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Claire’s eyes twinkled and Laney groaned. “Thanks for that.”
“Delaney, did you run into Kyle?”
She was so tempted to share all of the sticky, lurid details with her mom as payback for her initial meddling, except in the end it hadn’t been such a bad plan at all. “You know I did. Since when are you afraid to drive a tractor?”
“I was wearing my new jeans and it looked greasy.”
“Yeah, right. Well, that was awkward, when he showed up at the door, but then yesterday I went over to his place and we talked. It was less awkward and more…” intimate “…productive.”
“I’m so glad, sweetheart. You’ve held onto that sadness for too long. But your sister is right to be worried. Kyle has always had a strong hold on your emotions. I want you to be free of that, not just trade love for hate and vice versa.”
It was Laney’s turn to blow hair out of her face this time. She was starting to get pissed off, a common theme in Calhoun late night chats. “Three things. First, I’m a grown-up, let me worry about my feelings, be they over the top or utterly lacking. Second, I. Am. Not. In. Love. With. Anyone. Love is still overrated and unnecessary. Third, I think it’s time for cookies and tea, yes?”
She headed into the kitchen, but her sister and mother just followed. Escape was not going to be that easy.
“Laney, we just want you to be happy,” Claire said.
“I am happy. I have a great job, and an interesting social life, and despite them being incredibly annoying, I even like my family. I finally settled my feelings about a long-ago ex-boyfriend and it’s still not good enough for you both.”
Evie reached past Laney to grab a teapot off the shelf. “You know, I wouldn’t change a thing about my relationship with Dale.”
Laney snorted.
“Really. He gave me two awesome kids. If I hadn’t married him, I wouldn’t have them.”
“And I wouldn’t have given up knowing and loving your dad, even though his death was so hard on me.”
Laney looked at the beautiful, crazy women in front of her. “Of course, you say that now. But from my perspective, if having kids means dealing with a deadbeat ex-husband, or if having a grand love affair means someone suffers through a year of depression at the end of it … it’s probably safer to stick to being a party of one.”
Claire pulled her daughter in for a gentle hug. “I wish I could explain just how wrong you are, sweetie, but it might be something that you need to experience for yourself.”
“Isn’t that what losing Kyle was? And now I’ve moved on. As you wanted me to, remember.”
“You were young. I want you to have a meaningful adult relationship.”
Laney’s jaw twitched. “Not that young. Too young to make it work, maybe, but not too young to know what it was.”
Claire paused, knowing she’d pushed her daughter to her limit. “Okay. I’m sorry. You’re right, this is none of my business.”
Evie busied herself with putting spelt cookies on a plate, and the tension ebbed.
Chapter 9
Christmas Eve morning at the Calhoun farm started with group Pilates. Laney thought about bowing out and going for a run by herself instead, but Connor promised that “Ninja Monster Pilates is way different than boring Mom Pilates, don’t worry!” And he was right. Max sat on her abs while she did The Hundred, and Connor challenged her to beat him in double leg lifts. She couldn’t. Humbled by an eight year old.
After inhaling plain yogurt and homemade granola for breakfast, everyone pitched in to prep food for the next two days. Calhouns never procrastinated, and holiday meals were no exception. Claire set to work on stuffing and pie for Christmas dinner, while Evie and the boys prepped clam chowder for that night. That left the traditional Christmas Eve bread pudding for Laney, but when she went to get a loaf of bread from the pantry, Evie and Claire exchanged guilty looks.
“You didn’t get extra bread?”
“We decided to have fruit salad for dessert instead,” Evie said. “Bread pudding is so excessive.”
“You’re a lunatic. It’s Christmas, we’re having bread pudding. I’ll run into town, do we need anything else? What else were you thinking of eliminating from the menu?”
It had been years since Laney had last driven into Wardham, but it looked pretty much the same. She parked in front of Wardham Grocery and paused on the sidewalk to take in her home town. A fancy bakery and coffee shop had opened up a few doors down, and the bank had been recently renovated, but otherwise it looked like the same place she spent her first 21 years.
Inside the grocery store, she recognized Karen Miller at the checkout. Karen’s younger brother had been in Laney’s grade in high school, and a few years after graduation had been drafted into the NHL. She wasn’t sure if Karen would remember her or not, but offered a little wave to be friendly. It was returned, along with a surprised smile. She didn’t know what to make of that, so she grabbed a cart and went in search of day-old bread.
Potato chips for the top of the cabbage casserole and marshmallows for the sweet potatoes, along with nibblies and ginger ale for the afternoon, completed her purchases. Laney was as health conscious as the next person, she was a doctor for goodness sake, but her sister went too far.
