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Never about his parenting. It might be the one thing he needed to hear. And to hear it from her.
“Thank you. It’s an uphill battle. Like me trying to rationalize with Max over him wanting to feed himself.”
“I’ll show you a trick tonight if you want on how to deal with that. Max does seem young to want to feed himself. I’m not sure that is what he wants as much as you think.”
“He wanted to pull the spoon out of my hand before I even got the food to him. He was hungry.”
She laughed at him and opened a drawer, then came over with a bulky spoon that Max could grip with his fist and hold better.
His son didn’t put the spoon in his mouth, but he gripped it and started to move it around, more like look at it.
“He’s checking it out,” she said. “That’s natural. Let him hold one while you feed him. He’ll get the best of both worlds. He’ll get to eat at his normal speed and then understand how one works.”
“Seems simple enough and I feel like a fool for not knowing that or realizing it.”
“Because you don’t know it all,” she said. “None of us do. We have to work things out as we go. What works for Max won’t work for another kid.”
He knew there was more than one meaning there. “Just like us, right?”
“Yes,” she said. “So you want to move forward with me. Or us. I might be open to it, but I can’t do that without knowing some things.”
“I understand,” he said. “You want to know what my plans are after the marina is sold?”
“Yes. I know you don’t have a solid answer. I get that. But I’m telling you clear as day, my family is here. My business is here. I’m not leaving. You aren’t within commuting distance. I don’t have the time in my life for long distance or to do it long term. If you were closer and there was a way to compromise on living situations, like splitting the distance between our houses, I could consider that in my head. It’s not an option either where you live.”
“You’re asking me right now if I’m going to move back to Mystic?” he asked.
“No. I’m asking you if the possibility is there. A week from now, a month from now, the end of January, we could decide this wasn’t what we thought it was and we can move on. If that is the case, we got our answers. But if it does turn into more—if we find some of what we had before—I’m not setting myself up. I might not have believed you before when you said you weren’t coming back. I was young and naive. I’m not now. I was honest with you. I want you to be honest with me.”
“Yes to the possibility,” he said simply.
She smiled. Her eyes got a little glossy and he wasn’t sure what was causing it. “You’ve got a panicked look on your face again. Why?”
“You look like you’re going to cry. I’m not sure why or what I did. I thought that answer would be good and make you happy, not sad.”
“It does make me happy. I didn’t realize how much until I heard it though.”
He stood up and moved closer to her. She held her ground. “If that makes you happy, how about this?” He knew he was taking a risk, but he had to get her in his arms. He had to feel her.
He pulled her close and hugged her. He didn’t kiss her like he wanted, but held her like he needed.
She sniffled a little and he was going to let it go. He had to trust these were positive emotions and steps.
“Your heart is racing,” she said.
“I could say the same about yours,” he said.
She looked into his eyes while she stayed in his arms. “I got the answer I was looking for. And after dinner we can come to some ground rules.”
He laughed and stepped back. “I don’t remember you needing to plan anything out before.”
“I’m not sure I needed to until you showed back up. I understand you are here to help your mother. You said you’ve got one more week before you return to work. Then you’ll be working and helping her?”
“No. We had one realtor there today. Another is coming tomorrow. We’re getting an idea of the value of the marina and what we could do to increase the value or make it more attractive. I did some little things last week and will continue to this week. My mother has staff there. She is managing fine that I can see.”
Even if he wanted her to work less, they were getting into the slower season anyway.
“Your mother has always managed from what I could remember.”
