Flowers on Main (13 page)

“If your mother approves,” he said, glancing at Abby. “You okay with that?”

“Sure,” she said, her expression filled with amusement. “Don’t keep them out too late.”

“I’ll have them at your place by eight-thirty.”

His daughter’s grin spread. “Sounds like a plan. I imagine Mom will be there by then.”

He feigned surprise. “Did she mention what time she and Bree would be arriving?”

“She didn’t, but knowing Bree, it will be an early evening.”

“Well, then, catching a glimpse of your mother would surely be a lovely end to the day,” he said as if he hadn’t calculated carefully to make sure of it. He held out a hand for each of the twins. “Let’s go, girls. I can hear ice cream calling my name.”

“Grandpa Mick, ice cream can’t talk,” Caitlyn said seriously.

He feigned surprise. “You sure about that?”

She nodded, her expression serious.

“Then it must be the hot-fudge sauce I hear,” he claimed.

“Grandpa Mick, you’re silly,” Carrie said with a giggle.

He winked at Abby. “So they tell me, little one. So they tell me.”

It probably was a little silly for a man in his fifties to be as giddy as a teenager at the prospect of seeing his ex-wife again before the night was over.

Bree was stunned that she’d spent the entire afternoon and most of the evening with her mother. More surprising was that she’d enjoyed it. After the rocky start there had been very little tension between them, primarily due to Megan’s admission that she’d made three trips to Chicago to see Bree’s plays. Bree still couldn’t get over the fact that her mother had cared enough to do that. It had gone a long way to filling the empty spot in her heart, a hole she would have sworn to anyone else didn’t exist.

When she pulled up in front of Abby’s, she was almost sorry that the day was ending.

“I had fun today,” she told Megan.

“Me, too.”

“I wish you’d reconsider and stay at the house.”

“This is better,” Megan assured her.

“Do you know how long you’re going to be in town?”

“Just through the weekend,” Megan told her. “I’d like to stop by the shop tomorrow, though, if it’s okay. I’d love to take a real look around and hear what you have planned.”

Bree nodded. “I’ll be there in the morning.”

“I’ll see you then.”

As Megan stepped from the car, two small bodies hurled themselves at her.

“Grandma Megan, we’ve been waiting and waiting for you,” Carrie exclaimed.

Megan laughed. “You have? Well, I’ve been waiting and waiting to see you.”

“Grandpa Mick’s here,” Caitlyn said excitedly. “He’s been waiting and waiting, too.”

Bree saw the surprising spark in her mother’s eyes. “You probably shouldn’t keep him waiting, Mom. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Megan suddenly slapped a hand to her brow. “What was I thinking? I have a rental car. It’s still down by your shop and my luggage is in the trunk. It never even crossed my mind.”

“Give me your keys,” Bree said. “I’ll get the luggage and someone can drop you off at the shop in the morning. The car will be fine there overnight.”

“I should go with you,” Megan began, only to be interrupted by a chorus of protests from the twins.

“Stay here, Mom. It’ll take me ten minutes to run over there, fifteen tops.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Of course not.”

As she drove back into town, Bree thought about how much had changed in a single afternoon. Before today she would have objected to going out of her way for her mother. In fact, she would have felt she didn’t owe her even the tiniest act of kindness. Now she was simply glad that her mother was here for a few days.

For a few hours she’d been reminded of the times when she was little when Megan had arranged special outings just for the two of them. She’d done that with each of the kids, taking Bree to the library or bookstore, Abby for walks on the beach. She took Connor to Baltimore Orioles games, even though she claimed not to understand the first thing about them. She’d even covered her antipathy toward worms to take Kevin out fishing in their old rowboat. Bree hesitated for a minute, trying to recall what Megan had done with Jess, then realized that
there’d probably been very few special outings with her younger sister. Jess had been only seven at the time of the divorce.

As she pulled into the parking spot next to her mother’s rental car—the only car left on the block in front of the shop at this hour—she glanced up and realized that the sign painter had apparently come while she was over in Myrtle Creek. FLOWERS ON MAIN had been painted on the front window and adorned with bright blossoms. Her name, in dark blue edged with gold, appeared in a lower corner of the glass.

“Oh, my,” she murmured, tears springing to her eyes. It was exactly the way she’d envisioned it. Suddenly the whole thing felt real. It was all taking shape. In a few more weeks she’d be open for business and her life would be heading along a whole new, surprising path.

Main Street at night had a charming, old-fashioned feel to it. Tourists wandered along, window-shopping at a leisurely pace, ice cream or snow cones in hand. Every shop was unique, every lighted window filled with enticing gifts, souvenirs, colorful gourmet-kitchen gadgets. Now she would be adding her own contribution—a brilliant display of flowers each and every day. She could hardly wait to put her own stamp on this town her father had envisioned and then built from scratch.

“It looks good.”

Jake’s voice startled her so badly, she accidently hit the horn, which shattered the quiet of the evening. She stared up at him accusingly. “You nearly scared me to death. Where did you come from?”

“I just finished grabbing a burger at Sally’s and saw you sitting here. I thought maybe something was wrong.”

“Why would anything be wrong?”

“Because most people don’t park on Main Street at this hour and sit staring at a building,” he said reasonably.

“I came to get my mother’s luggage out of the trunk of her rental,” she said, gesturing toward the car next to hers.

Jake’s brows shot up. “Megan’s in town?”

She nodded.

“And you’re okay with that?”

“It was a little dicey earlier today, but actually it’s turning out to be okay.”

“What brought her to town? I know she was here for the opening of the inn, but I didn’t think she’d turn out to be a regular visitor, not after the way all of you practically shunned her when she came back after the divorce.”

Bree gave him a wry look. “Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather, too. It seems she was worried about me.”

Jake leaned against the side of the car and gestured toward the shop. “You mean because of this?”

She wasn’t surprised that he understood that much. She supposed a lot of people were trying to figure out why she’d leave a supposedly successful career in Chicago to come back to Chesapeake Shores and open a flower shop.

She nodded. “Because of this.”

“What’d you tell her?”

“That I wanted a fresh start.”

“This seems like an odd choice for that,” he said. “Don’t people usually go someplace new to start over, instead of returning to the scene of some really bad memories?”

She looked up and met his gaze. “Not all my memories of this place are bad,” she said. “And the ones that are…” She shrugged. “You’ve been able to put them behind you. Why can’t I?”

His gaze held hers. “They’re not behind me, Bree. Not by a long shot. And now that you’re back, they’re pretty much in my face every single day.”

With that he shoved away from the car. “See you around.”

The pain in his voice cut through her. “Jake?”

He paused, but he didn’t turn around.

“I’m sorry.”

He hesitated for what seemed like forever, then said, “Yeah. Me, too.”

Bree watched him go, her heart aching. Maybe coming home had been a really lousy idea, after all. Then she glanced back at the window of her store and a smile crept across her face. No, she thought with a renewed sense of commitment. This was right. She was counting on it being right.

And somehow, one of these days, she’d find a way to make it up to Jake for all the pain she’d caused him. She just wished she had even the vaguest idea how she could possibly accomplish that.

Crossing the lawn clutching her granddaughters’ hands, Megan saw Mick stand. He’d always been polite that way, but now she sensed a barely restrained eagerness in him, as if he was having to stop himself from coming down to meet her.

“Grandma Megan’s here,” Carrie announced unnecessarily.

“I see that,” Mick said, smiling.

“She’s gonna stay with us,” Caitlyn added.

“Is that so?” Mick’s gaze held hers, a question in his eyes.

“I thought it would be best,” she said, responding to that unspoken question. “Bree needs some space right now.”

He nodded in understanding. “Where’d she run off to?”

“I sent her after my luggage. I stupidly forgot that it was still in the rental car.”

“I could have gone.”

“She said she didn’t mind.”

“Come on, Grandma Megan,” Carrie urged. “You gotta
come see our rooms. Trace says we’re big girls, so we each have our own now.”

Megan shot an apologetic look toward Mick. “Well, aren’t you lucky,” she told Carrie. “Show me.”

She followed the girls inside and left Mick on the porch. Only after she was inside, did she realize that she’d been practically holding her breath. How could he make her so nervous after all these years? They’d been married for nearly two decades, for heaven’s sake. They had five children. There was nothing he didn’t know about her or she him.

Except how to stay married, she reminded herself. They’d certainly gotten that all wrong.

When Abby found them in Caitlyn’s room a few minutes later, she gave her a commiserating look. “Careful, Mom, or they’ll insist on showing you every book on their shelves and every toy in their new toy boxes. I’m afraid Trace is spoiling them rotten.”

“And I love seeing it all,” Megan told her.

“But they need to get to bed. Why don’t you join Dad on the porch,” she said, sending Megan a conspiratorial wink. “I think he’s poured a glass of wine for you. And I convinced Trace that he needed to come inside and leave you two alone.”

Flustered that Abby seemed to understand that something was on the brink of happening between her and Mick, Megan tried to come up with an excuse to get out of going outside. None came to mind, especially when her luggage wasn’t here. Without that, she couldn’t even claim that she wanted to head straight to bed.

“Fine. I’ll do that,” she said, though she lingered over her good-nights to the girls.

“You’re stalling, Mom,” Abby accused, her eyes filled with
amusement. “Does the idea of sitting on the porch in the dark with Dad scare you for some reason?”

“Of course not,” she said at once.

Abby followed her into the hall and squeezed her hand. “It shouldn’t, you know. You both want the same thing.”

“Are you so sure about that? Has he actually said something?”

“Enough,” Abby said. “Just take your time and let things happen naturally.”

“I thought I was the one who’s supposed to be giving advice on love,” Megan grumbled. “Isn’t that a mother’s job?”

“But you’re the one being courted,” Abby told her with a grin. “I’m engaged. My future’s all set.”

Megan smiled at her. “I couldn’t be happier for you. I hope you know that.”

“I do.”

“And we should start talking about your wedding.”

“Tomorrow,” Abby said emphatically, steering her toward the steps.

Megan relented and walked downstairs. She took a deep breath before she finally walked out onto the porch.

“There you are,” Mick said, relief in his voice. “I thought maybe you’d gone to bed.”

“I might have,” she admitted, “but Bree’s not back yet with my luggage.”

There was just enough moonlight to see that Mick frowned at her words.

“You afraid of spending a little time with me, Meggie?”

“I don’t know how to answer that,” she confessed.

“It should be easy enough,” he said with a familiar trace of impatience. “Either you are or you aren’t.”

Her temper stirred. “That’s the trouble with you, Mick
O’Brien. Everything’s always black and white. Haven’t you figured out by now that life’s filled with gray areas?”

“So that’s another of my failings?” he retorted. “Are we going through the whole list?”

She scowled at his tone. Things were disintegrating quickly, but she couldn’t help the retort that sprang to her lips. “Maybe we should.”

He sat back then, sighing. “Ah, Meggie, let’s not do this. I’m sorry.”

“In New York, you told me you’d done a lot of soul-searching,” she said, an accusing note in her voice. “It doesn’t seem like it.”

“I have a dark soul. Sometimes it’s difficult to see in all the corners.”

She laughed then. “How can you still make me laugh, even when you’ve made me furious?”

“I wouldn’t be able to make you furious if you didn’t care just a little bit,” he said.

“I’ve never denied caring, Mick. It’s all the rest that comes with it that I couldn’t do anymore—the neglect, the absences, the lack of consideration.”

“You’re the second person tonight to accuse me of being inconsiderate,” he said.

“Did you hear either one of us?”

“It’s hard not to hear such a thing when it’s coming from two of the women I care most about in the world.”

She smiled at that. Nell had always been able to bring him down a peg or two in ways Megan hadn’t. “So, what was Nell upset about?”

“It started out to be about no one telling her if they were coming for dinner and wound up being about you.”

“Me? What did I do?”

“It’s what you might do that’s troubling her. She thinks if you and I should happen to find our way back to each other, she’d be in the way.”

“I hope you told her that would never happen!”

Mick frowned at the heat in her voice. “Displacing Ma or the reconciliation?”

“Either,” she said at once. As his frown deepened, she reached for his hand. “I’d never try to displace Nell. She has more right to that home than I do.”