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ChapterTen
Andrea stretched languidly in bed. She felt refreshed and calm. The past three days had been great. She’d spent more time with her family than she had in over twenty-four years, and she loved it. She’d felt as if a weight had been lifted off her chest after her conversations with Cora and her mother.
Yet, the thought of her daughter’s father plagued her occasionally throughout the past seventy-two hours. Cora had encouraged her to tell Rory about her father, but she still wasn’t sure that was a good idea. He had only contacted her one time over a month ago, and she doubted he would ever try to do so again. She rationalized that it would do more harm than good to tell her daughter now.
Just then, her phone rang. She swiped the phone from the bedside table and looked at the caller ID to see that it was her daughter.
“Hi, sweetie, I was just thinking about you.” She smiled into the phone.
“You were?” She could hear the joy in Rory’s voice that triggered her smile to grow even broader.
“I was,” she replied. “I was wondering if you had put any more thought into having our wedding here instead of San Francisco.”
There was a short pause which caused Andrea to sit up and rest her back against the headboard as she waited for her daughter to speak.
“I don’t know, Mom,” Rory started hesitantly. “Oak Harbor seems like a great place, but I don’t know if it’s what I’m looking for,” she cautiously stated.
Andrea couldn’t help the wave of disappointment that washed over her. She’d been so hopeful that Rory would have eagerly accepted the offer. Nevertheless, the day would be all about her daughter, and she only wanted what was best for her.
“I understand, honey. I’m just asking you to keep an open mind. Maybe if you’re able to, you could visit the island, and if you’re not totally sold on it, then I won’t ever bring it up again,” she promised.
“All right, Mom,” Rory agreed. “I have some free time coming up in the next month. I’ll take you up on it then.”
Just like that, Andrea was hopeful once more. “Maybe you could bring my son-in-law with you when you come,” she invited. “Speaking of, where is my handsome son-in-law?”
Rory’s laughter rang through the receiver. “He’s in the living room. Let me go get him for you,” she offered.
After a good half a minute of her daughter moving from where she was to get to her fiancé, she heard her speak. “Hey, babe, Mom’s on the phone.”
“Hi, Mom, how are you?” James’s jovial voice rang through. She’d insisted he start calling her Mom after he and Rory had dated for over a year. She preferred not to be called Ms. Hamilton or Ms. Andrea as it made her feel much older than she was.
“Hi, James. How is my favorite son-in-law?” she asked.
James laughed at this. “I am your only son-in-law.”
Andrea chuckled. “In my head, I have two more sons-in-law, but you are by far the best one,” she countered.
“I won without even trying.” James chortled, prompting another giggle from Andrea herself.
“So, how’s work?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Work is great, Mom. I should have this case finished by the end of the month,” he informed her.
“That’s wonderful. I wish you guys weren’t so far away. I really miss you both,” she confessed.
“Awe, we miss you too, Mom. I know Rory really wishes she could see you more often,” he admitted.
“I wish so too. Maybe you guys can move back to Arlington to cut out that three thousand miles we have between us,” she suggested, half-jokingly.
It was true. She really did miss her daughter. Sometimes phone calls and FaceTime weren’t enough. But Rory was happy, and that was truly what mattered.
“Mom, I’m putting you on speaker. Rory wants to be in the conversation,” James informed her.
“Okay, no problem.”
“Mom, we’ll come to visit you as soon as James’s case is over. I promise,” she heard her daughter’s voice that seemed to be in the distance. “In the meantime, I’ll hold off on planning anything for the wedding right now. And who knows, maybe when we visit, we’ll fall in love with the place and decide to have everything there. Imagine our wedding in Oak Harbor. Right, James?”
“Oh yeah, right,” James replied hastily.
