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Jenna stared at her. “Why would I do that? I forgot to tell you. It's not a big deal.”

“Oh, I know. I'm fine.” Beth smiled as widely as she could. “You go ahead and finish your work. I just wanted to stop by. I'll see you later.”

Jenna nodded slowly. “If you're sure.”

“I am.”

They hugged, then Beth turned to leave. She still felt a little shaken inside. It was because she'd been so surprised, she told herself. Having Serenity a part of Jenna's life was a good thing. She'd thought so from the start.

Before she could reach the door, Violet stopped her.

“Morning,” she said.

“Hello, Violet. It looks like you have your hands full.”

“I know. It's a nice way to start the morning. Were you leaving?”

“I have errands to run.”

“I'll walk you out.”

Beth led the way. When they were out on the sidewalk, Violet stopped.

“I have a favor to ask, but I want to make sure you don't feel obligated.” Violet bit her lower lip and ducked her head, then looked back at Beth. “Agreed?”

“Of course.” Beth was more intrigued than concerned.

“I was wondering if you would mind going shopping with me sometime. You're always dressed so stylishly and I've seen
the clothes you've bought for Jenna. They're wonderful. I don't have a huge budget, but I want to make some changes in my wardrobe.”

Beth smoothed the front of her jacket and smiled. “Violet, that's very sweet of you, but I'm old enough to be your mother. Why would you want to dress like me?”

Violet shook her wrist with the half dozen bracelets. “I like my look, but I want to upgrade it. I'm dating this really great guy. He's a professional, in finance. Suits and ties, that kind of thing. I want to fit in better.”

“You shouldn't change yourself for a man.”

Violet laughed. “Excellent advice that no woman takes. At least not at the beginning of a relationship.”

“True.” Beth wondered if the man in question had asked Violet to do this or if it was her idea.

“You know what you're doing,” Violet said. “I don't have a clue. I've been coloring my own hair since I was seventeen. I rarely go to a salon and I usually cut my hair myself.”

Beth eyed her spiky style. “You do great work.”

“Thanks, but I want to be classy. Myself but better.”

Beth tried to remember the last time she and Jenna had gone shopping. It had been a while. Once she'd met Aaron, Jenna had hardly ever come home. There had been very regular phone calls and Beth had flown out to see her a couple of times a year, but it wasn't the same. She'd missed doing things with her daughter.

“I'm happy to help you pull together a few outfits. When's your next day off?”

“Tuesday.”

“Why don't we go then?” Beth pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and wrote down her cell number. “Give me a call and we'll set up a time.”

“Thank you so much,” Violet said earnestly. “I really appreciate it.”

“I'm happy to help,” Beth told her. “We'll have fun.”

 

Ellington arrived right on time. Customer traffic had slowed enough that Jenna had been able to change and re-touch her makeup. As Violet had returned the sleeveless black dress and sworn it had great date karma, Jenna had decided to wear it. Hopefully she would have as much fun with Ellington as Violet had claimed to have had with Cliff.

She unlocked the store's glass door and let him in, then found herself unexpectedly overwhelmed by his long, lean body in jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt. Had his eyes always been that blue, she wondered as she got lost in the pleasure of looking at him.

“You look great,” he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “How was your day?”

“Busy, but fun. I'm getting a lot of foot traffic, which is great. People are telling their friends about the store. Business is excellent.”

“I'm glad. Starting new in retail is tough.”

“Especially for someone coming from a completely different industry. If it wasn't for Violet, I would have failed. She's saved my butt and my bank account. Thanks to her good ideas, we've hired two part-time people.”

She pressed her lips together. “Sorry. I didn't mean to go on like that.”

“Don't apologize. It's nice to hear someone excited about what they do. Are you hungry? We're having dinner around the corner. Fish City Grill. Have you been there?”

“Not in years, but I remember liking it.”

“I doubt they'll have anything as good as your enchiladas,” he warned.

She laughed. “I'm okay with that. Last night I tried to make a kale pesto. Can you spell
yuck?
I don't know where I messed up, but it was awful.”

“Do you try different things with food a lot?”

Good question, she thought. “Not for a while, but it's coming back. Slowly.” She smiled. “I'm starting to remember that it's okay when things don't turn out right the first time. I can always try again and get it right.”

“Good philosophy.” He motioned to the door. “Shall we?”

She collected her purse and followed him outside.

They walked to the restaurant. Ellington gave his name, and they were shown to a corner table by the window. Once they were seated, he leaned toward her.

“Thanks for coming out with me tonight,” he said. “I haven't been on a real date in a long time.”

“Why not?” Someone who looked like him and who was also nice and successful should have women taking numbers.

He hesitated.

“You're not going to tell me you were waiting for the universe to tell you it was time, are you?” she asked before she could stop herself.

He laughed. “No. I don't communicate much with the universe. That would be your mother.”

Birth mother, Jenna corrected silently. “How much did she tell you?”

He looked startled. “About what?”

“The adoption. Our relationship.”

“Oh.” His expression relaxed. “That she gave you up for adoption when she was a teenager and recently she's reentered your life.”

Jenna had a feeling he knew a whole lot more than he was saying, but she wasn't sure she wanted to find out what.

Their server appeared. They both ordered wine.

When the woman had left, Jenna said, “Why haven't you been dating? It can't be for lack of opportunity.”

He laughed. “Thanks for the compliment. I suppose it's a combination of things. I won't date a client.”

“Hearts are breaking all over Georgetown.”

“I've had a few women leave my practice because of that,” he admitted. “No one I was truly interested in.”

“Ah, so you are interested in
some
of your clients.”

“Not at all.”

“That's what you implied.”

His teeth flashed white as he grinned. “You're trying to get me in trouble.”

“It's kind of fun. You're so perfect.”

“Far from it.”

“Oh, please. Harvard medical school, but it was too traditional, so you went to China to study there. You're athletic, spiritual, have a kid, give a great massage, are holistic, but eat meat. Does it get any better than that?”

“Many women see my son as a liability.”

“Many women would see him as a bonus.”

The server appeared with their drinks. Ellington asked her to give them a few minutes before ordering.

Jenna took a sip of her drink and studied her date. She enjoyed teasing him, mostly because she sensed he would take it in the spirit she meant it.

“I'm far from perfect,” he said when they were alone. As he spoke, he leaned toward her. “For one, I'm divorced.”

“So am I.”

“My marriage fell apart because I was caught up in my
work. I would rather have been with a patient than my wife. Or traveling.”

“Was that about you or what was going on at home?”

“Both. It's hard to stay with someone who travels all the time. Even after Isaiah was born, I spent several months in India every year. I believed that what I was doing was more important than anything else.” He shook his head. “I wish I could say I was the good guy.”

“What changed?”

“She left and took my son with her. At first I kept doing what I'd always been doing, then one day I realized Isaiah was my responsibility. That I had deliberately brought him into this world and that he needed me. But the parenting plan was set. When I wanted to change things, she wouldn't agree. I supposed it was her way of punishing me for emotionally abandoning her. I can't really blame her.” He shrugged. “Unfortunately Isaiah suffered, as well.”

Jenna stared at him. “Something must be different now. He spent the night last night.”

“He didn't spend the night, he lives with me. About a year ago, she was killed in a car accident. I became a full-time single dad. It's been a tough year for him. He was six. First he lost his dad, then he lost his mom. We had a lot of adjustments to make.”

Jenna couldn't imagine an adult going through something like that well, let alone a little boy. “How's he doing now?”

“Thriving.” Pride filled Ellington's voice. “I bought a house in his school district so he could stay close to his friends. My mom moved in and my mother-in-law lives around the corner. Between them, they handle the day care and everything about my life and his. I stopped traveling and opened a permanent practice at the healing center.”

“You were able to reconnect with him?” she asked.

“It took a while, but yes. We're doing all kinds of things together. We have a deal that I'm home to tuck him in bed.” He grinned. “I had to get special dispensation for our last date and for tonight.”

“Please tell him I appreciate his generosity.”

“I can see I'm going to have to continue to negotiate the bed tucking issue with him,” he said, gazing into her eyes. “For the past year, it hasn't been much of a problem, but that might be changing.”

Jenna willed herself not to blush. “I'd like that.”

“You're ignoring the fact that I live with my mother.”

“I'm not scared about it, if that's what you're asking.”

“Good.”

The server returned and they quickly ordered. After she left, he said, “Enough about my life. Tell me about yourself.”

She gave him a few highlights, explaining about being a chef, her marriage and subsequent divorce and her move back to Georgetown.

“You don't want to tell me about your ex?” he asked.

“There's not much to tell.”

Ellington didn't say anything. He simply watched her.

“All right,” she said slowly. “He reminds me of you a little.”

“Ouch.”

She smiled. “You don't look alike. But you're both…charming.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“It turned out to be with him. I've always been creative with my cooking. At first he encouraged that, but in the last couple of years he seemed more interested in making me feel like I wasn't good enough.” She shook her head. “The worst part wasn't what he did, it was that I believed him.”

He reached across the table and touched her hand. “We often tend to believe the people we love. Even when they're wrong.”

“I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right. So now I have to figure out where I left my confidence and start trying things again. I've been taking a few very small risks. Our dinner was one. It's strange, in the past couple of weeks, I've felt my experimental side returning.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Maybe that's because Serenity is around.”

“Why would you say that?”

“She's very creative, you're a lot like her. Maybe having her show up jolted you out of a rut.”

“I was just getting my store up and running when Serenity and Tom arrived,” she mused.

“Interesting timing. Trust the Force.”

As soon as he said the words, his expression froze. Jenna blinked at him.

“The Force?”

Oh, God. First Serenity with the universe and now Ellington with the Force? She found herself glancing toward the exit.

He cleared his throat. “Sorry. I'm a huge
Star Wars
fan. I had the lunch box and everything when I was a kid. Isaiah has seen the first movie with me and we've been playing with our light sabers, so it's on my mind.” He looked completely humiliated. “When I said ‘huge fan' I meant I like the movies. I don't have costumes or think there really is an Empire.”

She relaxed, finding the confession more charming than scary. And seeing the somewhat perfect Ellington squirm didn't hurt, either.

“Light sabers?”

“Toys. They're toys.”

“Do they make the noises?”

He sighed, as if surrendering to the inevitable. “Sure. Otherwise, where's the fun?” He stared at her. “Do you think I'm an idiot?”

“I think you're a lot less like my ex-husband than I realized.”

“That's good, right?”

“Very good.”

They smiled at each other.

He cleared his throat. “Now what were we talking about before I stuck my foot in my mouth?” He paused. “Serenity and Tom.”

Jenna would rather have talked
Star Wars,
but okay.

“You know they're good people, right?” he asked.

“I do,” she admitted. “At first I resented her. I have a family, I wasn't looking for more parents. But my mom—” She paused. “I know Serenity is your client or patient or whatever, so don't take this wrong, but the woman who raised me will always be my mom.”

“Fair enough.”

“My mom thinks I should get to know Serenity and Tom. That my connection to them is important.”

“She sounds very wise.”

“I think so, which means I'm listening. Maybe Serenity isn't as strange as I first thought. I can see she's a lovely person, but she's nothing like me.”