Carolyn was sitting on the patio with Molly the next morning and I joined them, already showered and dressed.
"Good morning." I smiled and took a seat with them.
"Good morning," they both said. "Did you get some coffee?" Carolyn asked.
"I will in a minute." I ran my hand through my hair. "I actually wanted to talk to you." I glanced at Carolyn.
She raised her eyebrows and Molly paused in taking a sip of her coffee. "Should I leave you two alone?" she asked.
"No, it's okay. You should know this, too, uh . . ." I took a breath. "Eden and I are going to take a little road trip, get away from here for a little bit."
Carolyn blinked at me and Molly smiled. "Oh no, no," Carolyn said, shaking her head.
I took a deep breath. "I think you know better than anyone how difficult this has been for Eden and me. Not just as a couple, but individually. It's been difficult for all of us." I glanced at Molly and she smiled encouragingly. "We just thought that getting away for a little bit would ease the pressure on everyone and would give us a chance to have some time together after being apart for so long."
Carolyn sat straight, glaring at me. "And what about me? She was stolen from me. What about the time I need with my daughter?" She shook her head adamantly. "No, you won't take her away from me."
Damn. This wasn't going well. "I don't want to take Eden away from you." I shook my head. "Eden, she's longed for you all her life. I know that better than anyone and I would never do anything to get in the way of your relationship with her. I know you have a lot of catching up to do, too, a lot of lost time to make up for." I took a deep breath trying to gather my thoughts together. "I was even hoping maybe you and I could . . ." I trailed off, feeling frustrated and at a loss for words, trying to ask for something I didn't know how to name. And Carolyn's glaring at me wasn't helping. I should have rehearsed this. There was an awkward silence.
Suddenly Molly threw her arms up and let them come back down heavily on the table in front of her. Carolyn and I both startled and stared at her. "Jesus, Carolyn! Here he is sitting here asking you to be a mom to him, too. In case you forgot, he lost everyone he loved." She leaned forward. "You have an opportunity here not just to mother me, who has no mother anymore, but Eden and Calder . . . and Xander, too, for that matter! You could have a bounty of people who need mothering right at your feet, people who would soak it up. And instead you're choosing to act in a way that will eventually do nothing except push us away. I'm sorry, but I can't be quiet about this for one minute longer. Look at yourself!"
Carolyn stared at her with wide eyes. Molly took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "You yourself said you looked the other way and buried your head in the sand with what happened with Uncle Bennett, and then with Hector." Her expression filled with sympathy. "Don't do it again, Carolyn. Please don't be oblivious to what's going on around you. Your daughter is a woman. I'm sorry you didn't get to see that happen. But you can't turn her back into a little girl by cutting crusts off her bread and brushing her hair before bed every night, by denying that she fell in love with someone and you didn't get to be a part of that. You can be a part of it now." She sat back in her chair. "Eden, she has this . . . quiet strength about her. She's been patient with you because she loves you, but she won't be patient forever. If you don't see that, then you're not seeing your daughter and you're going to lose her just when you found her again. And Calder," she looked over at me, "Calder is sitting in front of you asking you to accept him."
I stared at Molly for a minute, shocked and grateful. I cleared my throat. Molly was right. I hadn't actually acknowledged for some time how much I missed my mother's love, hadn't spoken of it with Eden yet. Despite the deep, aching feeling of betrayal at the end, I missed my mother. It was confusing and it hurt like hell. Did I want Eden's mom to accept me as a son or as her daughter's boyfriend? Whichever it was, my heart was so thankful for Molly's comment, and for all she'd said.
"Molly . . . thank you," I said to her, hoping she could see the sincerity in my eyes and then I glanced at Carolyn who was still silent, staring down at the table. She sat there not saying anything for so long I wondered for a minute if she'd respond at all. She didn't. Instead, she stood up—her chair scraping over the stone patio—turned her back on us, and walked through the French doors, shutting them behind her.
I let out a breath and ran my hand through my hair. I looked at Molly who had a pained expression on her face. "I meant every word I said to her," she said. "I just hope it did some good."