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I deposited the check into my purse. “Thank you,” I said even though I had no need for my mother’s money. I knew how much it meant to her to be able to provide.
“And this,” she added, handing me the box, “I’m hoping you’ll wear it on your wedding day. Your … something old.”
I flipped the lid on the red box and found a diamond studded tennis bracelet that I’d seen my mom wear every day growing up. “The one Grandpa got for you for your wedding day?”
She nodded. “It was new when I wore it, and now, it’s old for when you wear it.”
“Mom,” I whispered, slowly closing the lid, “would you have given me this if I were marrying someone else?”
She bit her lip and looked down at the box still in my hand. “If you’re asking about Safia, then … yes.”
She met my gaze, and I saw tears there.
“I want to believe you, but youleft. Youleftinstead of staying in California and getting to know her.”
“I know. I thought I was making the right decision at the time. My church would still say that I made the right decision. But not talking to you for months after that? Not being involved in your life? Not even being a person that you wanted to tell that you were engaged? I don’t want to be that kind of mother.” She sniffled, wiping at her eyes. “With your dad so sick … I’ve had a lot of time to think about what happens after. What he’s going to miss out on. It’s changed my perspective.” She clasped my shoulder. “I want to be in your life.”
Maybe it wasn’t perfect. Maybe it wasn’t the proclamation that she was suddenly fine with having a bi daughter. It was still more than I’d ever thought I’d hear from my mom. A fresh start to figure out what our relationship could be in the wake of this new understanding.
So, I hugged my mom and promised to wear the bracelet. She smiled back at me, and we headed down to the fireworks together.
Gavin was seated on a quilt between Wesley and Wynona, who were both animatedly discussing every ride and game they’d played that day. They both had light-up swords of some kind and randomly smacked them against each other across Gavin’s lap. He just laughed, egging them on all the while. Carrie and Wyatt sat in chairs directly behind them with Dad seated heavily in another chair. Mom sank into the seat next to him and immediately began fussing over him.
“Well, isn’t this cozy?” I said with a laugh. “Where am I going to sit?”
“Next to me!” Wynona insisted.
“No! Me!” Wesley chimed in.
“That’s my cue,” Gavin said as he vacated his seat, and I plopped down between the children.
Gavin took the seat on the other side of Wesley, where he could lean over and link our hands together.
He whispered, “Everything all right?” and nodded at the box I was carrying.
I nodded. “I’ll tell you later.”
With the sun finally setting, a firework burst into the sky, and silence fell over the awaiting crowd. Gavin kissed my cheek and then turned his face up to gaze at the night sky. We sat there for a half hour as colors and loud noises and shapes were displayed over and over again. It was magical as the display came to a close with a cacophony of sound.
Wyatt and Carrie herded the yawning children back toward the cars, and we followed behind them. We said good night and then piled into the back of my mom’s car. A half hour later, after we managed to get stuck in fireworks traffic, we were back on the farm. We said good night to my parents and then trudged our way to an upstairs bedroom.
“Which one was yours?” Gavin asked.
“That one,” I said, pointing to a room filled with my mother’s crafting equipment. “She changed it as soon as I went away to college. Always wanted her own craft room.”
I opened the next door. Gavin had deposited the suitcases here earlier in the day. They were pushed against a wall, and the king-size bed was inviting.
“This used to be Wyatt’s room, but just the guest room now.”
He toed the door closed behind him. “So, what happened with your mom?”
“She sort of apologized for how she’d acted, and she gave me the bracelet her dad gave her on her wedding day.”
His eyes sparkled in the dim light. “That’s big, Whit.”
“It was.”
Though I could hardly think of what my mom had said and was still focused on how clearly Wyatt had seen into my heart.
