“Please, Mom. I can’t answer for Dad.” Her parents had now been divorced for almost three times as long as they’d been married. Not that that made a difference to her mother. She’d been hopelessly in love with and devoted to that man, and devastated when he’d left. Rather than mope, she’d donned an armor of righteous anger to shield her broken heart.
“I see. You’re just like him and your brother now. Tired of me.” Her mother’s eyes glistened. “None of you ever appreciate or understand me. You all can’t wait to get away from me.”
Colby knew those tears to be genuine. Perhaps her mom’s perceptions were distorted, but they were real to her. An important distinction Colby had come to understand after living with Mark’s illness. Unlike then, she’d never again underestimate the depth of another person’s sorrow.
She slung an arm around her mother’s shoulder. “I appreciate you. But you know I’m gearing up to open the restaurant and don’t have as much free time to drop in.”
“Fine.” Her mother huffed, squaring her shoulders. Colby stifled a smile. The woman really should’ve been an actress. “I ran into Julie Morgan the other day. Imagine my surprise to learn that you’d hired Alec. Once again, I’m the last to know anything.”
“Hunter hired Alec, so Julie might’ve even known before I did, Mom.”
“Humph. So now you know how it feels.” Her mother gave a sharp nod.
Oh, for the love of God. These circular conversations made her dizzy. “Speaking of Alec, I need to go meet with him about the menu.”
“He was always a bit of an odd duck, wasn’t he?” Her mother glanced toward the Morgans’ house.
Nowadays overgrown shrubs blocked the view of their backyard and obscured the path leading through the woods to the tree house. Many fond memories of Hunter, Joe, Alec, and herself lingered back there.
Perhaps Colby should camp out in the old fort, where life had been simple. Where she’d felt secure and certain that people were exactly what they appeared. When she’d been free to give her heart away without fear. A time and place when everything had been easy and anything seemed possible.
“Odd?” No. Alec was shy. Awkward, at times. But interesting and talented.
“Joe was more normal. More fun.” Her mother touched her own cheek and shook her head.
Colby didn’t like exalting one brother over the other. Joe was an extrovert to Alec’s introvert. Joe had been athletic; Alec, intuitive. Both had been her friends.
“What’s normal, anyway?” Surely no one in Colby’s acquaintance fit neatly into that mold. “There’s nothing wrong with Alec. The key is that he’s always been an amazing cook, and that’s all I care about right now.”
Not entirely true, but her mother didn’t need to know that Alec’s return had thrown Colby mildly out of sorts.
“Remember those delicious fruit tarts he used to make? It was fun to be his test audience.” Her mother smiled now, apparently thinking back to the days when Alec would deliver shoe boxes of food he’d prepared. Colby and her mother never met a sweet they didn’t love, including Cherpumple and deep-fried candy bars. “Maybe he’ll make me some, now that he’s working for you.”
Like clockwork, her mother swung the conversation back to herself and her wishes.
“Actually, you’ll get a chance to ask him at the soft opening in about three weeks.” Colby’s stomach pinched as the words left her lips, because that made everything more real. In the beginning, this enterprise had been as wispy as a wish and a prayer. Suddenly it seemed fraught with obligations and responsibilities.
“I suppose your father and Jenna will be there.” Her mother tugged at her shirtsleeve. “And Gentry.”
“They are part of my family.”
“Like I could forget. Jenna and Gentry always make sure I know I’m on the outer circle.” She glanced down at her clothes and then up at Colby. “I’ll need a new dress.”
Colby wouldn’t invest in the preposterous fence, but she would buy her mom something pretty to wear. It would be a nice thing to do, to assuage her mother’s discomfort about seeing the “other” Cabots. “I’ll take you shopping at Pioneer Place on Sunday. Sky’s the limit. A whole new ensemble just for the party.”
Her mother smiled and patted her cheek. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I think I’ll bring a date, too.” She twirled a lock of hair in her finger, as if the gesture alone could transform her into an innocent young girl.