The Inn at Dead Man's Point by SUE FINEMAN Page A

school. College was better.”
    At least she didn’t ruin his entire life. Just high school. She was deeply ashamed of the way she’d behaved back then. She’d let Brian manipulate her, and she went along with it because she wanted so much to be liked.
    Mattie’s shrill voice carried upstairs again. Jenna sighed. “I’d better go see what she wants. Goodnight, Al.”
    “Goodnight, Jenna.” He watched her walk down the hall, peeking in on Katie on the way to the stairs. Al had seen a side of Jenna that he’d never seen before – the vulnerable, contrite woman. He could no longer play the pay-back game with her.
    The next time he got that close, he would kiss her.
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    Mattie’s arm hurt and she couldn’t sleep. She’d been calling for Jenna, but the girl didn’t come. Where was she, and where were those pain pills the doctor gave her?
    Getting old was no fun. Her bones ached and she couldn’t see very well anymore. And now the ungrateful girl was ignoring her.
    “You’re awake.” Jenna walked toward the bed.
    “I’ve been calling you.”
    “I didn’t hear you. Is it your arm?”
    “It hurts and I can’t find my pain pills.”
    The girl handed her a pill and a glass of water, and then she gently lifted the casted arm and tucked a pillow under it. She stayed in the room until the pain subsided and Mattie closed her eyes.
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    After church, Sophia had Vincent load the car with the pans of food and drive her out to the inn. She wanted to get there first and get things set up before the rest of the family arrived. She couldn’t wait to see the place and meet the people Alessandro shared his new home with.
    A pretty young woman answered the door. “Mrs. Donatelli?”
    “Please call me Sophia. You must be Jenna. It’s so nice to meet you.” She turned to look behind her. “This is my grandson, Vincent.”
    “Hi, Vincent.” Jenna took some of the pans from him. “Do you need an oven for this?”
    “I’ll take care of it,” said Sophia. “Point me to the kitchen.”
    Alessandro came downstairs and hugged her. “Hi, Ma. I didn’t expect you yet.”
    “I went to early mass with Vincent.”
    “Hey, kid. Where’s DeeDee?”
    “She moved out when Grandma came home.”
    “Uh oh.”
    Vincent rolled his eyes. “Tell me about it.”
    “He can do better,” said Sophia, and nobody said another word about DeeDee. She couldn’t believe the condition of the house when she got home – food wrappers and dirty dishes everywhere, piles of dirty clothes, and the house looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in weeks. Apparently all the girl did was listen to loud music and make a mess. Her grandson could find himself a decent girl instead of one like that.
    Alessandro showed her through the charming old inn, and then Jenna introduced her to her great aunt, Mattie Worthington. “It’s nice to meet you, Mattie. This is a lovely old inn, and my son is lucky to have it.”
    “Well, they told me if I didn’t sell it, the county would take it for back taxes. Shoot, what else was I supposed to do but sell it? He said I could live here as long as I could take care of myself or have someone live here to take care of me.”
    “Well, of course he did. My Alessandro, he wouldn’t throw anyone out of their home.”
    Alessandro cleared his throat. “Ma, this is Katie, Jenna’s little girl.”
    Sophia smiled at the cute little blonde girl. “Katie, it’s very nice to meet you. Do you like living here at the inn?”
    Katie gave her a shy little smile. “Yeah. Do you have kitties at your house?”
    Al watched the conversation between his mother and little Katie. Ma loved kids, and it looked like she’d already won Katie over. Jenna seemed relieved. He wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it wasn’t a woman like his mother.
    He and Jenna helped Ma set the table and then the rest of the family started to arrive. Cara and Nick came first, with their three little ones. Max was in the first grade, Sophie