Scott headed back out toward the main street, trying to think of where he might find Jenna high-quality pancakes. They were not a particular favorite of his—it was more of an occasional carving for him than something would consume whenever possible—so his knowledge of places where they were praised, outside of the major restaurant chains, was minimal. He realized that he could ask Jenna, for she probably had some suggestions, but he felt that he really should make this decision.
He fought back a yawn and glanced at the clock—and then looked again in surpise.
It’s not even eight. It feels more like ten.
That explained the light traffic, he realized.
Jenna must have seen his expression.
“Are you okay?”
Scott nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Just earlier than I thought it was.”
Jenna smiled and snuggled back into the seat, her arms wrapped across her chest. Scott watched her for only a moment, but decided that she looked like someone he would like to snuggle up with.
He studied the signs as they passed each of the parking lots, seeking a likely candidate for their breakfast. Pancakes would be okay, he decided, but his body was craving protein, something to truly refuel with after all of the previous night’s activity. He then suddenly remembered a small, family-owned diner a few blocks further up. It was owned by a German immigrant family and, if Scott remembered correctly, Mama Günther made the most astonishing apple pancakes. He did not know whether Jenna was a purist in her regard for the breakfast food, but it would be worth taking the chance.
Turning into the parking lot, he found an empty parking space directly in front of the restaurant. Scott took that as a promising sign. When he spied Mama Günther working the front counter and ushering customers to their tables, he was convinced that it was a good omen.
He opened the door for Jenna, who stepped out with an inquisitive smile. That pleased Scott, for he read it as an indication that she had not been here before. Smiling quietly to himself, he walked Jenna to the front door of the restaurant and held it open for her.
Scott entered behind her and waited while Mama Günther finished seating a trio of customers. Her eyes widened and she grinned as she approached Scott and Jenna.
“Scott!” she said, embracing him with a hug that he was certain could have cracked ribs had she not had ample padding. “It’s been very long.” She stepped looked him over. “And you’ve gotten skinny again.”
She clucked with disapproval and then turned her attention to Jenna. After a brief appraisal, she apparently granted Jenna her tentative approval.
“And this is your new girlfriend?” she said. “You bring her here to meet Mama?”
Scott’s cheeks burned. He had not quite been prepared for this. Glancing over at Jenna, he saw that she was looking to him for some cue as to how to respond. Unfortunately, Scott found himself at a loss as well.
“Not yet” sounded a bit too forward and optimistic. “She’s just a friend” felt wrong, as they had crossed that line last night.
What was their relationship? Hell, did they even have a relationship?
“This is Jenna,” Scott finally said, taking Jenna’s arm protectively.
That seemed to suit everyone for the moment.
How does Thad manage this? Scott wondered with amazement. Or does everyone just understand that he always just has a flavor of the month, night, week . . . whatever?
Mama Günther ushered them to a small booth in one of the corners of the dining room where they was a little more privacy. As they walked through, Scott noticed that the place was at least three-quarters filled with customers. That reassured him that business seemed to be going well for the Günthers.
As they were seated, Mama Günther handed them each a menu.
“Coffee?” she asked them both.
“Please,” Scott answered.
“Please,” Jenna almost pleaded.
Scott smiled and tried not to laugh.
The coffee arrived a few minutes later while Scott and Jenna were still poring over their menus. Scott had pretty much decided on the sausage omelet; he was sure that Jenna was still debating over the pancake choices.
“Almost ready?” Mama Günther asked.
Scott exchanged a glance with Jenna.
“A few more minutes, please?”
Mama Günther smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Sure, no problem.” She turned and wandered away to check on other of her customers.
‘The apple pancakes are good,” Scott offered.
Jenna nodded, her eyes still scanning the menu. “There’s too many,” she said. A smile curled the edges of her lips. “You might have to bring me back again.”
Scott felt a small knot in his stomach. “I’m sure that can be arranged,” he replied with more sincerity, he hoped, than he truly felt.
What was the next step here?
This was new territory for him here. Never before had he spent the entire night with a woman without first having had some kind of relationship with her: a dinner date or two, a concert . . . something.
Jenna placed the menu aside and reached for her coffee. Before Scott could say anything, she sipped at it and immediately nearly choked.
Scott tried very, very hard not laugh. “I’m sorry,” he said quickly, biting down on a smile. “I forgot to warn you about that.”
Jenna wiped at her mouth while staring at Scott.
“Mama Günther thinks,” Scott explained, adopting a truly awful German accent, “real coffee should put hair on the chest.”
“I don’t want any on mine,” Jenna retorted.
Scott passed her the container of sugar and her expression softened.
And you don’t need any . . .
His thoughts flashed to what was hidden beneath the bulky sweatshirt and Scott shoved them away quickly.
Jenna added a copious amount of sugar and some creamer and then seemed satisfied with the quality of her coffee. She sighed contentedly and then looked across at Scott.
Here it comes, he thought. Here’s where we find out what happens next.
“So what are you studying?”
Besides you, you mean?
“Studied,” he corrected her with a small smile, watching for her reaction. “I had a double major in English Literature and Engineering Physics.”
Jenna’s eyebrows rose slightly. “That’s an . . . interesting combination”
“It was kind of an accident,” Scott chuckled softly.
He was saved from further explanation by the arrival of their breakfast. Jenna’s consisted of three very large pancakes coated with a wide pat of a butter and small pitcher of warmed maple syrup. Scott’s omelet filled the entire plate.
They ate in relative silence for several minutes. Jenna attacked her plate with enthusiasm, expressing her approval after the first bite, and then began to quickly devour the rest. She was not voracious about it, Scott observed, just hungry. Considering the implied contents of her kitchen pantry, he wondered how often she got to eat like this. Certainly, the smooth curves of her body indicated that she was not chronically undernourished, nor did she seem to overindulge in food either.
Maybe she gets free meals at the restaurant . . .
They both slowed down after a while. Scott figured that he probably would not eat all of his omelet; he would take the remainder home at Mama Günther’s insistence, or offer it to Jenna to take with her. Something told him, though, that Jenna was determined to finish off her entire stack of pancakes; she was merely taking a short break before returning to the task. She toyed with a neatly-cut bite on her plate and looked over at him. There was something in her expression that immediately troubled Scott.
Uh oh, he thought. Here it comes.
“So,” she asked began, trying to sound casual, “who’s Christina?”
Scott frowned and then recognition struck him luck a blow to the stomach.
Oh my god. I didn’t . . . Did I?
“Christine,” he whispered hoarsely.
He thought he should reach for Jenna’s hands, but was afraid that she might pull back and refuse.
“Look, Jenna,” he said, trying to meet her eyes. His voice carried every layer of apology that he could find. “I’m sorry.”
She appeared surprised by his sudden earnestness. Realization then seemed to dawn and she smiled, reaching out for his hands.
“No,” she told him, laughing softly. “You didn’t call me that.” Her eyes began to twinkle again. “But you do talk in your sleep.”
Her expression grew slightly more serious.
“It sounded like you were apologizing to her?”
Scott felt his cheeks burn and he looked away. Jenna’s hold on his hands tightened slightly.
“She . . .” Scott began. He hesitated, trying to find the words that might explain, the ones that might not hurt so much. “She . . . was someone I once knew.” An ache thrust its way through his heart. “She’s . . . gone now.”
Jenna’s dark eyes conveyed only sympathy.
Further away than you can imagine.
Jenna squeezed his hands and something in her eyes told Scott that she understood, at least to some degree, what he meant.
“I’m so sorry.”
Scott forced a smile and shrugged. “It was a while ago.”
Jenna nodded and rubbed at his hands.
“I’m sorry I brought it up,” she said. There was genuine regret in her voice. “Really.”
Scott sniffed, pushing back his struggling emotions. “It’s okay,” he told her. He managed a more sincere smile. “I guess I need to learn not to talk in my sleep.”
“I don’t know,” Jenna offered impishly, desperately trying to lighten the mood. “I’m okay with it if it’s my name.”
She slid another bite of pancake into her mouth and swallowed it.
Scott found himself unwilling to let it go just yet.
“About that . . .”
Jenna’s eyes were focused solely on him now. Her hands slid away from his and her expression read as if she was preparing to receive some bad news. Scott swallowed and continued.
“I, um,” he started again, “don’t usually do . . . one-night stands.”
The last few words came out in a rush. He had searched for a more subtle way of phrasing it, but had failed utterly.
Jenna smile was almost a grin.
“I know,” she told, reaching for his hands again.
Scott’s eyes widened with surprise. “You did?”
Jenna nodded almost happily. “I did.”
Scott watched as she raised his hands to her lips and kissed them softly.
“Do you want to know how I knew?” she asked. “Or would that embarrass you entirely?”
Scott’s cheeks were already hot.
“I think it’s too late for that.”
Jenna smiled, showing her perfect teeth.
“I knew it this morning,” she said, “after you woke up.”
Scott was puzzled and he was certain that his expression showed it.
“You were terrific the night before,” she went on. “But that was just sex.” she added quickly, her eyes revealing that she was thinking back over the memories. Her smile widened. “Really terrific sex.”
Her expression changed as she caressed his hands.
“But this morning,” she continued, remembering that part too. “I don’t know . . .” She frowned, as if trying to decide how much to say. “Some guys,” she went on, looking down, “see it as one last chance before they leave, to go back off to work . . . or whatever.”
“You didn’t. It was different.” Her eyes went back to Scott’s. “It was like you didn’t want to leave me.”
“I didn’t.”
I still don’t.
She sighed. There was something in it that sounded almost contented. “And you even bought me a real breakfast.” She smiled at him and then attacked another slice of pancake.
Scott sipped at the rest of his coffee. He watched Jenna as she valiantly consumed the rest of her breakfast.
He had not thought of Christine at all that evening. That she would come to his dreams troubled him deeply. It was not as though he was being unfaithful to her, even if some scarred part of his psyche might believe so. Whatever his heart might tell him, they were separated by a span of more than two centuries worth of time and probably nearly that many light-years in space. Jenna was here and now.
Jenna’s voice managed to finally penetrate his reverie.
“Hello?” she said. Her expression was both quizzical and amused. “Were you plotting ways to stick me with the check?”
Scott laughed quietly. “No,” he said, reaching for his wallet as a sign of good faith. “I was just . . . thinking.”
Jenna expression grew serious. “Of her?”
Scott met her eyes squarely. “You, actually.”
A wave of doubt passed over her expression before she believed his sincerity.
“I really do need to get home at some point,” he said. “Would it be okay if I called you?”
Her smile could have brightened a good-sized room. “I’d really like that.”
She reached into a pocket and handed him her phone so that he could record the number. Scott noticed that the image of the two young boys were still there. He decided not to ask; there was had been enough honesty for one morning. After entering her number into his own phone, he passed Jenna’s back to her.
Scott paid the check, gathered the container that held the remainder of his omelet, and escorted Jenna back out to the car under Mama Günther’s approving gaze.
Inside the car, Scott turned to Jenna and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. She turned to look at him, surprised at his touch.
“Thank you,” he told her softly. “Thank you for last night.”
Jenna seemed lost for words, so Scott reacted with a clear message of his own. Leaning toward her, he kissed her warmly. After a moment, she responded in kind.
They parted a few moments later and Scott felt a warm tingle throughout his body. Jenna’s eyes were on him, but appeared just slightly dreamy.
“Scott,” she whispered. “You really do know how to show a girl a good time.”
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