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“Claustrophobic how?”
“I had a lot going on and needed some space to decompress. Usually when I come home I have the house to myself and can just process what I need to process. Have a glass of Calvados and play some jazz music, even if it’s midnight.” Jo braced for the scornful response.
Her mother laughed and resumed her stacking. “Welcome to the joys of cohabitation. If it weren’t for Greg’s afternoons at the golf course, you’d have been investigatingmefor murder years ago.”
Jo’s jaw dropped.
Elisabeth laughed again. “What? You know I play golf. Didn’t you ever wonder why I don’t go with him?”
Jo was embarrassed to admit she’d never thought much about it. She glanced at Sophie, who seemed just as surprised as she was. “I figured you just didn’t want to.”
“Don’t you remember how I took second place in that ladies’ tournament down in Brenneville?”
A vague memory flickered to life in the back of Jo’s mind. “I’d completely forgotten about that. Why’d you stop?”
Elisabeth waved her hand like she was chasing a fly. “Tcha. I mostly did it to pass the time when your father was gone working so much. I liked it fine, but I can take it or leave it. So with Greg I leave it, that way he can have time for himself, I can have time for myself, and I don’t have to suffocate him in his sleep because he’s on my last nerve.”
Jo laughed at her mother’s unusual use of the slang, and felt her composure slowly returning. “That’s all well and good, but I can’t always plan out when I’m going to need time to myself.”
Elisabeth straightened up and put her hands on her hips. “And that makes you different from everyone else on the planet how?”
Jo searched for words, but found none.
Elisabeth gestured to Sophie. “Ask your sister. Of course there are times when you wish he’d disappear for a few hours. There will even be times when you can’t stand the sight of him.”
“I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask just now,” Sophie mumbled.
“Nonsense.” Elisabeth gestured dismissively. “Relationships aren’t perfect and love isn’t easy. A relationship isn’t strong because of its good days and weak because of its bad ones. What makes a relationship strong is that on those hard days you both make a choice to stay and do what needs to be done until you get to the next good day. It doesn’t matter that he’s underfoot when you wish you had time alone. What matters is that he’s by your side when you need him.”
An image of Matt driving her home from the hospital flashed through Jo’s mind. She glanced at Sophie, who was trying to hide the tears forming in her eyes, and pushed down the lump in her own throat. This was the upside of letting her mother into her life—under the sharp edges, there were gems of wisdom and love.
“Thanks, Ma.” She pulled her mother into a hug, and reached out behind to squeeze Sophie’s arm.
Her mother hugged her intensely but quickly, then stepped back and cleared her throat. “So. We need two coffees and three herbal teas, right?” She turned to pull mugs from the cabinet.
Jo hid her smile as the three women worked together to make the beverages, then returned to the living room where they’d promised Isabelle and Emily they’d all play Jenga.
As Jo stroked a curled-up Cleopatra on her lap, she took in the scene around her. Her nieces, competing mercilessly for the best moves, but then coming together in peals of laughter when the blocks came tumbling down. Her mother and Greg, playfully teasing each other; despite sitting on opposite sides of the room, there was no distance between them. Sophie, who, with a carefully composed expression on her face, watched her girls as she sipped her tea. And Matt, playfully engaging the girls, cannily following the fastest route to acceptance in her family. Something inside her twinged, and she struggled to put a label on it. Whatever it was, it pulled up a memory of the same feeling tugging at her when her mother dropped her off to her first slumber party.
Lopez’s words at the restaurant came rushing back to her.Look at Sandra Ashville. Her whole life was work, and she ended up divorced, then dead before she could retire. Is that what we all have to look forward to?
No, that wasn’t all. She was always going to be devoted to her job, and that meant she was always going to work long hours and be gone at inconvenient times. But she was also surrounded by people who loved her, and she was learning how to make them a priority. Even if it was sometimes a struggle.
After three terrible tower crashes, Sophie announced it was time for the girls to get to bed. Her mother and Greg followed suit. Everyone gathered the mugs and deposited them in the sink before giving hugs and kisses and strolling out to their cars.
After a final wave goodbye, Jo turned to Matt. “I shouldn’t have had that cup of coffee. There’s no way I’ll fall asleep anytime soon.”
He glanced toward the living room. “You want to watch a movie? I think there’s a new—”
“Actually,” she interrupted, pulling him toward her. “I was thinking there might be a way to burn up some excess energy.”
“Ahh.” He kissed her, then grabbed her hand and led her up the stairs.
When they reached the bedroom door, he looked down at the cat following them. “Sorry, Cleo. You’ll need to wait out here.”
* * *
