The longing hit me harder than I expected.
Because I’d built an entire life pretending I didn’t need this.
And sitting at the McAllister table, it was obvious I was lying to myself.
I blinked hard and lifted my tea glass to my mouth like I could drink my emotions back down.
Owen noticed, because he noticed everything.
“We should probably go,” he said then.
“Let me send you home with some leftovers,” his mother said.
Madeline pushed up from the table and grabbed her empty dessert plate.Then reached for mine.But Owen snatched it up before she could along with his and his father’s.He gave her warning look, one that said he’d done this before and she better not argue.
“That’s not necessary,” I said.
“Nonsense,” she said as she started for the kitchen.“I cooked enough food for a small army.”
I glanced up at Owen who gave me a nod.“She did.”
Then he headed off to the kitchen with the dirty plates.I sat there with his father listening to the clink of dishes and their low murmuring voices.
“Today was a good day,” Dougal said, almost to himself.Then he added, “The visit and the flowers made her day.”
And something about that one sentence warmed everything inside me.
“I’m glad,” I said.
Minutes later, Owen returned with his mother.She carried several clear containers with lids.Inside, pot roast, gravy, potatoes.In another container, green beans.Biscuits.Cobbler.
“Mrs.McAllister, you’re going to make me fat,” I said with a laugh as she handed it over.
“Nonsense.And I told you to call me Madeline.”
Then she stunned me by kissing my cheek and hugging me.I glanced at Owen over her shoulder.Surprise then delight crossed his face.
Like he’d won a prize.
“Owen, you bring her back here to see me, you hear?”she said.
“Yes, ma’am.”He grinned, then kissed her cheek and hugged her.
“You two best get going.The Crossroads are waiting,” she said.
Owen’s smile faded at the word Crossroads.His gaze sharpened as if flipping a switch.
“I’ll tell you on the way,” I said.
I gathered my things and then we were out the door.It was already early evening as we walked to the truck in silence.He opened the truck door for me.Before I climbed in, his hand wrapped around my arm and stopped me.I turned to him.His hand rested on my waist, his gaze fixed on mine.
“She loves you,” he said softly.
“Oh,” I breathed.“Well… that’s good, isn’t it?”
He leaned in, kissed me, and said against my mouth, “Yes.I knew she would.”
“I love her, too.”
