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“Self-provided autonomy.”
“Yes. I love people, but I like my privacy, too.”
“Did you have a plan about where to put these?” he asked, referring to the totes as they drew close to the parking lot. “Because there isn’t an inch of room in your car unless you want them next to the stuff you’re donating.”
A full-size sedan pulled in right then. It swung around and backed up to the sidewalk. The engine shut down as the trunk popped open. “My mother has perfect timing, it seems.”
“Can’t argue that.” He settled the totes into the trunk, then arranged hers alongside as a small woman with red-gold hair climbed out of the front seat.
“Mom, this is Jacob Weatherly. He’s overseeing the establishment of the Bayou at the Eastern Shore Inn. Jacob, this is my mother, Cissy Gallagher.”
He put out his hand, and she took it with a quick smile. “How nice to meet you, Jacob. I’m quite excited about the possibility this affords, to have the Bayou be part of the inn. It’s a marvelous opportunity for year-round business, and that’s always a consideration on the lakeshore. How did you handle your first winter in Grace Haven?”
“Surprisingly well,” he told her as they walked back toward the apartment. She looked nothing like Josie. Her coloring, face and body type were completely different, but she spoke with a similar intonation. “I was raised in Georgia, and I’ve done numerous jobs up and down the coast, but I have to say I found the winter refreshing up here. Clean, brisk and cold.” He shrugged. “It suited. And my daughter was enchanted by things like sledding, building snowmen, making maple snow with her teacher in school, and while learning to skate was an epic fail for both of us, I’d be willing to try it again if the chance arises.”
“I’ve always enjoyed the respite of winter,” Cissy told him as she picked up a stack of small boxes. “It’s a regrouping time for me. When spring hits, I can’t wait to jump into projects.”
“So many projects, so little time.” Josie said the words softly, and her mother laughed out loud.
“My daughter knows me well. I bite off more than I can chew, and beg help as needed.”
“But she cooks for all of us when we descend on her to help with whatever the current project is, so no one really minds.”
“Did you get your love for cooking from your mother?”
Josie set two smaller plastic totes onto the larger ones in the trunk. “My mom loves to cook, so yes. But my father was the kitchen artist, the mad scientist who worked all day and then made a tremendous mess of the kitchen at night. But his methods taught me to attack recipes and results from alternative directions, so between the two of them, it worked.”
“Does your mother love to cook, Jacob?” Cissy asked as she stowed a handful of filled plastic bags in and around bigger items.
“My mother is not exactly ‘kitchen-friendly,’” he admitted. “My dad ran a chain of restaurants, and my mother’s life was filled with other things. We had a cook. And a maid.”
“Downton Abbey. Be still my heart.” Josie pretended to swoon, and he laughed.
“Not to that level, but yes, it was different from what I know now. And that’s all right. I like Addie to know that work is a good thing, that effort’s important. She likes to cook with me, although we don’t do a lot of that on school nights. On the weekend, though.” He closed the full trunk and dusted his hands together. “We’ve been known to destroy a kitchen in our quest for delicious meals. And cupcakes. I can handle cupcakes, and she loves to put on the frosting—a lot of frosting,” he admitted. “I probably should draw a line on it, but I can’t. Although I always get stuck with the end-of-project chores.”
“The joy of cleanup.”
He made a face. “She opts out of that quickly. There’s always a doll that needs feeding or a picture to color. She’s pretty game to help out in most situations, though, so that’s solid behavior for her age. And I only know this because I have every child development book and well-reviewed parenting tome on the planet. The ones in English, that is. When I ended up being a surprise dad, I wanted to do everything I could to not mess things up.”
