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Her mom gave her a strange look. “Yeah, he was away for some meetings, I think. But he’s the oldest one. I keep forgetting about him.”
Grace couldn’t help the feeling of protectiveness that washed over her. “Maybe you shouldn’t.”
Her mom blinked, surprised. “I didn’t mean to.”
“I know.” Grace rubbed her eyes. “I guess I just didn’t want to leave him out. It must be hard being the oldest of us all.”
“I don’t think he’d mind. He’s closer to my age than all of yours.” Her mom gave her a soft smile. “Anyway, tell me all about New York.”
Grace swallowed. This was the part she hated. Lying. But it wouldn’t be for too much longer.
“It was hot.”
Her mom laughed. “Did you and Ella enjoy being together, though?”
“It was good to catch up.” She let out a low breath. “We did a little sight seeing, a lot of eating, and lots of talking.”
“Oh I can imagine. Although I suspect Ella did most of the talking.”
Grace smiled. “She usually does. How was Mia?” She had a vested interest in that, too.
“She was wallowing over her failed attempt at match making. She’d tried to set Michael up with her nurse.” Her mom grimaced. “Apparently it didn’t go too well.”
Grace swallowed. Okay, so she should have changed the subject completely. She’d been so jealous a few days ago, but that had all disappeared.
“Maybe he has somebody else.” What was wrong with her? Why was she flying so close to the sun?
“That’s what Mia thinks. He was weird with her when he told her he wasn’t interested.” Her mom shrugged. “Anyway, apart from that, she seemed fine. She looked brighter than I’ve seen her in ages.”
“Sounds like she’s doing good.” Grace nodded.
“And she’s so happy that she gets to have all her boys and Sabrina around. It’s a shame it took something like this, but it’s nice to see her… I don’t know. Complete, I guess.”
“It’s always good to have family around.” She sounded like an idiot. But she had no idea what else to say. This was so awkward, especially knowing it would all come out soon. Her mom would know she lied to her, and she hated the thought of hurting her.
But Michael was right. While his mom was in treatment, this was the best thing to do. Feeling uncomfortable for a little while was a small price to pay for the future. It was going to be fine.
“So, what’s in the plans for this week?” her mom asked.
Grace frowned. She was planning to see Michael all week. “Um, I’m not sure. I have a lot of laundry to do.”
Her mom burst out laughing. “I meant work plans. I turned into your boss without telling you.”
Relief rushed through her. Talking about work was so much easier than talking about her private life. “I have a couple of calls with some vineyards. One of them would be a real catch if they want to partner up.”
“Would you like me to join you?” her mom asked.
Grace shook her head. “Not yet. I’ll do the initial call and if it looks favorable, I’ll get you and Dad involved.”
“I just like hearing you speak French.” Her mom grinned. “It always fascinates me how good you are at picking up languages. I don’t know where it came from.”
And now she was blushing again, remembering the way Michael whispered to her in French when they were alone. Doing things they shouldn’t. It was stupid, but she wanted to tell her mom she wasn’t the only one in the family good at learning different languages. She wasn’t the only one who’d lived in Europe, either. And yet she got all the kudos and people seemed to forget about Michael’s achievements.
But she couldn’t say a word. Not yet.
“Well, I’d better go. Are you around this weekend? I’d love to take a ride with you. It feels like we haven’t caught up in a while.”
“I see you every day at work,” Grace said, shaking her head because her mom always said this. “And we were both atChairson Friday.”
