“I’m sure she did,” Jess said. “Gram needed a bit of a break, but she wasn’t really ready to give up the reins of being matriarch of this family. Either that, or maybe she realized that most of the rest of us are absolutely hopeless in the kitchen. I’ll go in and see if she’ll let me do anything.”
“Go at your own risk,” Mick said. “Will, you want to join me out here on the porch? Feels like we’re having a bit of Indian summer today. Who knows how long we’ll be able to enjoy the outdoors before winter sets in for good.”
He noticed that Jess cast a worried look at Will and was about to step in to rescue him, but Will gave a slight shake of his head. “I’ll stay with your dad. Since he’s sworn off meddling with the family, maybe I can convince him to help me by becoming a matchmaker at Lunch by the Bay.”
Mick frowned at him. “What the devil is that?”
“It’s my computerized dating service,” Will explained. “I’ll tell you all about it. You might have some ideas for things that can be added to the compatibility test.”
Jess laughed outright at that, but Mick had to admit he was intrigued. He waved off his daughter. “Go on. I want to hear about this. I am the expert in this family, after all. I’m sure Will can benefit from what I’ve learned over the years.”
“Dad, you’re a meddler, not an expert,” Jess corrected.
“Look around you, young lady. Your brothers and your sisters are all happily married, aren’t they?”
“And you’re taking credit for that?”
“Of course I am!” Mick said indignantly.
Jess shook her head, her expression filled with barely concealed amusement. Then she stood on tiptoe and kissed Will’s cheek. “Call if you need rescuing.”
“I won’t,” Will assured her.
After she’d gone, Mick sat down in his favorite rocker. “Things seem to be good between you two,” he commented, not even trying to hide how pleased he was by that. He’d been worried about Jess for a long time, but Will was exactly the kind of solid, no-nonsense guy he would have chosen for her.
“Like Jess said, we’re working things out,” Will replied. “She has a lot of baggage to overcome.”
“Her mother leaving,” Mick said. “And me being gone so much.”
Will looked surprised. “That’s it, exactly.”
“I regret that I wasn’t more tuned in to her back then, to any of the kids, for that matter. I made a bad situation worse for all of them. Believe me, I know what a blessing it is that most of them have forgiven me.”
“You’ve been making strides with Jess, too. I see how she’s more relaxed with you now than she used to be. She’s not on edge every second, expecting you to judge her.”
“You’re right, but it hasn’t happened with Megan,” Mick said ruefully. “Those two are still dancing around each other like boxers waiting to see who’s going to throw the first punch. I thought when Megan and I gave Jess that fancy stove for the kitchen at the inn before it opened, she’d start to make peace with her mother, but it’s been slow going. One minute they’re okay, the next Jess gets her back up over the littlest things.”
“That’ll change,” Will said confidently. “Especially with Megan trying to keep you out of our business. Jess will appreciate that.”
Mick chuckled. “Why do you think I told her? She needs to see that her mother’s on her side, always has been, even when she was gone. It just about killed Megan to leave all the kids behind, but especially Jess. She had so many problems then, and none of us knew why. Took us way too long to get a proper diagnosis, partly because I didn’t want to hear that there was anything wrong with one of my kids. Made me feel like even more of a failure as a parent.”
“It’s in the past, Mick, and nothing you did created the problem. Stop beating yourself up over it. In the end, you got her help. And Jess has learned to compensate for her ADD. She’s made all sorts of adjustments to manage it, even without resorting to medication. Personally, I think you were wise to try other things first. She had a mild case and doctors are sometimes too quick to give kids pills, rather than trying alternative therapies. She’ll always have the occasional slip, I’m sure, but look at everything she’s accomplished. It’s even more impressive, because of what she had to overcome to get there.”
“I couldn’t be prouder,” Mick acknowledged. “And before you ask, I have told her that. I tell her all the time. One of these days, I pray she’ll start to believe me.”
Will gave him a nod of understanding. “I’m hoping for the same thing when it comes to my feelings for her. She doesn’t trust them yet, but I plan to stick around until she does.”
Mick liked the young man’s openness. He always had. “You need any help, you’ll let me know?”
Will smiled. “You’ll be the first.”
Mick fell silent for a minute, then turned to Will. “Enough about Jess for now. Tell me about this matchmaking thing. You actually have a way to see if people are compatible on a computer?”
“I think I do,” Will said readily, his expression animated. “I’ve only been offering the service for a couple of months now. We’ve had one marriage already, which frankly I thought came way too fast, but a few other couples have hit it off as well.”
Mick thought about the potential of such a thing. “You signed Susie up yet? I think it’s time she left Mack in the dust. The man should have made his move by now.”
“Susie hasn’t asked for my help. As for Mack, I know he’s crazy about her.”
“He has a strange way of showing it,” Mick said, then glanced up just in time to see Connie and Thomas walking toward them. His brother leaned down to whisper something in her ear that wiped the panicky expression from her face. Connie beamed up at him, her eyes shining.
“Well, will you look at that?” Mick murmured. “I had my doubts, but it looks as if there’s something special going on there, after all.”
“Seems that way to me, too, sir,” Will said.
Mick stood up, shook his brother’s hand, then kissed Connie’s cheek. “Glad you could make it.”
Connie looked him square in the eye. “I was under the impression it was a command performance.”
Mick chuckled. “I suppose it was, at that. I figured you turning up here with this brother of mine would show what the two of you are made of. Come on inside. You’re here before most of the others, so there’s only the hurdle of telling Ma what’s going on.”
“I think I’ll do that on my own and out of the earshot of the rest of the family,” Thomas said. “Especially you.”
Connie looked up at him, her jaw set determinedly. “Hold on, Thomas. I thought we were in this together.”
“We are,” Thomas said, regarding her with concern. “I thought it would be easier on you if I paved the way.”
“The day I fell for you, I gave up on easy,” she said wryly.
Mick regarded her with delight, then slapped his brother on the back. “I’m beginning to get why this works. You’ve found a woman who doesn’t pull any punches.”
“Indeed, she doesn’t,” Thomas said, smiling down at her. “Let’s go, then.”
“I brought smelling salts,” Will said, then shrugged at Thomas’s startled expression. “Jess’s idea. She’s in the kitchen, too. Tell her to come get me if you need ’em.”
Thomas frowned at him. “Just what this family needs, another wiseass. I thought Mick had a lock on that territory.”
Mick laughed heartily. “I might have once, but it seems the next generation is following in my footsteps nicely!”
19
Despite the brave show she’d put on for Mick, Connie’s knees were knocking together as she and Thomas approached Nell O’Brien’s domain. Though she’d been in the kitchen dozens of times before, she had a feeling this time was going to decide whether she really belonged.
Thomas gave her a sympathetic look and squeezed her hand. “Ready?”
She gave him a shaky smile. “As I’ll ever be
.”
She was about to push the door open, when he held her back. “Maybe I should make one thing clear before we go in there.”
“What’s that?” she asked tremulously.
“No matter what my mother says, no matter how she reacts or what objections she raises, nothing changes between us. We’re solid.”
“Don’t say that, Thomas. We’re talking about your mother. You may be a grown man who’s lived his own life for years now, but I know Nell’s opinion still matters to you. You wouldn’t be the person you are if it didn’t.”
“That may be so,” he agreed. “But you matter, too. What we have is new, and we still have things to work out, but this isn’t some passing fling. I’m not going to bolt if there’s the least sign of disapproval. I just want you to believe that.”
She touched his cheek, then withdrew her hand. “I want to,” she said wistfully, then forced a smile. “Now let’s do this, before I turn tail and run.”
Thomas laughed. “You’ve never run from a challenge in your life. I’d stake my bank account on that.”
“Don’t be so sure it couldn’t happen now. I’ve never faced anything quite like this. Nell’s a formidable woman.”
He smiled. “We’re talking about Ma. She barely comes up to your shoulder. You can take her.”
She gave him a horrified look. “As if I’d try.”
He laughed. “I’m just saying, there’s nothing to be scared of here.”
Then, before she could drag in a deep enough breath to steady her nerves, he pushed open the kitchen door and strode inside, her hand still securely in his. If he noticed she was lagging a bit behind, safely in his shadow, he didn’t turn to protest. Across the kitchen, Jess offered a supportive smile.
“Hi, everyone,” Thomas boomed in his heartiest voice. He went straight to his mother and kissed her cheek. “Ma.” He looked her over. “You look well.”
Nell gave him a suspicious look, then caught sight of Connie hovering behind him. “I imagine you’ve come to tell me that the two of you are getting serious about each other,” she said, her expression giving nothing away about what she thought of that.
“We have,” Thomas said, drawing Connie up to stand beside him. “Though how you’ve figured that out is beyond me.”
“I learned to read my sons a very long time ago. This handwriting has been on the wall for some time now.” She turned toward Megan. “And if it hadn’t been, Megan and Mick would have given it away with all their whispering when they thought I wasn’t paying attention.”
Megan cast an apologetic look toward Connie and Thomas. “Sorry. For once, we actually thought we were being discreet.”
Thomas just chuckled. “Mick should have known better. He, Jeff and I all knew Ma had supernatural hearing and eyesight. When we were boys, we never got away with a blessed thing.” His gaze returned to his mother. “So, how do you feel about this? I know it might seem complicated or unorthodox since I’m a few years older and have some baggage, but Connie doesn’t seem to mind that.”
“I have plenty of baggage of my own,” Connie was quick to add, then held her breath to await Nell’s verdict.
Nell looked from her son to Connie and back again. “You know my beliefs about divorce,” she said, her tone stern. “That said, I’ve never believed I could or should try to impose my beliefs on you, Thomas. I raised you and your brothers to think for yourselves and to follow your hearts. Connie’s a fine woman. If she makes you happy and you do the same for her, it’s not for me to object.”
She opened her arms to Connie, then kissed her cheek. “You’ve been like a daughter around here for a long time now. I hope this son of mine makes that legal one of these days.” Then she took Connie’s hand in hers, gave it a reassuring squeeze. “If he gives you one bit of trouble, you come to me. He may be too big for me to throttle, but I have my ways of bringing him into line.”
Connie felt relief wash through her. Tears stung her eyes. This was far more support than she’d expected. “Thank you so much, Mrs. O’Brien. I’ll be sure to do that.”
“It’s to be Nell now,” his mother stated emphatically.
Thomas listened to the exchange and feigned a scowl. “You are not to be teaming up with my mother against me,” he told Connie indignantly.
She laughed. “I won’t,” she assured him. “As long as you don’t give me any reason to.”
Nell joined in her laughter, as did Megan and Jess, the tension in the room a thing of the past.
“You’ll definitely do, girl,” Nell said approvingly. “I knew you were a wonderful sister and a strong mother, but it seems you’re more than capable of taking on a man like my son.”
“She is,” Thomas confirmed, his gaze on her warm. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to go have the last laugh on Mick. He thought this wasn’t going to go half so well.”
Nell scowled. “You’re not going to start another one of those wars with your brother, are you?” she demanded.
“Nope, just a little gloating, I promise,” he told her, giving her a hug that lifted her off the floor. “Connie, you coming with me?”
“I think I’ll stay here,” she said, once again feeling at home in this kitchen with these women who’d always felt like family to her and now, just maybe, were going to be. At least if things with Thomas kept on progressing the way they seemed to be.
Something about the whole exchange between Connie, Thomas and her grandmother had made Jess yearn for the kind of approval that had just been doled out so readily to her friend. She knew it was crazy, but she suddenly wanted her mother’s blessing for her relationship with Will, something she’d never expected to yearn for. After all, she’d lived a lot of years without Megan’s approval. Ever since her mother’s return, she’d taken pride in keeping her at arm’s length most of the time. Why would she suddenly want to change that now?
As Nell took Connie under her wing and talked her through the ingredients in one of Thomas’s favorite dishes, Jess turned impulsively to Megan. “Could we talk?”
Since it was one of the few conversations between them that Jess had initiated, her mother looked surprised by the request.
“Of course we can. Let’s take a walk outside and enjoy this wonderful weather.” She turned to her mother-in-law. “Nell, can you spare us for a bit?”
“Sure. Connie’s here to help with anything I need, and the others will be here soon.”
After they’d left through the kitchen door and were walking across the lawn toward the bay, Jess nodded in the direction of the house. “Did you expect things to turn out that way?”
“Not really,” Megan admitted. “But Nell’s always been full of surprises.”
“She seems happy that I’ve been seeing more of Will lately,” Jess said, broaching the topic tentatively.
Megan smiled. “We all are. He’s good for you, I think. How about you? What do you think?”
“For a long time I thought it was really annoying that he could read me so well. I accused him of trying to analyze me all the time.”
“And now?”
“It’s actually kind of nice to be with a man who really gets me,” Jess admitted.
Megan nodded. “It is, isn’t it?”
“Is that how it is with you and Dad?”
Her mother chuckled. “Oh, sweetie, it’s taken us years to get to that place. We certainly weren’t in tune when you kids were younger. You know that’s the main reason I left, so believe me, I know exactly how important it is to be able to communicate with a spouse, to have them understand what makes you tick.”
“And Dad does that now?” Jess asked skeptically.
Her mother’s expression turned thoughtful. “He tries, and I can’t ask more than that. And I’ve learned to speak up, something I never did back then. I think we both learned a lot while I was gone. I think we matured, probably in ways we wouldn’t have if I’d just stuck it out and stayed miserable.”
She faced Jess, tucked a windblown curl be
hind her ear in a tender, motherly gesture that almost brought tears to Jess’s eyes. That mother’s touch was something she’d longed for so deeply as a child. More than once, she’d thought she’d never experience it again. Abby’s attempts to fill in, well-meant as they had been, had fallen short. Gram’s had come closer, but she still hadn’t been Megan.
“Why so introspective today?” Megan asked gently. “Are things moving along too quickly with Will?”
Jess surprised herself by nodding. “We’re together, physically,” she said. “And that’s great, but emotionally I feel like I’m still trying to catch up. He’s made it clear that he’s in love with me, and has been for years. I’m not sure what to do with that.”
Megan looked troubled. “You don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for. Is he pressuring you in some way?”
“No,” Jess admitted. “He’s being amazingly patient, but I feel guilty that I don’t trust my own emotions yet. I have all these new and totally unexpected feelings, and I don’t know how to handle them.”
“You’re scared,” Megan concluded. “Of what? Of being hurt? Being left?”
Jess nodded. “It’s not as if it hasn’t happened before,” she said, unable to keep a bitter note from her voice.
“Me,” Megan said. “Oh, sweetie, you have to know how deeply I regret what happened, and the impact it had on you. There are so many things I wish I’d done differently back then. I wish I’d taken you with me on the day I left, instead of waiting. By the time I was ready to bring all of you to New York, you wouldn’t even speak to me on the phone. I let your father convince me you were better off here, in familiar surroundings.”
“I guess I understand why you did it, but back then I hated you,” Jess admitted. “I felt betrayed. I was only seven, and you didn’t even say goodbye. You left Abby to break it to all of us that you’d gone.”
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