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He nodded and gave her a wink before returning to his seat.Evie looked at him adoringly and squeezed his hand.
At least she had the support of two of them.
“It’s not that I’m not supportive, Mom.”Cal cleared his throat.“But I do have to ask, were we the only ones who noticed the dates?Do you really have to go at Christmas time, Mom?That’s the wedding.”
“It’s also Clara’s first Christmas, Mom.”Mitch raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll be back for the wedding,” she assured Cal first.“I wouldn’t miss your special day for anything.”She directed her last comment to Milena, who did not look reassured at all.“And of course, I wouldn’t dream of missing my granddaughter’s first Christmas.You all are worrying over nothing.I’ll be gone for a few days and back on the twentieth.”
“That’s cutting it pretty close, Mom.”
She didn’t disagree with Cal, but there was nothing she could do about the timing.
“The plans are already made.”She picked up her fork and knife and sliced into the turkey on her plate.“I wasn’t actually asking anybody for their permission.”
She didn’t lift her head to make eye contact, but she didn’t miss the chuckle from Declan’s direction and the sigh from Ian’s.They could think what they wanted to.She was a grown woman, and she didn’t need her children’s approval to do anything, especially when her children were acting as if she were completely incapable of caring for herself.
As far as Maureen was concerned, the subject was closed.
After a few minutes of silence, Chelsea changed the subject easily by asking Milena questions about the upcoming wedding.Soon, conversations sprang up all around her, and Maureen’s announcement was forgotten.
It wasn’t until later when Maureen was cleaning up in the kitchen that her impending trip came up again.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”Ian, a stack of plates in his hand, joined her at the sink.“I don’t mean to give you such a hard time,” he continued.“I’m just concerned is all.”
“I know you are.”
“I can’t help it that I’m a little protective over you.”
She tipped her head and examined her eldest before pulling her hands out of the soapy water and drying them on a nearby towel.Maureen knew all too well the extra responsibility Ian felt over her.She’d often wondered whether maybe she should have dated more, or let someone else into her life in order to lessen that for Ian after the divorce.But there was no going back in time.And even if she could, Maureen knew she wouldn’t have.
Love wasn’t in the cards for everyone.She’d resigned herself to that many years earlier.Even before Harold’s betrayal was made public.She couldn’t imagine trying again with anyone new.
Anyone but Adam.
“So, he’s an optometrist,” Ian said, bringing her back to the moment.“What else should we know about this man?”He held up a hand.“And before you get mad again, I’m only asking because I should have asked a long time ago when Declan gave you the letter.I swear I won’t try to stop you, but it’s long past time I asked some questions.Besides, I think it’s fair that I should have some of the information.”He winked.“You know, just in case.”
“In case I get abducted?”She laughed at the absurdity of it but resigned herself to telling him what she could.“Adam and I met a very long time ago.”She began to tell him the story, leaving out most of the romantic details.
“So, he was your boyfriend?”
Maureen squeezed her eyes shut for a moment.She’d never discussed such things with her boys before.It felt, odd, to say the least.Particularly considering it had been almost forty years since she and Adam had even seen each other.
“We didn’t really use those kinds of labels back then.”She skirted the question easily and moved on.“I had just graduated from high school and was excited about the future in front of me, and he was on his way to Africa to save the world.”
“It sounds like he’s still doing that.”
“It sure does.”Maureen smiled to herself.She’d been so pleased to hear that for all these years, Adam had been making the difference he’d always hoped he would.“And when he’s not in Africa, he’s got a practice out East in Northern Ontario.”
“So if he was your boyfriend but he ended up going to Africa…” Ian raised his eyebrows.
She shot him a look, and he pressed his lips together instead of offering up a comment.
“As I said, we didn’t use those labels.But basically, at the end of the summer, he went to Africa, and I…” She gazed past Ian, out to the mountains before answering.“I met your father.”
“Do you mean to tell me that this mystery Adam could have been my father if—”
“No.”She stopped him from going any further.
