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Her mother had gone to Maryland to celebrate the holiday with Robin’s brother, and Robin wanted a simple, festive meal with her core family before she had to send Mandie back to college.
All of her texts and calls had been filled with experiences and learning opportunities. She’d had a great semester, and while she’d been complaining that she’d gained ten pounds, she was happy. She had all As in her classes right now, but she’d started stressing over finals weeks ago.
Robin had never been more proud of her daughter than she’d experienced the past few months.
“She’s still dating Charlie,” Robin said. “They seem to really like one another.”
“You sound okay with that.” Clara smiled at Robin, and Robin couldn’t argue with her.
“I am. Charlie’s a good boy.”
The conversation stalled, but Robin didn’t want it to. “I talked to my mother again.” She shook her head. “She’s impossible, and I apologize that I immediately jumped to you consorting with her.”
Clara gazed at her with such familiar eyes. Eyes that had seen pain. Eyes that knew sorrow. Eyes that had loved, and understood happiness, and that yearned to make things right.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “My mother is everyone’s hero, so I don’t dare say I understand how frustrating they can be sometimes.” A kind smile curled her lips, and Robin felt it deep in her soul.
“I know your mother has her faults,” Robin said.
“Do you?” Clara challenged. One eyebrow went up. “Is it that she only makes deviled eggs for Lena, because she finds them disgusting? She won’t make them for me or anyone else, but Lena? All the deviled eggs she wants.”
Robin grinned, because if someone’s biggest fault was that they made deviled eggs for their granddaughter, they had to be pretty dang near perfect.
“She accepts people too easily,” Robin said. “She’s still learning how to protect herself and not trust instantly.”
“That can be a gift,” Clara said without missing a beat.
Robin found she really liked Clara. She challenged Robin without fear, and only her friends in the Seafaring Girls had really ever done that. She grinned at her. “You know what, Clara? You’re right. It can be a gift or a curse.”
They laughed then, and as the waitress approached with their drinks, Robin scurried to pick up her menu. “Shoot,” she said. “I haven’t even looked yet.”
“Me either.” Clara wasn’t worried, and Robin took her cues from her. If they needed a few more minutes, so be it. The waitress wouldn’t care.
The conversation didn’t stall again, and Clara ordered four things simply to “try them all.” Robin loved that, and she vowed the next time she and Duke went out, she’d get a few things to sample. If she only took one bite, then she’d have leftovers.
She left with Clara and her big bag of leftover food, and the two of them hailed a RideShare back to the ferry station.
“Thanks for coming out here,” Robin said. “I couldn’t get anyone to come with me.”
“I would’ve come,” a woman said, and both she and Clara turned toward the voice.
“Maddy.” Robin’s surprise didn’t keep her from propelling herself into the woman and hugging her. “What’s new with you?”
“Not much.” She smiled as she pulled back from Robin. She retook her place at Ben’s side. “We’re just heading to Bell Island. We heard there’s a great new café.”
“And you’re willing to travel from island to island.”
Maddy grinned and looked up at Ben. “We definitely are. Ben was born to be on a boat, so he doesn’t mind the ride.”
“Good to see you again, Ben,” Robin said diplomatically. They shook hands, but his smile was fleeting. Both he and Maddy looked at Clara.
“This is Clara,” Robin said at the same time Clara said, “I’m Clara.”
“I remember meeting you,” Maddy said. “But it’s been a while.” They shook too, and then the line started moving to get on the ferry.
The four of them got on together, and Robin found a spot at the railing. She faced into the spray and the wind and looked over the water.
She’d always loved the cove, and that hadn’t changed. The people who’d come in and out of her life over the past few years had, and as the ferry started moving, taking her back to her beloved Diamond Island, Robin knew she needed to work a little harder on her relationship with her mother.
