Struck by the real dismay in her voice, Mick sat down next to her. “Ma, Megan and I are a long way from reconciling. And if that time does come, you’d never be displaced around here. Surely, you know that. It’s your home as much as it is mine. If you want to go back to your cottage, that’s your decision, but please don’t do it because you think you won’t be welcome here.”
“Gram, you belong here,” Abby agreed. “This will always be your home.”
“But Megan will have her own ideas,” she argued.
Mick didn’t want to make light of her fears, but there was one thing he knew about his ex-wife that had apparently escaped Nell. “Ma, Megan has about as much interest in running a household as I do. Trust me, she’ll be more than happy to let you stay in charge of this place, if that’s what you want to do.” He gave her a pointed look. “But you’re getting way ahead of yourself. Not even I can see that far into the future yet and you know what an optimist I tend to be when I set my mind to something.”
He realized Abby was staring at him.
“You’re courting Mom? I mean, I know you’ve been seeing her, but it’s getting serious?”
He felt his face turn red. “I wouldn’t call it courting her, exactly. I popped in to see her in New York a couple of weeks ago. We had dinner. We didn’t smash dishes over each other’s head. That’s the most positive thing I can say about the evening.”
Abby’s expression turned thoughtful. “And now she’s here for an unexpected visit. Interesting. Where is she now?”
“She’s with Bree,” Mick said. “I thought they’d be back by now. Call your sister and see if they stopped by the inn.”
Abby reached for the phone just as Jess appeared…alone.
“Well, they’re obviously not at the inn with Jess,” Mick said.
“Mom and Bree?” Jess asked. “They’re missing?”
“They’re not missing,” Mick said. “They’re just not back from Myrtle Creek. Why don’t the two of you help Gram set the table. Stay for dinner. I’ll run up and grab a quick shower.”
Abby gave him a knowing look. “So you’ll look all spiffy when Mom gets here?”
“So I won’t smell like sawdust and sweat,” Mick retorted.
For a moment he stood there watching two of his girls as they pitched in to help his mother get a meal on the table. It reminded him of all the family meals they’d shared through the years…and all the ones he’d missed. The bickering, the chatter, the laughter, it was all so familiar. Why hadn’t he appreciated it enough when he’d had it? How could he have let business keep him away so often when moments like this were the only thing that truly mattered?
At first he’d deluded himself that chasing jobs all over the country was something he was doing for his family, providing them with everything they could possibly need. Then, when Megan had made it clear that she cared more about him than money, he still hadn’t gotten the message. He’d bristled at what he’d viewed as an ultimatum, his pride had kicked in and he’d let her slip away.
After that, the house had felt empty, despite five children underfoot, so he’d stayed away to avoid that awful sense of loneliness. He wasn’t sure which was worse, feeling abandoned or the accompanying guilt because he’d known that the divorce was his fault since he hadn’t tried to work out a compromise. All he’d cared about was that it was easier to bear losing Megan when he was far away and swamped with work. Having his mother there looking after the kids had eased his conscience.
He was still thinking about all that as he showered and dressed in crisply pressed pants and a clean dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He patted on aftershave, then grimaced at his reflection in the mirror. Abby was going to have a field day when she caught a whiff of that scent. Oh well, he supposed he could take a little good-natured teasing from his oldest daughter. It was more important to make a good impression on Megan.
To his dismay, she still wasn’t there when he returned to the kitchen. Everyone else was seated at the table, evidently waiting for him. Caitlyn and Carrie bounced impatiently in their chairs.
“Grandpa Mick, we didn’t think you’d ever get here,” Carrie told him.
“We’re really, really hungry,” Caitlyn added. “We love Gram’s pot roast.”
“Sorry, angels. You all could have started without me.” He put his napkin in his lap, then frowned when he realized there were no extra place settings. “Bree and Megan still not back?”
“Bree called. They decided to stop at Brady’s for dinner,” Abby said, watching him intently for any hint of a reaction.
“Good for them,” he said. “They can use the time together. I’m hoping it will be good for Bree to have her mother here to confide in.”
“Nice try, Dad, but I can tell you’re disappointed,” Abby said.
“Now, why would I be disappointed about that? Didn’t I go to New York to convince Megan that Bree needed her?”
Now it was Jess regarding him with an odd look, the same look Abby had had on her face earlier. “You went to New York?”
“And it had little enough to do with Bree,” Gram commented, giving him a pitying look.
“Of course it was about Bree,” he insisted.
“Really?” his mother said. “And after the visit, you stayed in touch with her to make sure she’d know what was going on with your daughter?”
He flushed at that. “Well, no.”
“Because you were miffed that your ploy hadn’t worked and Megan didn’t rush right down here with you,” Nell guessed.
“Ma, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” he grumbled. “Megan’s here now, isn’t she?”
“Because she called and talked to Bree for herself and realized how serious things were.”
“She’s here for Bree,” he said tightly. “That’s all I ever wanted.”
“Which doesn’t explain the dress shirt and the aftershave,” Abby teased.
“Maybe I have plans for after dinner,” he said.
“With Mom?” Jess asked, studying him curiously. “Am I the only one who’s not sure what’s going on with you two?”
“Oh, I think we can all agree on what Dad wants,” Abby said. “Mom’s the wild card.”
Mick frowned at her. “Would you give it a rest?” He made a show of looking at his watch. “I’m running late. You’ll have to excuse me.”
All three women stared at him.
“You’re leaving in the middle of dinner?” Nell asked. “You’ve barely touched your food.”
“Sorry. I’m afraid I have to go,” he said, dropping a kiss on her cheek.
“Can we come with you?” Carrie asked.
“Yes, can we?” Caitlyn added. “Please.”
Since he had no idea where he was going, Mick saw no reason they couldn’t come along. He’d take them downtown and buy them ice cream. They could play on the swings for a while. At least it would get him away from the house. And if he returned them directly to Abby’s, it was possible Megan would be there by then.
“If your mother approves,” he said, glancing at Abby. “You okay with that?”
“Sure,” she said, her expression filled with amusement. “Don’t keep them out too late.”
“I’ll have them at your place by eight-thirty.”
His daughter’s grin spread. “Sounds like a plan. I imagine Mom will be there by then.”
He feigned surprise. “Did she mention what time she and Bree would be arriving?”
“She didn’t, but knowing Bree, it will be an early evening.”
“Well, then, catching a glimpse of your mother would surely be a lovely end to the day,” he said as if he hadn’t calculated carefully to make sure of it. He held out a hand for each of the twins. “Let’s go, girls. I can hear ice cream calling my name.”
“Grandpa Mick, ice cream can’t talk,” Caitlyn said seriously.
He feigned surprise. “You sure about that?”
She nodded, her expression serious.
; “Then it must be the hot-fudge sauce I hear,” he claimed.
“Grandpa Mick, you’re silly,” Carrie said with a giggle.
He winked at Abby. “So they tell me, little one. So they tell me.”
It probably was a little silly for a man in his fifties to be as giddy as a teenager at the prospect of seeing his ex-wife again before the night was over.
Bree was stunned that she’d spent the entire afternoon and most of the evening with her mother. More surprising was that she’d enjoyed it. After the rocky start there had been very little tension between them, primarily due to Megan’s admission that she’d made three trips to Chicago to see Bree’s plays. Bree still couldn’t get over the fact that her mother had cared enough to do that. It had gone a long way to filling the empty spot in her heart, a hole she would have sworn to anyone else didn’t exist.
When she pulled up in front of Abby’s, she was almost sorry that the day was ending.
“I had fun today,” she told Megan.
“Me, too.”
“I wish you’d reconsider and stay at the house.”
“This is better,” Megan assured her.
“Do you know how long you’re going to be in town?”
“Just through the weekend,” Megan told her. “I’d like to stop by the shop tomorrow, though, if it’s okay. I’d love to take a real look around and hear what you have planned.”
Bree nodded. “I’ll be there in the morning.”
“I’ll see you then.”
As Megan stepped from the car, two small bodies hurled themselves at her.
“Grandma Megan, we’ve been waiting and waiting for you,” Carrie exclaimed.
Megan laughed. “You have? Well, I’ve been waiting and waiting to see you.”
“Grandpa Mick’s here,” Caitlyn said excitedly. “He’s been waiting and waiting, too.”
Bree saw the surprising spark in her mother’s eyes. “You probably shouldn’t keep him waiting, Mom. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Megan suddenly slapped a hand to her brow. “What was I thinking? I have a rental car. It’s still down by your shop and my luggage is in the trunk. It never even crossed my mind.”
“Give me your keys,” Bree said. “I’ll get the luggage and someone can drop you off at the shop in the morning. The car will be fine there overnight.”
“I should go with you,” Megan began, only to be interrupted by a chorus of protests from the twins.
“Stay here, Mom. It’ll take me ten minutes to run over there, fifteen tops.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Of course not.”
As she drove back into town, Bree thought about how much had changed in a single afternoon. Before today she would have objected to going out of her way for her mother. In fact, she would have felt she didn’t owe her even the tiniest act of kindness. Now she was simply glad that her mother was here for a few days.
For a few hours she’d been reminded of the times when she was little when Megan had arranged special outings just for the two of them. She’d done that with each of the kids, taking Bree to the library or bookstore, Abby for walks on the beach. She took Connor to Baltimore Orioles games, even though she claimed not to understand the first thing about them. She’d even covered her antipathy toward worms to take Kevin out fishing in their old rowboat. Bree hesitated for a minute, trying to recall what Megan had done with Jess, then realized that there’d probably been very few special outings with her younger sister. Jess had been only seven at the time of the divorce.
As she pulled into the parking spot next to her mother’s rental car—the only car left on the block in front of the shop at this hour—she glanced up and realized that the sign painter had apparently come while she was over in Myrtle Creek. FLOWERS ON MAIN had been painted on the front window and adorned with bright blossoms. Her name, in dark blue edged with gold, appeared in a lower corner of the glass.
“Oh, my,” she murmured, tears springing to her eyes. It was exactly the way she’d envisioned it. Suddenly the whole thing felt real. It was all taking shape. In a few more weeks she’d be open for business and her life would be heading along a whole new, surprising path.
Main Street at night had a charming, old-fashioned feel to it. Tourists wandered along, window-shopping at a leisurely pace, ice cream or snow cones in hand. Every shop was unique, every lighted window filled with enticing gifts, souvenirs, colorful gourmet-kitchen gadgets. Now she would be adding her own contribution—a brilliant display of flowers each and every day. She could hardly wait to put her own stamp on this town her father had envisioned and then built from scratch.
“It looks good.”
Jake’s voice startled her so badly, she accidently hit the horn, which shattered the quiet of the evening. She stared up at him accusingly. “You nearly scared me to death. Where did you come from?”
“I just finished grabbing a burger at Sally’s and saw you sitting here. I thought maybe something was wrong.”
“Why would anything be wrong?”
“Because most people don’t park on Main Street at this hour and sit staring at a building,” he said reasonably.
“I came to get my mother’s luggage out of the trunk of her rental,” she said, gesturing toward the car next to hers.
Jake’s brows shot up. “Megan’s in town?”
She nodded.
“And you’re okay with that?”
“It was a little dicey earlier today, but actually it’s turning out to be okay.”
“What brought her to town? I know she was here for the opening of the inn, but I didn’t think she’d turn out to be a regular visitor, not after the way all of you practically shunned her when she came back after the divorce.”
Bree gave him a wry look. “Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather, too. It seems she was worried about me.”
Jake leaned against the side of the car and gestured toward the shop. “You mean because of this?”
She wasn’t surprised that he understood that much. She supposed a lot of people were trying to figure out why she’d leave a supposedly successful career in Chicago to come back to Chesapeake Shores and open a flower shop.
She nodded. “Because of this.”
“What’d you tell her?”
“That I wanted a fresh start.”
“This seems like an odd choice for that,” he said. “Don’t people usually go someplace new to start over, instead of returning to the scene of some really bad memories?”
She looked up and met his gaze. “Not all my memories of this place are bad,” she said. “And the ones that are…” She shrugged. “You’ve been able to put them behind you. Why can’t I?”
His gaze held hers. “They’re not behind me, Bree. Not by a long shot. And now that you’re back, they’re pretty much in my face every single day.”
With that he shoved away from the car. “See you around.”
The pain in his voice cut through her. “Jake?”
He paused, but he didn’t turn around.
“I’m sorry.”
He hesitated for what seemed like forever, then said, “Yeah. Me, too.”
Bree watched him go, her heart aching. Maybe coming home had been a really lousy idea, after all. Then she glanced back at the window of her store and a smile crept across her face. No, she thought with a renewed sense of commitment. This was right. She was counting on it being right.
And somehow, one of these days, she’d find a way to make it up to Jake for all the pain she’d caused him. She just wished she had even the vaguest idea how she could possibly accomplish that.
Crossing the lawn clutching her granddaughters’ hands, Megan saw Mick stand. He’d always been polite that way, but now she sensed a barely restrained eagerness in him, as if he was having to stop himself from coming down to meet her.
“Grandma Megan’s here,” Carrie announced unnecessarily.
“I see that,” Mick said, smiling.
“Sh
e’s gonna stay with us,” Caitlyn added.
“Is that so?” Mick’s gaze held hers, a question in his eyes.
“I thought it would be best,” she said, responding to that unspoken question. “Bree needs some space right now.”
He nodded in understanding. “Where’d she run off to?”
“I sent her after my luggage. I stupidly forgot that it was still in the rental car.”
“I could have gone.”
“She said she didn’t mind.”
“Come on, Grandma Megan,” Carrie urged. “You gotta come see our rooms. Trace says we’re big girls, so we each have our own now.”
Megan shot an apologetic look toward Mick. “Well, aren’t you lucky,” she told Carrie. “Show me.”
She followed the girls inside and left Mick on the porch. Only after she was inside, did she realize that she’d been practically holding her breath. How could he make her so nervous after all these years? They’d been married for nearly two decades, for heaven’s sake. They had five children. There was nothing he didn’t know about her or she him.
Except how to stay married, she reminded herself. They’d certainly gotten that all wrong.
When Abby found them in Caitlyn’s room a few minutes later, she gave her a commiserating look. “Careful, Mom, or they’ll insist on showing you every book on their shelves and every toy in their new toy boxes. I’m afraid Trace is spoiling them rotten.”
“And I love seeing it all,” Megan told her.
“But they need to get to bed. Why don’t you join Dad on the porch,” she said, sending Megan a conspiratorial wink. “I think he’s poured a glass of wine for you. And I convinced Trace that he needed to come inside and leave you two alone.”
Flustered that Abby seemed to understand that something was on the brink of happening between her and Mick, Megan tried to come up with an excuse to get out of going outside. None came to mind, especially when her luggage wasn’t here. Without that, she couldn’t even claim that she wanted to head straight to bed.
“Fine. I’ll do that,” she said, though she lingered over her good-nights to the girls.
“You’re stalling, Mom,” Abby accused, her eyes filled with amusement. “Does the idea of sitting on the porch in the dark with Dad scare you for some reason?”
Flowers on Main Page 10