Committed to You

Chapter 18 Alana's Disaster

Jet and Sloan walked into Nora's house one day and found all of the Trent family's old furniture back in place, draped in cloth, while painters restored the walls to their original sand color. The only rooms left with the Moroccan flair were Nora's bedroom and the kitchen. She wanted to have a reminder of what had made her marriage strong again. Everything else was returned to the way it was. Jet stood in the door, shaking his head. "I can't believe she did it."

"Me either, but isn't it great?"

"Yes." He turned and kissed Sloan. "Thank you for getting my parents back together."

Since the painters were busy, Nora had to do her yoga on the back porch. She came in to find Sloan and Jet standing in the doorway in awe. "Well, just don't stand there with your mouths open. Come on in; breakfast is on the stove."

"We ate at the diner, Mom. We went in this morning to help Justin with the store."

"I'm surprised you got Sloan up that early."

"I wanted to go, Nora. With the running around for the wedding we've been doing, I haven't had much time to be with Jet. Any time we can carve out together is good."

"In one week you'll have the rest of your lives to spend together and get me another grandbaby. Speaking of that, have you seen how sweet Renatta looks pregnant? She's adorable."

"Yes, we've seen it and all the boatloads of clothes you've been buying. You're spoiling my sister, Nora."

"She deserves it. I'm going to spoil you too. Come sit over at the table. I've been dreading this moment but have to ask: What happens after the wedding?"

This is a question that Justin, Jet, Sloan and Renatta had all been avoiding. Being home was good, but they'd each built lives in different states. As much as they'd been working through the family crisis in Georgia, everyone knew that things couldn't remain that way. Sloan winced at the thought.

"I don't know, Mom."

"I've got to prepare my heart, Jet. Being here with you all has meant the world to me. I really don't ... "

"Please don't say it, Mom. It's only going to make things sadder. We've got to get back to our lives now that you and Dad are okay, you know that."

Sloan reached across the table and squeezed Jet's hand. "I'll come back to California with you, if that's what you want."

He was touched. He'd expected that it would be a struggle for her to make her decision. He knew that Sloan had developed an outstanding reputation in Florida as the premier show host, and though she could do the program anywhere in the country, it wouldn't be the same. "I appreciate that you would do that for me, but let me think about it." Jet couldn't help but think about Alana in the back of his mind. Perhaps moving to Florida would be better for that situation.

***

Alana had spent the last few days with all her legal focus investigating everything she could find out about Robert and Nora Trent. She'd also done a detailed sweep on Sloan's entire existence, only to find out that she truly was "the girl next door" type, raised in a traditional home, and whose father was a postal worker. There was nothing in Sloan's background that she could use against her. Since she didn't have a past to exploit, Alana decided to go to Alpharetta and destroy the relationship. Her plan was foolproof, and she intended to set it in motion now. She typed a letter to Sloan from the email address on Sloan's website. Misty walked in the door as she was typing the letter.