Read Online Found: A Mother for His Son by Dianne Drake - Free Book Online Page B

More interesting that the legendary nurse Nancy had also been Dermott’s wife.
    Sadie nodded yes. “Frank and Irene Allen’s daughter. It was so sad, how it happened.”
    Something was telling Jenna that Nancy hadn’t died from a drug overdose, as she’d assumed. But Sadie wasn’t the one to ask about that. “So tell me, what’s good today?”
    “Chicken salad. That’s the special. It has raisins in it.” Sadie gave her nod of approval, so that’s what Jenna ordered, along with an iced tea. Then she enjoyed a leisurely lunch where at least a dozen people stopped by her table, thanking her for coming to work in Fort Dyott, for helping Dermott. Then she returned to her apartment to spend the remainder of her two-hour break unpacking the rest of her clothes and settling in for good. And wondering about Nancy.
    Finally down to her last clothes to put away—her undies—Jenna stared at them for a moment, realizing how symbolic putting them away would be. Cold feet set in. Her natural reaction. She wanted to put them away, was afraid to. Needed to.
    “Damn,” she muttered, throwing them on the floor. “Damn, damn, damn!” One little thing. One simple little thing, and she couldn’t do it. Couldn’t make that kind of a commitment. Pick them up, Jenna. Put them away, Jenna. That’s all she had to do. Come over here and take your punishment before Daddy has to get more angry with you than he already is, Jenna. Daddy really doesn’t want to hurt you again, but you make him do it. You’re such a bad, bad girl.
    “You OK?” Dermott called from the hall. “I heard you shouting.”
    No, she wasn’t OK. Not with a lot of things. “I’m fine,” she said, stepping over her undies on the way to the door. Beads of nervous perspiration dotted her face. Her hands shook. Her stomach knotted. “Just fine.”
    “I trust you had a nice lunch?” Dermott asked. Shrugging into his white coat, he glanced out the front window and stared at the bustling little road for a moment. It did lead away from Fort Dyott, and he’d thought about that from time to time. Thought about loading Max into the car and simply driving until he found another place that looked like home to him. There was a doctor shortage in the area, he could find a job anywhere. But Max needed to be here to be near his grandparents. He’d already had so much disruption in his young life, and Dermott wasn’t about to cause more. So every time he thought about taking to the road, he turned his thoughts to the only thing he and Nancy had done right. For a man who’d never given a whole lot of thought to being a father, it was all he thought about nowadays. All he wanted to be. “Sorry I ran off and left you, but Max and I have a standing peanut butter and jelly lunch together every day, unless there’s an emergency.”
    “Grape jelly?” Jenna asked.
    “Is there any other kind?”
    “Sometimes strawberry is good.”
    Dermott shook his head. “On toast, but never on peanut butter. That’s serious stuff.”
    “Where is he when you’re working?”
    “With his grandparents. They’re great with Max. Love him to pieces, spoil him rotten. I don’t know what I’d do without them.”
    “Then you’re lucky. My dad was a single father, and he left me alone a good bit of the time. Eventually I went to live with my grandparents, and it was better. So I know how nice it is to have them around to help you with Max. Nice for both of you.”
    “Your grandparents raised you?” Honestly, he really didn’t know much about Jenna’s background. She’d never spoken of it and on the couple of times he’d asked questions, she hadn’t answered. What he remembered was…evasion?
    “For a while.”
    Dermott turned away from the window. “No mother?”
    “She lived a hard life, and died young. I think she simply gave up when she couldn’t face it any longer. At least, to a little girl, that’s what it seemed like.”
    “I’m sorry, JJ. I do know how rough that