Just Beginning by Theresa Rizzo

never taken the time to get serious. After the divorce, he and Judith devoted a lot of time ensuring that the children were okay with their new lives, and his life had gradually slipped into a routine existence.
    Even his work became habitual. Gallbladders, bowel resections, mastectomies, hernias, and so on. His life had turned gray, but since being with Jenny, he was seeing bright colors. Brilliant hues he’d never noticed before. No matter what they did, whether it was a simple walk down the street, a concert under the stars, or grocery shopping, with Jenny he noticed the beauty in life.
    She reminded him of the good and the bad that he used to see before he’d gotten bogged down in routine. Now he took the time to rediscover life outside his family and hospital. Took time to rediscover himself. He redirected his energies to caring outside him, and it felt good. Hell, it felt great.
    “Since when’re you into cradle robbing?” Eyes narrowing, Uncle George stared at Jenny’s picture. “I swear I’ve seen her before.”
    “Probably in the paper. A couple of weeks ago her story about teenage runaways was the cover story for the magazine insert in the Free Press . She’s really good.”
    Uncle George’s lips tightened in anger. Face contorting in disgust, he tossed the phone onto the mail like it oozed toxic waste. “You’re dating a reporter? A child reporter at that?”
    “Journalist.”
    “Are you nuts, man?”
    “She freelances, Uncle George. Human interest stories.”
    “Snoop stories that tell things better left untold. They justify them as ‘human interest,’ when they print some trash about you.”
    Gabe’s face remained impassive. He was not going to argue about this. Uncle George couldn’t be swayed by logical arguments when it came to reporters.
    “After what they did to Adele, how could you date anybody in the press?”
    Gabe drained his beer and placed the bottle in the recycle bin. “Let’s go.”
    Uncle George swiveled on his stool, stubbornly refused to budge. “I’m not ready to go.”
    Gabe gave him a patient look. “Look, Jenny’s a great lady. I’m not going to justify her career choice to you. She’s not a threat to you, or anybody. She helps people, and I admire her for that.”
    And I’m not about to let you scare her away .
    He’d purposely kept Uncle George away from Jenny these past few months, knowing that not many women appreciated his uncle’s bluntness. Uncle George was a little rough around the edges—not exactly a people person.
    Usually, Gabe didn’t care much if Uncle George upset his dates—he was a good test—but Jenny was special. He didn’t want Uncle George scaring her off. He sighed. Now that Uncle George knew about her, their meeting was inevitable. Maybe he’d like her. He could behave himself when he liked someone. He could be charming when he wanted to be. What wasn’t there to like about Jenny?
    She was beautiful, spunky, and quick-witted. Much like his mother, Uncle George’s little sister. She was also a great cook, like Aunt Adele. And compassionate and seemingly very tolerant, like both Mom and Aunt Adele. He looked at Uncle George’s suspicious expression, and his heart fell. Yup. He was going to test Jenny’s compassion. No doubt about it.
    George’s eyes narrowed in comprehension. He pointed an accusing finger at Gabe. “She’s the one that got you goin’ on that clinic in the ghetto.”
    “She didn’t ‘get me going’ on anything.”
    “She did. She wrote those articles about that clinic you’re wasting your time on. How long till you’re done impressing her, son?”
    Gabe frowned. “I’m not working there to impress her. I enjoy it.”
    “My ass. Just like you didn’t break your arm on the trampoline showing off for little Julie Rider in sixth grade.”
    Because at forty, I still have the social skills of a twelve-year-old . Gabe knew better than to feed into his uncle’s taunting.
    “Do you enjoy not getting paid,