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Before I could form a reply, Donal started to guide me out of the foyer. “Come on, I want to introduce you to my kids, and my mom will want to see you.”
“Wait.” My steps faltered, and I put a hand on his stomach to stop him—before realizing what I’d done and quickly drawing it back. “Is your mother—” I swallowed, my eyes drifting to the large crucifix hanging on the wall. “Does she think badly of me?” I remembered Mrs. Larkin as a kind but slightly intimidating figure. Apparently, I still wasn’t too old to quake at the prospect of facing her now that she knew about my sinful transgressions with her son.
Donal blinked and his arm slipped away from me. “Of course not.”
“She doesn’t think I’m an immoral tramp who seduced her son and gave her grandchild away?”
He burst out laughing. “First of all, she’d put the fear of God into anybody she heard calling any woman a tramp. Second of all, my mom doesn’t go around judging people like that. I promise you, she doesn’t blame you or resent you or anything else you might be worried about, okay? She always really liked you.”
“She did?”
“Yeah, she did.” His mouth twisted wryly, but his eyes were still crinkling with amusement. “She always used to ask me why I didn’t date a nice, smart girl like you.”
I barked out a wry laugh. “Little did she know.”
“It was her idea to invite you today.”
“Oh.” I was torn between being relieved his mother didn’t hate me and feeling disappointed it hadn’t been Donal’s idea to include me.
“Come on.” His arm slipped around me again, herding me out of the foyer. “It’s going to be fine.”
Conversation in the living room came to a stop as everyone turned to look at us. My spine stiffened, and Donal’s hand squeezed my hip.
“Tess is here,” he announced unnecessarily as he guided me into the center of the room where everyone was seated on matching floral sofas. The upholstery had been updated since the last time I was here, but otherwise the furniture looked exactly the same. “You remember my dad,” he said to me as he gestured at an older, silver-haired gentleman I only vaguely recognized as Donal’s father. “And this is his wife, Diane.”
They stood up, and I exchanged handshakes with the pair of them. Next, Donal introduced me to Jack and Maddy, who each lifted a shy hand in greeting, keeping their seats on the couch as they surveyed me with undisguised curiosity.
Erin was seated next to them. Her husband was working on a job out of the country until the end of the summer, so she’d come alone. She smiled warmly as she got up to greet me. We’d shaken hands the last time I’d seen her, but this time she opened her arms to hug me.
Our very first hug. A lump formed in my throat as I clutched her. I had to force myself to let her go before it went on so long it became weird.
Donal’s mother had been sitting on a dining chair she’d pulled up on Erin’s other side, and she pushed herself to her feet as we separated. Mrs. Larkin looked much the same as I remembered. Her eyes, so much like Donal’s, were surrounded by more wrinkles these days and her hair was silver instead of light brown, but she still wore it in the exact same chin-length bob with feathered bangs.
“You remember my mom, of course.” Donal’s hand touched the small of my back in reassurance.
Mrs. Larkin’s eyes crinkled with warmth as she broke into a smile every bit as radiant as her son’s. “Teresa McGregor, what a beautiful woman you’ve grown into!”
The tension that had bunched in my shoulders eased as I returned her smile. “It’s nice to see you again, Mrs. Larkin. Thank you for inviting me today.”
“None of that, now. You’re to call me Kathleen, do you hear?” Her smile dimmed as her expression softened with compassion. “I’m so sorry about Sherry, sweetheart. She was a good, kind woman. And your poor father.” She tutted softly. “What a terrible thing.”
The next thing I knew, she’d enveloped me in a hug, and I felt my chin wobble as I clutched her soft middle.
“There now,” she murmured, holding me as tight as I’d wanted to hold Erin. “I know how much you must miss her. And your father too, I’ll bet.”
When she finally let go of me, my eyes were burning traitorously. As I blinked away the tears that threatened, Donal’s knuckles stroked down my back.
“Let’s get you fixed up with a drink.” Kathleen hooked her arm through mine and led me away toward the kitchen. “I’ve got beer and pop—or would you prefer a cup of tea? I’ll even put a shot of whiskey in it if you like,” she added with a wink.
I accepted her offer of a beer, as well as one of the homemade butterscotch cookies she pressed on me.
“Don’t tell the others I let you have that,” she whispered. “I told them they weren’t allowed to spoil their appetites.”
While I ate my contraband cookie, we lingered in the kitchen chatting about my job, her volunteer work, and some of my old friends from high school who she’d seen more recently than I had. By the time we returned to the living room a few minutes later, I was feeling considerably less anxious. Kathleen insisted I take the chair she’d vacated next to Erin, and directed Donal to fetch another from the dining room.
I sat quietly, sipping my beer while Erin talked to Jack and Maddy. Jack was clearly the outgoing one, offering a gushing, longwinded monologue about his favorite video game in answer to Erin’s question about his hobbies. Whereas Maddy was much quieter, keeping her answers more succinct. Despite her reserve, I didn’t detect any unfriendliness in her manner, and she seemed to be as curious about Erin as Erin was about her.
Erin’s skill as an educator showed in the easy, confident way she engaged with both her adolescent half-siblings, listening with interest to Jack’s enthusiastic ramblings before drawing Maddy into a conversation about her upcoming graduation and summer plans before she left for Purdue in the fall.
