Page 28 of Finding Amanda

"Who was that?"

"You know how I teach the cooking classes at the shelter?" Jamie nodded. "Well, she was one of the residents."

"She's so young. She was homeless?"

"Yeah. Long story. She ended up at the shelter about a year ago and earned her GED. She was my most faithful student. Most of the women wanted to learn how to feed their families on the cheap, but she was really interested in learning to cook."

"Sounds like you made an impact. Your work at the shelter is awesome."

Amanda shrugged. She wished she'd had Brittany's courage. Brittany had been kicked out of her home when she stood up to the step-father who raped her. Amanda's parents would have embraced her if she'd told them about Gabriel, but she'd neverhad the courage. Her life, and her marriage, could have been so different if she had.

Brittany's joy magnified the regret in her own heart.

Amanda didn't know anything about counseling and didn't have much to offer girls like Brittany, but if teaching cooking classes at the homeless shelter helped, she was willing to do it.

Jamie tilted her head. "Tell me about this guy you met in New York. Alan, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"What's going on with him?"

The waitress delivered their meals. "Can I get you anything else?"

Amanda smiled at the woman and her perfect timing. "More coffee?" After the waitress topped off their cups, Amanda added more cream and a half packet of sugar and stirred. Then she methodically buttered her French toast and poured maple syrup over it. She cut off a small bite and popped it into her mouth. Sweet syrup, warm, salty butter. "Delicious. I'll have to send my compliments to the chef."

Jamie raised one eyebrow. "This is not good."

"Yours isn't good?" She eyed the eggs. "What's wrong with them?"

"Don't try to change the subject. What happened with Alan?"

She sighed. "It wasn't a big deal. We went out to dinner Friday night. I saw him a couple of times on Saturday. Then on Sunday, we had breakfast together. Both meals were just because he didn't want me to be alone in the hotel."

Jamie cocked her head to the side. "Is that so? What a hero."

"He was worried about me."

Jamie nodded slowly, staring at her. Not only was Jamie more put together on the outside, she was much more composed on the inside. She and Chris were a decade older than Mark,sixteen years older than she, but it was more than just age. She and Mark had talked about it once—how Chris and Jamie were so wise and insightful, always unruffled.

Mark attributed it to their religion. He'd been impressed enough by them to try their church, and he'd been attending with them for over a year now. While Amanda loved Jamie and Chris, she had no desire to go to church, even if Mark seemed to find such peace there.

Good for him. She wasn't enough for him. She never would be.

"Did anything happen with him?"

"We're just friends."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm not ready for anything serious with anyone. Mark and I just separated a month ago."

"But you thought about it," Jamie said, no question in her voice.

"Maybe. He's a nice guy. I think . . ." She swallowed.

"You think what?"

"I think he likes me. And I think he'll react better than Mark did when he reads the memoir."

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