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Sophie placed her hands over her stomach and shifted deeper into the hospital pillow. Fatigue had begun to roll over her, and her eyelids crept lower. There was something about her memories, she thought. Going into the year 2002 made her feel like she’d just run a marathon.
“That said,” Ida went on, “I’d understand if you don’t want to forgive Mom for what she’s said and done. I’ll support your decision. And I’ll help you every step of the way with that baby. Mark my words.”
Sophie thanked Ida, her voice hardly a whisper. A moment later, Patrick returned with a cup of coffee, and the solace of hearing him again, of knowing he was near, allowed her to finally close her eyes. As she dropped into sleep, she felt the rhythm of Patrick and Ida’s conversation as they grew to know one another, to love one another as in-laws. Sophie had never felt so protected.
Chapter Twenty
Katrina entered the nursing home Wednesday morning to discover a wonderful surprise. Seated in the waiting room with his head in a book was a familiar face—one she’d previously known like the back of her hand. Katrina’s heart dropped.
“Norm?”
Norm jumped up, pocketing his book, and smiled warmly. He looked older than the last time she’d seen him, worn around the edges, but no less handsome. If Katrina looked hard enough, she could find their father’s features in Norm’s face—but she hurriedly blinked them away, reminding herself that Norm was just Norm. And neither of them was their father.
Katrina hurried to hug him. “I had no idea you were in town!”
Norm laughed and palmed the back of his neck. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
This wasn’t like Norm. Norm kept a healthy distance from their island and their family. Via text, Katrina had informed Norm of their mother’s nursing home’s name. But she’d never in a million years imagined she’d find him here, waiting for her.
“Are you ready to see her?” Katrina asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Norm joked.
“She already rules the place,” Katrina said. “Queen Agatha.”
“I’d expect nothing less.”
Katrina led Norm through the nursing room, her chest fluttering. As they walked, several of the nursing home residents ogled them and mentioned Norm by name.
“Agatha is going to be so pleased to see her handsome son!” an older woman called out, waving one of her chess pieces as they passed.
Katrina led Norm to the doorway of Agatha’s suite. There, she watched the older woman for a moment. She sat regally on the couch, brushing her hair with beautiful strokes, her eyes on the television. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light, but she looked far younger than her eighty-five years. Katrina could half-imagine she was in her fifties, that Katrina was in her thirties and hadn’t yet made so many mistakes as a mother. That they could go back in time and do it all again, better this time.
But so much had happened. There was so much they couldn’t take back.
“You ready?” Norm mouthed across the doorway.
“As I’ll ever be.”
Without hesitation, Norm stepped into the suite. Perhaps it was that Hollywood confidence. “Mother?”
Agatha flinched and eyed Norm curiously, one of her eyebrows cocked. It was almost as though she didn’t recognize him. And then, a split second later, a smile broke out over her face as quick as a firecracker. And she cried, “Norm! My son!”
In spite of herself, Katrina felt her heart melt. Norm knelt to hug Agatha as Agatha gushed about her love for him, how long it had been and how much she’d missed him.
It was the first time the three of them had been together in ages. Katrina put a kettle on the stovetop as Agatha peppered Norm with questions about Hollywood and his children, who were much younger than Sophie and Ida.
“You’re an old father,” Agatha said, her voice edged with judgment.
“I keep up,” Norm said.
Agatha cackled and slapped his thigh. “You always had a way about you, Norm. You always did everything exactly the way you pleased. Just like your father.”
Katrina’s heart sank. She turned slowly, expecting Norm to fly off the handle. Norm’s cheeks were pale, and he gritted his teeth. But after a moment’s pause, he shifted his expression and righted his smile. She was too old to argue. She was stuck in her ways.
It was best to love her as she was. Warts and all, as they said.
“I’d like to bring them out here,” Norm was saying of his children, showing off photographs. “They’re California kids, you know. Strangers to the Nantucket way of life.”
