Fiona gulped it down. “Thank you.”
“Are you feeling better?” Dee asked, taking the now-empty glass from her.
Fiona nodded that she was.
Dee’s face returned to its normal smile. “Good. I can’t have anything happening to you, I need you!”
Fiona tilted her head. “You need me? You’re the one who’s helping me. I can’t even begin to thank you for everything you’ve done for Shea and me. Even the little things, like catering to the way Shea likes the food arranged on her plate…you do it all for us. It means so much to me.”
Dee wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “My son’s been lost for years, Fiona. For the first time, it feels as if he’s really home, not just because he’s been gone and I’ve missed him terribly, but because the Kieran I raised is back as well. He’s calmed down. He’s being responsible, looking out for someone besides himself. He’s no longer just my boy; he’s a man. And I think I have you to thank for a good part of that.”
Fiona smiled at the thought but quickly shook her head. “I can’t take the credit for that. He’s a good man, and I don’t deserve him.”
Dee laughed and rolled her eyes. “Well, as his mother, I have to agree. But as a realist, I think he’s the lucky one to have found you. If your mother was still alive, I promise she’d say the same thing.”
Fiona warmed at her words and nodded. “You’re probably right. Despite her many faults, she was at least very loving and supportive of both Shea and me. We were on our own a lot, expected to take care of ourselves, because she’d always had to do that herself. She believed we could do anything, even Shea. Learning how to work at such an early age is what made me able to start a business so young as well. I started waitressing at a local place when I was thirteen, being paid cash under the table.”
“That’s too young, even if it was a good learning experience.” Dee frowned, clucking her tongue. “What did your dad say about that?”
“My real dad wasn’t around much after Shea was born. He had never been very interested in being a parent anyway—add to that the responsibility of a special-needs child, and we just never saw him again.”
Dee exhaled loudly in frustration. “Fecking men.”
Fiona stopped trying to filter the thoughts in her head, the flood of memories. She wasn’t sure how this had started, or why she suddenly felt like spilling her past, but she was going to choose to trust Dee. Dee wanted to connect, and Fiona wanted to let her.
“My mom dated someone later when I was in high school, but he was horrible. He knocked her around, but she was desperate to have a man in her life again, so she married him.”
“Oh, honey, is that what’s holding you back with my son?” Dee asked, leaning against the counter.
Fiona fiddled with her fingers in her lap. “What do you mean?”
“From what I’ve seen—and feel free to ignore me if I’m putting my nose where I shouldn’t, but I’m going to say it anyway—Kieran really likes you. I can tell you feel the same way, but you’ve got him at arm’s length. I’ve been wondering why, but if the only two father figures in your life were negligent, selfish asses, then it makes more sense. You don’t trust Kieran not to hurt you, too.”
Fiona blinked slowly, looking at the older woman carefully. The words were raw and cut straight through her. Not because they were mean but because they described exactly what was happening in her heart. She had been telling herself she was pushing Kieran away because he deserved better, but maybe that wasn’t the truth. Maybe it’s fear.
“I never thought of it like that,” she admitted. “He is a really wonderful man, but I think I worry that it’s too much, too fast. I’ve got Shea to think about, to be a positive role model for.”
“All of my sons have commanding personalities, which I’m sure you’ve noticed with all the head butting that goes on between them.”
Fiona giggled at the reminder.
“That’s just the way they are. When a man like that meets the woman he wants to be with for the rest of his life, he knows right away. It’s instant. There’s no question for him, and no one else can turn his eye. They’re stubborn and overbearing sometimes, but they’re also protective and loyal to a fault, which is the best role model you can have. It’s the way their daddy was when he met me, and it’s the way Rory was when he met Clare.”
“What about Rory and me?” Clare asked, walking into the kitchen, having changed back into her regular clothes.