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“Lucky for you that you get to make those assumptions,” Sariah said dryly.
“I was right, though, wasn’t I?”
“How do you know I’m not right about this?”
Cass looked straight at her.“Because you’re not my mother.”
“Have you introduced Harrison to Grammy?”Sariah challenged.
“We’re going to breakfast tomorrow before his flight,” she said, lifting her chin.
“Mama.”The word had come out of Sariah’s mouth as a plea and a gasp at the same time.
“Your brother and sister are going to help you move,” Cass said.Her pulse bobbed in the back of her throat.“I don’t need to be there.I can barely lift anything, and you two downsized so much to go to Taiwan.”She glanced over to Robbie, who wore a wide-eyed expression as well.
“You’re not going to come help us move in?”Sariah sounded like she’d inhaled helium.
All eyes landed on Cass, and she couldn’t just brush them off.They weighed so much.“Harrison is here,” she said.“I haven’t seen him for weeks, and my parents want to meet him.”
He put his hand over hers, though they’d talked about this already this afternoon.While Sariah sulked and packed.While Jane slept.While Conrad lounged on the furniture, obviously bored to be there as he swiped over and over on his phone.
She’d finally escaped with Harrison to the beach, but they’d only had a couple of hours of respite before returning to this suffocating house.
She looked down the table at her children.“I’m listing the house on Monday.I’m flying back to Hilton Head on Tuesday.Miles is going to show the house, and it has to be in pristine condition, so no one can be living here.”That last part was for Jane, as Conrad would go back to Baylor tomorrow.
Her son threw his napkin on the table.“I can’t believe you’re selling the house.”He got up and started to leave the table.
“Sit back down,” she barked at him.
She must’ve carried something in her voice, because Conrad faced her, his jaw tight and storming, but he sat back down.He folded his arms, and oh, that made him look like West too.
“You kids need to understand something,” Cass said, not sure what else would come out of her mouth.“I have lived my whole life to be your mother.I have shielded you from as much pain and disappointment as I could.I couldn’t stop your father from dying, and I haven’t told you how to grieve the loss of him.”
Jane watched her with wide eyes.Sariah sniffled and let her tears track down her face.Robbie had bent his head toward the table, and Conrad simply stared back at her, fire in his dark eyes.
“I have paid for everything any of you have wanted to do.I have adjusted my schedule and my needs to help you at every turn.I have gone without so you didn’t have to, and I have sacrificed and sacrificed for the three of you in ways you will never understand.”
She gritted her teeth, almost angry at them.
In a breath, it went away.Just floated out of her and up through the ceiling.“Because that’s what mothers do for their children.”She sniffled too, which brought Sariah’s eyes to hers and the flame in Conrad’s gaze to a simmer.
“I love the three of you dearly, but you are not my life anymore.Sariah and Robbie will do amazing things with their lives.Conrad is going to meet some fabulous woman and marry her and whisk her all over the world.Jane, I don’t know what you’ll do, but I have never doubted for a moment that you’ll be fantastic at whatever you set your mind to.”
“I want to start a business that makes backpacks out of recycled billboards,” Jane said.She flicked a look in Sariah’s direction and then looked at Cass again.“I’ve been putting together a business plan.”
Cass started to cry as she nodded.“That sounds amazing, dear.”She reached across the table and covered Jane’s hand.This time, when she surveyed her children, she felt love for them.
She pulled her hand back and leaned into Harrison.He put his arm around her, and she took his hand in both of hers.She looked at the back of it, wondering how much his hands had seen during his time on Hilton Head, building everything from garages, to houses, to barns.
“I like this man,” she said.“I know he’s not your father; I don’t want him to be your father.I’m not trying to replace him, and he’s not trying to replace him.”
She looked up at Harrison.“I’m falling in love with him, because he’s good, and kind, and he treats me like a queen.”
He gave her the ghost of a smile, and Cass wanted to kiss him.Later, she told herself.Don’t make a bigger fool of yourself than you already have.
She faced her children again.“I’m ready to move on.I’ve known it for some months now.I’m sorry if you’re not, and I encourage you to keep working through your feelings, your grief, and your obstacles.When you’re ready to act like mature adults, you’ll be welcome at my beach house on Hilton Head Island.”
She nodded like that would be the end of the conversation.Silence draped the picnic table in the shade on the deck, where West had often taken his coffee in the morning after watching for the birds he loved.
“All right,” Robbie said.He reached for the bowl of salad and handed it to his wife.“That sounds like a good plan to me, Miss Haslam.I know I’m going to need a break this fall.”He gave a light laugh.“Starting late to in-person classes in this one calculus class.”He shook his head and made a whistling noise.“I’ll be glad to come to the beach for some rest and relaxation.”
Sariah looked at him like he’d lost his mind.“We’re not going to the beach for some rest and relaxation.”
Robbie looked at her, and for maybe the first time, he wore determination in his gaze.“Maybe you’re not, but I am.I know how to act like a mature adult around your mother and Harrison.”
Harrison reached for some garlic bread, took a piece, and handed the platter to Conrad.Conrad looked at it, then Harrison, then melted completely.
“The beach house is great,” he said, taking the bread.“And Harrison makes a mean hamburger in his outdoor kitchen.”He grinned, and just like that, the tension at the table broke.Jane smiled and said, “I’d love to come to the beach house, Mama.Can I fly out with you on Tuesday?”
Only Sariah remained a bit of a stonewall, but Cass once again recognized the grieving and acceptance process in her own daughter.She’d come around…eventually.
