing dragonflies when I was pregnant.”

  Jenna thought about saying that it was good that Serenity hadn’t been near a farm with really big pigs, but kept her mouth shut.

  Everything about this felt completely surreal. How could people she’d never known show up and expect to have a connection with her?

  “Do your boys look like you or Tom?” Beth asked.

  “Mostly Tom.”

  “Jenna looks like you.”

  Jenna had to consciously keep from scowling.

  “I think she’s much prettier,” Serenity said.

  “You won’t have to worry about your weight as you get older,” Beth said to Jenna. She turned back to Serenity. “That’s nice. I’m a lifetime member of Weight Watchers. Show me a food and I can tell you the points value. I just love their program.”

  Jenna wanted to tell her mother to stop talking about her weight. She was beautiful, and Jenna wanted to be just like her. Shorter and curvy and lush. And while she was at it, she wanted to walk away from this apartment and never talk to Serenity again.

  She was angry with her birth parents for bursting into her life and really pissed at Beth for not being upset. Which probably didn’t make sense, but at this point, she didn’t care.

  “Have you tried avoiding meat?” Serenity asked. “It’s very healthy, and many people I know have lost weight with a vegetarian lifestyle.”

  Jenna wanted to stand up and scream. Was Serenity implying her mother was fat?

  Instead of getting upset, Beth laughed. “We’re in Texas. Eating meat is practically a religion. Speaking of eating, I think we should all get together. You and Tom, Marshall and me and, of course, Jenna.”

  “Jenna who brought us together,” Serenity said. “That would be very nice.”

  Beth dug a piece of paper out of her purse and wrote on it. When she handed it to Serenity, she said, “Here’s my home number and our address. How about brunch on Sunday?” She drew her eyebrows together. “Do you eat eggs?”

  “We can,” Serenity said in a tone that implied she would rather not. “I’ll bring a dish, as well.”

  “That would be good.” Beth smiled. “I’ll have to warn you, I’m not half the cook my daughter is.”

  Without wanting to, Jenna looked at Serenity and knew in that second the other woman was thinking, “No, my daughter.” But she didn’t say the words, which meant Jenna didn’t have to scream. Probably best for all of them.

  The need to attach herself to Beth, to proclaim their relationship, unnerved her. She and her mother didn’t have anything to prove. Yet somehow Serenity’s arrival had changed everything.

  “How about eleven?” Beth asked.

  “That would be lovely.”

  Jenna stood. “I need to get back to work. It was, um, nice to see you again.”

  Serenity rose, looking oddly elegant in her hippy dress. Her long hair should have made her look old, but it didn’t. Somehow it suited her face.

  “I guess I’ll see you Sunday,” Jenna added, then fought unexpected guilt for not wanting to spend more time with them while they were here.

  Screw that, she told herself. She hadn’t asked for this visit, and they sure hadn’t given her any warning. Sunday was plenty of time.

  She’d barely spent a moment thinking about her birth parents. Now they were here. Just as strange, her mother was only about fifteen years older than she was.

  “Lovely to meet you,” Beth said as they walked to the door. “Call if you need anything.”

  “I’m sure the universe will provide,” Jenna muttered, when they were back outside.

  She thought Beth would snap at her, but instead her mother laughed. “Serenity has a distinctive charm.”

  “How can you say that?” It was practically a betrayal.

  “Because she’s unique and there aren’t enough unique people in the world.”

  Jenna shook her head. “There’s something seriously wrong with you, Mom. You know that, right?”

  Beth linked arms with her. “I’ve known it for years.”

  Eight

  There was nothing like the unexpected arrival of birth parents to put something as inconsequential as a blind date out
of one’s mind, Jenna thought as she studied herself in her bathroom mirror.

  She’d spent most of Thursday and today trying to forget Serenity and Tom had ever shown up in her life, which proved impossible. Even work hadn’t been enough of a distraction. But considering she was about to go on a date with a strange man who had a reputation for being a god in bed, getting her birth parents out of her mind should be relatively easy.

  She studied the ruffled dress that Violet had rejected and decided it suited her just fine. She wasn’t trying to be sexy or sophisticated. She simply wanted to get through the evening without embarrassing herself.

  After slipping on high-heeled sandals, she grabbed her small purse, a pashmina wrap and headed for the door.

  Fifteen minutes later she’d arrived in Old Town, parked her car and was standing in front of the restaurant where she was to meet Dr. Mark of the gifted penis. She eyed the bar and wondered how dangerous it was to get completely drunk. After all, the restaurant would call a cab to get her home and she could phone Violet and get a ride to work with her. Not that getting plastered would do much for her first impression in the dating department.

  She walked into the Mexican restaurant and found a tall, good-looking blond guy chatting with the hostess. Judging from the way they were looking at each other, they were obviously enjoying getting to know each other.

  Player, Jenna thought in disgust, and felt a flash of pity for the guy’s date. Then her mind hiccupped as she recalled Violet’s description of Dr. Mark and realized he very well might be her date.

  She cleared her throat, and they both looked up. The hostess looked annoyed while the guy gave Jenna a not-very-subtle once-over. He moved toward her and smiled, showing dimples that only enhanced his looks.

  “Please tell me you’re Jenna,” he said in a low sexy voice. “If not, will you pretend to be?”

  She wasn’t sure if she should be flattered or insulted.

  “I’m Jenna,” she said, figuring the truth was always a good fallback position.

  “I’m Mark.” He took her hand, then brought it to his mouth where he lightly kissed her fingers. “I owe Violet big time.” He led her to the hostess.