by Silke Ming
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just put it away until Thursday and we can look at them together.”
* * * *
Summer waited in the restaurant, but Millie hadn’t shown up. Maybe she had forgotten. She called Seamus to find out if she had heard anything from her, but he hadn’t. She turned off her phone and looked up to find Lana Podesta staring at her, and she looked away.
“I understand congratulations are in order,” she said, stopping by Summer’s table.
“Thank you,” she replied.
“I wish you lots of happiness,” Lana said. “You won.”
“I didn’t win anything, Lana. I was never in a competition.”
An out-of-breath Millie appeared on the scene. She was more than forty-five minutes late, and was accompanied by another woman about twenty years her junior.
“Summer, I’m so sorry that I’m late. I got lost trying to find Angela. Angela,” she said, turning to the woman, “this is my daughter-in–law, Summer Balsam.”
Lana’s face turned all shades as she listened to the conversation. Summer did not introduce her, and soon she walked away, visibly shaken.
“I know you’re wondering why I brought Angela with me,” she said, getting straight to the point. “She is looking for a housekeeping job, and I know she is trustworthy and reliable. I was wondering if you and Seamus could take her on to fill my place.”
“Well I am sure you know I must speak to Seamus about it.”
“Call him. Ask him if it would be all right.”
Summer thought she had no choice but to call her husband and tell him about Angela.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Let me speak to him,” said Millie.
Summer wondered what kind of a mother–in-law she would have made. She had seen Millie in action before, but there now seemed to be urgency to her thoughts and actions. After chatting with her son, she handed the telephone back to Summer.
“They are coming to work here for the next three days. Millie will show her the ropes. So I guess we have another housekeeper, just in time before we leave on holiday.”
“Do you have a car, Angela?” Summer asked. “We live quite a way out of town.”
“That’s all been taken care of,” said Millie. “She will take over my pickup truck when I leave.”
Millie had thought about everything, which made Summer wonder what kind of a nun she would make.
For the next three days, Millie led Angela through her paces, and by the end of the third day she had taken over the running of the household.
* * * *
Five days before Christmas, at eight o’clock in the morning on the twentieth of December, Seamus and Summer set out for Millie’s home. She was waiting outside with a small bag. She climbed into the SUV for the short drive to the convent, which was made in complete silence. Neither of them had anything to say. Seamus stopped outside the iron gates and waited.
“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” he suddenly asked, turning to look at her.
She did not reply.
“Take good care of him, Summer, and you, my son, take good care of her.”
Passersby looked into the car, but they didn’t notice the tension. The morning traffic whizzed by and still they didn’t notice. They all stepped out of the vehicle and stood in front of the iron gate. Seamus stared into his mother’s face.
“I love you, Mother,” he said. “I will always love you.”
“We are allowed to have visitors once per year. Come and visit me.”
“Will you still be driving Mother Mary Joseph around town? I’ll be looking out for you,” he said, his voice breaking.
“Unfortunately not,” she replied. “I will no longer be able to leave the convent.”
Summer hugged her, and tears rolled down their cheeks. On the dot of eight thirty, the iron gate slid open and Millie walked in. Another door opened, and she disappeared without looking back at them.
“I truly love her,” said Seamus, his head against the steering wheel. “I’m really going to miss her. It feels as if I’ve never had a mother.”
“She loves you, Seamus. She is your mother. Let’s go home and pack our suitcases,” said Summer, gently rubbing his back. “That will make you feel better.”
“I think I will send an e-mail to Jean-Louis to let him know that we have tied the knot and will soon be in Tahiti,” he said.
“You should also inform Liam O’Shea. Let him know that I’m no longer up ‘for grabs,’” she said.
“Poor Liam. He has more arms than an octopus,” he replied.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I have always loved writing. I started out with short stories and then moved onto novels. Not a single day goes by that I do not do some form of writing. I have written six fictional novels and am also an avid reader. When time allows, I try to read at least two books per month, thanks to the convenience of the e-reader, which makes it easy to shop the bookstores from the comfort of one’s home.
In addition to my love of books, is my love of travel. There are only two countries left to explore. They are China and Russia, where I hope to get more inspiration for upcoming novels. I love cooking. Thai and Italian are among my favourites.
I am a new romance writer and it has been quite challenging, but I am enjoying it tremendously.
Silke lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband of eighteen years.
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