Simon was shocked to hear the house so quiet when he walked into the living room. His mother had fallen asleep on the sofa and was slumped into the pillows, softly snoring. He tiptoed past her and into the bathroom to grab a hot shower. It only lasted a quick five minutes or so, but in that short amount of time, as he was drying off, he heard voices, one louder than the rest, ginning up for the day.

He grabbed a clean pair of jeans and a shirt and opened the door to his bedroom, prepared to face the chaos. Pandemonium loomed. Jayden, ever the lover of anything with wheels, careened his cars into Delaney’s feet, causing her to lose her balance and hit the floor.

“I’m sowwy,” Jayden hollered.

Simon picked up the now screaming child and held her close. “It’s okay. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

“I’m sowwy,” Jayden said again.

Simon traded looks with his mother who stood back waiting for him to handle the situation. He took a seat in one of the living room chairs. “I know you are, Jayden. It was an accident. But you gotta be more careful around her. She’s younger than you are and doesn’t walk as steady as you do yet. She’ll get there, but right now she’s wobbly on her feet.”

As Delaney sniffed and hiccupped in his arms, Jayden put his face close to hers. “I’m sowwy.”

Her hand jabbed out fast with a quick right, aiming to hit him in the face in retaliation.

“Delaney, none of that,” Simon calmly said. “You two should be friends. Jayden, I want you to give her a hug. Delaney, hug Jayden back. Now.”

He watched as they made an awkward attempt to put their arms around each other. Forced as it was, it did the trick. “There. All better? Are we ready to eat breakfast now or do we still want to fuss at each other?”

“Eat!” Jayden yelled.

“Eat,” Delaney repeated.

“Good because it’s too early for sniping. No more fighting or fussing. Delaney, do you want to get down now and play before breakfast?”

She crawled out of Simon’s lap and made a beeline for Jayden’s cars. Simon waited for the blow up, but Jayden seemed to accept that he needed to share.

Gretchen shook her head and marveled at the sight. “You’re actually pretty good at this.”

“Who knew, right? I need caffeine.”

“And sleep. You didn’t get a wink of sleep, I bet.”

At the sink, Simon filled a decanter with water and poured the contents into the reservoir before measuring out coffee beans to grind. “What do you think? But then I didn’t go over there to sleep. My morning’s free and hers isn’t, so I’m keeping Jayden while she gets some rest since she has to be fresh for her shift this afternoon.”

He removed a carton of eggs from the fridge and began to crack them into a bowl and then whipped them with a fork for scrambling.

Gretchen remembered her coffee date with John. She could cancel. It wasn’t like it was set in stone. But then maybe there was a workaround. “Want me to look after the kids while you take a nap? I could take them to the park and let them run around there. Who knows? Maybe Jayden would take a nap.”

“It’s not necessary unless you just want to spend time with Delaney. You still have a few days left. Your flight leaves Thursday, right?”

“At eleven.” Why didn’t she simply tell him about the coffee date? It might make things easier. “I met someone in the park Saturday morning.”

“Yeah? Who?”

“A man by the name of John Dickinson. He asked me to have coffee with him this morning and I said yes.”

Simon’s mouth fell open. He’d never thought about his mother’s social life including a man. But she was young enough, sixty was hardly having one foot in the grave. And he of all people knew how short life could be and ever-changing in an instant. Once the idea sunk in, the implication became clear. “And you want to keep this date, right?”

“For coffee,” Gretchen emphasized. “Just to talk. I so seldom get to do that with people my own age anymore. Back home, if they don’t drop in to see me, I don’t go out of my way to see them. I slowly gave up doing my charity work after your father died, and without meaning to, I gave friends I’d known for years the impression I wanted to be left alone. Those contacts have slowly dried up for me. That includes most of my old bridge partners, who’ve chosen to avoid stopping by to visit. I’m not sure if it’s their circumstances keeping them away, or maybe they’re super busy, or maybe they really do want to avoid being around Lorraine. People are like that sometimes. They don’t know what to say, so they avoid saying anything at all.”

He’d known all along what a challenge his mother faced every day taking care of his aunt. But he didn’t realize it had put a ding in her once active social life. He could see it now on her face. Maybe she was dreading going back home to that strained situation, one that had no good ending on the horizon. “Then do it. Don’t cancel this thing with John. But you don’t have to take the kids. I have to call that Margaret person in Boston and get the check thing straightened out anyway.”

“But that’s just it. I could meet John in the park and bring the kids with me. Watch them while they play. And still have coffee with John.”

Simon saw the eagerness in his mother’s eyes. “Sure.” As he scrambled the eggs, he prompted, “So tell me about this John guy. Who is he exactly?”

“Small town and you don’t know? His daughter is the principal of the elementary school.”

“Julianne McLachlan is his daughter?”

“You know her?”

“I’ve seen her around town. I know Ryder better. Good guy. He has a boatbuilding business over on Ocean Street. His wife also opened her own shop called Reclaimed Treasures, that store on Main that carries fashionable and trendy upcycled stuff. Julianne is the one who found my sofa. She’ll do that sort of thing if you ask her to look out for a certain hard-to-find item.”

“John didn’t mention the store. But he seems like any proud daddy when he talks about his daughter.”

Simon began to feel better about the man.

After calling the kids to the table and getting them situated, he and his mother continued their conversation over coffee. “I should’ve realized how hard it was taking care of Lorraine all these years.”

“She’s my sister. We used to do everything together. We’re barely a year apart. I wasn’t about to turn her over to strangers and let them take care of her. But…it’s been five years since she started behaving in odd ways, couldn’t remember where she’d left her car keys. And odd things would come out of her mouth. She’s gone steadily downhill in the last year. She doesn’t even know where she is most of the time, let alone recognizing me. Makes me wonder…about Connie. She’s acting a lot like Lorraine did before her diagnosis.”

“But the doctors say Connie doesn’t have Alzheimer’s.”

“Which is good. But I wonder if the shunt hasn’t had time to get rid of all the excess fluid yet and it’s still doing weird things to her brain.”

“According to Gilly, her mother wasn’t like this until recently. It’s gotta be the right diagnosis.”

“You’d think. What if this Boston lawyer didn’t make a mistake? You said the man Amelia was with was wealthy. What if that check is Delaney’s inheritance?”

“A million-dollar inheritance?” He thought back to that summer on Cape Cod. There were indications Amelia Langston favored expensive things. She carried trendy handbags, the upscale kind made of Italian calfskin leather. But he hadn’t bothered checking the price tags. Why would he? He knew the camera she used to capture all those photos wasn’t cheap, somewhere in the neighborhood of three grand, maybe more. And her outfits never failed to get his attention. But again, he hadn’t bothered checking labels. He could admit now that he hadn’t paid enough attention to details that summer. He was too caught up in the escape, the newness of being out of the Army, the freedom to do whatever he wanted, not to mention all the sex an arm’s reach away.

“It’s possible it isn’t a mistake,” Gretchen insisted.

“It has to be. Things like that don’t happen to people like us,” Simon stated. He glanced at his watch, noted the time. “But we’ll know in a few minutes because Boston is open for business.”

He shut himself off in the bedroom to make the call so there’d be less noise from the kids. After Tyler’s secretary put him through to her majesty, Simon went into all the questions he’d built up over the last three days.

“Remember when you dropped Delaney off that day, you said something about Amelia’s estate totaling no more than twenty-five grand. That’s what I expected the check to read when I opened the envelope. How could you make this kind of error?”

On the other end of the line, Simon thought the ice-cold Margaret Tyler seemed to squirm in her chair. “If you’ll recall, that day I had a lot on my plate. I might’ve misspoken. I didn’t realize at the time the true extent of her estate. Up until then I had been focused on getting your daughter situated. I would think you’d appreciate that fact first.”

“So what are you saying?”

“The amount of the check isn’t a mistake.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Would I kid about this? That’s why I asked before sending that amount through the mail. But you were so insistent.”

“How was I supposed to know you were talking about that kind of money?”

He heard Margaret sigh into the phone. “I’m sorry there’s been this kind of miscommunication, but I assure you the only thing left is to sell the townhouse her…benefactor left to her. As it turns out, his grown children were attempting to file a lawsuit for their share of what he left Ms. Langston. I thought I was doing you a favor by going ahead and distributing the funds. I feel that little girl deserves what her mother left her. The only mistake she made was not putting the money in a trust so it wouldn’t have to go through probate.”

“All right. Where do we go from here? Because that’s exactly my intent, putting the money into a trust for her is the only option. She won’t even know about it until she reaches twenty-one. Or maybe twenty-five.”

“That’s good. At least she’ll know her mother cared enough to leave her everything she had. I would suggest you get a good trust attorney immediately to set up an ironclad fund that only she benefits from, no matter whom she marries, they won’t be able to squander away her inheritance. After you’ve done all the paperwork, send me a copy for my files.”

He wondered if that last part was a dig at him. It didn’t sound like Ms. Tyler had any faith that he’d follow through on the plan, which is why he set up an appointment with Kinsey for eleven that morning.

 

 

Having the kids with her made Gretchen feel more at ease. Not that she thought John was a perv or a weirdo or anything like that. But meeting up in the park with the children seemed to be the best way to gauge his interest and possibly his intent.

She sat on the park bench under a beautiful clear sky, a soft ocean breeze on her face. Birds flitted back and forth like springtime. The difference in weather here was startling. Back in Rhode Island it would soon be cold and dreary, snow on the ground until March or April. How nice it would be to live here year-round. How great it would be to get up in the morning just to see Delaney’s little face more often than once a year.

She was deep in those kinds of thoughts when John ambled up and took a seat next to her, holding two containers of coffee and a bag between his fingers. He handed one to-go cup off to her.

“Thanks for meeting me here instead of the Diner.”

“No problem. Better than your canceling on me altogether. Besides, I like the outdoors. Busy morning?”

She let out a laugh and looked over at the energetic kids playing in the sandbox. “Those two make sure mornings aren’t boring. You didn’t say anything about grandkids.”

“That’s because I think my daughter and son-in-law have been trying but…they’ve been unsuccessful so far, if you know what I mean. I find it best to avoid bringing up the subject at all. I refuse to play the role of nosy in-law.”

“Good for you. Isn’t life strange, though? My son had Delaney and for almost sixteen months didn’t even know she existed. Now, it seems she’s his whole reason for getting up in the morning. Life can bring change in the oddest ways.”

He nodded and held out the bag to her. “Max’s famous cinnamon rolls guaranteed to melt in your mouth. Try one.”

Gretchen obliged, taking a bite out of the gooey pastry, then licking the icing off her fingertips.

“Is your coffee okay?”

“It’s fine. Good. Strong the way I like it.”

“Margie makes the best coffee in town. Swears she cleans the pot every four hours to keep it from going stale. When you texted me with a change in plans I wasn’t sure if you were trying to ditch me or not.”

“If I’d wanted to do that I wouldn’t be sitting here now.”

“I’m glad. You didn’t ditch me, that is. Would you consider letting me buy you dinner before you go back east?”

Flattered, she tilted her head to study him, more forward than what she was used to in her neck of the woods. A long-forgotten pull in the belly hit her. She barely recognized the tug, but it made her realize she was attracted to him. “Are we talking about a date?”

“I am. Not sure what you consider it to be. We could be friends, but that’s not what I’m hoping for.”

“Really? And what about the fact that we live on opposite ends of the country?”

“I thought about that some. Is there any way we could keep in touch once you get back to Newport? Get to know each other better.”

“You want to?”

“We could email back and forth. Julianne taught me how to use Skype not too long ago. I could show you how to set it up and when we get the urge we could talk. It’s cheaper than long distance and you don’t have to eat into your minutes on the cell. Is that too forward?”

She lifted a shoulder. “Don’t ask me. I’m no expert. I haven’t…” She’d started to use the word “dated” and stopped, realizing that might be presumptuous, even premature. “Whatever this is?”

“I’ll be honest, I haven’t done much dating lately. I spent years raising my daughter alone. My wife took off not long after Julianne came along and left me to raise her by myself. I was way too busy back then to seek out company on a regular basis. Had a girlfriend a time or two, but they got tired of waiting for me to marry them. And I just…got cold feet every time I tried to think like that. You should know I’m a little gun shy when that subject comes up.”

“That’s understandable, given your first wife. Now for me, as long as you know up front that I’ve only been a widow for two years, which means I have no idea what to expect from any kind of dating scenario. It sounds like you’re more the expert. Plus, I’m taking care of my older sister who’s getting worse every day. I seem to have no one to talk to about it because my friends have slowly distanced themselves from the situation over the years, especially since Lowell died. And now my son has given me this ultimate gift, a grandchild, who happens to be three thousand miles away from where I live. How unfair is that?”

John smiled. “You’re right. Life is truly strange. It hands us all kinds of twists and turns we don’t expect. I don’t see what the harm is to having dinner before you go.”

Gretchen took a deep breath and remembered Connie’s situation, then Lorraine’s. Things could get a lot worse and life was just too short to pass up the possibilities. “I say don’t waste a minute on regrets. How about tomorrow night? It can’t be Wednesday because I have to set aside time to see Simon and Delaney my last night in town.”

“Tuesday night’s fine. You can come to my house. I fix a mean grilled snapper.”

 

 

The Tudor-style home on Landings Bay that Kinsey used for her law office had grown larger over the years to accommodate a growing family. Logan had made sure that the space expanded into two wings. One for hearth and home, another for tending to clients, complete with Aaron Hartley’s law library.

Simon sat in a study surrounded by books. After explaining to Kinsey what was going on, and producing the large check, he watched her reaction.

“Wow! This is from the woman on Cape Cod? The one who wanted a baby so badly…?”

“That she slept with me? Yeah.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know what you meant, but it’s the reality of the situation. Tyler seems to think the adult children of this guy will come after the money.”

Kinsey shook her head. “Nope. Not happening. That should’ve been done before probate. Although I can check the laws of Massachusetts for you if you’d like, even go so far as to make a call to this Tyler woman myself. But I’m ninety-nine percent certain the window of opportunity has passed. My guess, without having all the facts on hand, is that your Amelia put most of the money he left her in an offshore account, hid it away from these grown children for that very purpose. She had access whenever she needed to draw from the account. These kids likely didn’t know anything about it so they couldn’t very well contest her assets until it was too late. At some point, Amelia must’ve made a lawyer aware of the account so that it showed up in her estate, otherwise you wouldn’t be holding that check. Probably at the same time she made out a will stating Delaney belonged to you and was to go to you if anything happened to her.”

“Smart woman, but let’s not lessen the fact she was also cunning. Figuring all the angles is what she did best.”

“She figured this one pretty well, Simon. For her only daughter. She did what she thought was best for her daughter’s future.”

“I guess. Though it seems…too weird to suit me. I don’t want to cut Delaney out of anything, but the money…it isn’t that important to me and I personally won’t be touching it.”

“But it might be important to Delaney one day, something from her mother that validates Amelia existed. She’ll never remember her, Simon, not even a slight memory. She’s too young. Do you have any photos from that summer, from your time together?”

“That’s the first I’ve thought of it. A ton. Amelia didn’t go anywhere or do anything without a camera in her hand. Those pictures have to be somewhere. Although Tyler did tell me I should expect a moving pod to arrive any day now.”

“Great. Then maybe there are personal effects in there that you can hang onto and show her from that brief time you and her mother had together.” She waved the check in the air. “I’ll get the paperwork started after we take this puppy to the bank. Once the money’s safely there, you pick the name you want for the trust, and I’ll take it from there.”

“Does that mean you’ll administer the money?”

“Nope. Not me. That’s you unless you want to change the specifics. Do you have a current will? Because you should probably name someone to care for Delaney if anything should happen to you.”

Simon twisted in his chair. “Not a bad idea. I do have a will, but I haven’t added anything about Delaney. I should do that.”

Kinsey leveled a finger at him. “Parents can’t afford to put off that kind of stuff. Amelia is proof of that. You walk out the door in the morning and you never know what’s around that bend in the road.”

 

 

After all his errands were done, Simon caught up with his mother for a late lunch at Longboard’s Pizza. “How’d it go with John?”

“I’m having dinner with him tomorrow night.”

“Wow, this guy sounds like a mover and a shaker who doesn’t waste any time. Maybe he could give me some pointers.”

She playfully punched his arm. “Since when do you need pointers?”

“Since I got played by a beautiful woman who wanted a baby and didn’t care how she got it?”

“You have to stop saying things like that, Simon, especially in front of Delaney.”

He scrubbed his hands over his face. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m tired and not used to watching what I say.”

Just as Fischer brought out their order, Gilly sailed into the eatery with a big smile on her face. “Hey guys. Perfect timing. Feed me.”

“Mama!” Jayden burst out.

“Hi, baby,” Gilly said, wrapping her arms around the boy before sliding into the booth beside Simon. “Are you being a good boy for Simon and Mrs. Bremmer?”

“Jes.”

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Simon asked.

“Thanks to you, I got in six hours. I’m good.”

“You hungry?” Gretchen asked, cutting a piece of the pie so that Delaney could use it as finger food. “There’s plenty. We ordered two large so there’d be leftovers.”

“Yeah. No one wants to cook tonight.”

After taking a slice off the tray and handing it to Jayden, Gilly took Simon’s chin. “You didn’t get any sleep.”

“I had errands to get done. But I’m not complaining.”

“Neither am I,” she whispered. “So what else have you guys been up to?”

“Mom had a date in the park,” Simon said with a grin. “She took the kids along for protection.”

Gilly let out a laugh. “Do tell. Who’s this mystery man?”

“I haven’t kept it a mystery.” Eyeing Simon, she added, “Although I’m beginning to think I should have. His name’s John Dickinson.”

Gilly took a slice for herself and stared at Gretchen. “I know John. He built the cover over my patio. Logan recommended him, said he was reliable and wouldn’t charge an arm and a leg. Turns out, John did it for peanuts and had the work done within a week.”

“See? He’s good with his hands,” Simon cracked.

Gretchen blushed, but sent him a reluctant grin. “You aren’t as upset about this as I thought you’d be.”

“You want I should go beat him up?”

“Of course not. I’m not dead, you know. I should have a life.”

“Not saying otherwise. I think you should get out there and live. I’d like you to do it here around your granddaughter, but I know you won’t budge as long as Lorraine needs you.” He patted his mother’s hand. “I’m not trying to guilt you. Just the opposite. After you leave, I’ll miss having you here.”

Water formed in Gretchen’s eyes causing her to snatch up a few paper napkins from the dispenser to dab them dry. “I’ve enjoyed getting to know Delaney and spending this time with you.”

Gilly couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Hey, you still have two days. Don’t be so down. There’s still time to have fun. You two. Fun.”

“Well, I did agree to have dinner with John Tuesday night.”

Simon choked on the bite of pizza he’d just chewed. “I thought you were kidding. You’re going on a date when the clock’s ticking on our time together?”

Now Gretchen heard annoyance in his voice. “I’ll cancel if you want me to, but the plan is to put Delaney to bed and then he’ll pick me up. We’re going back to his place. He said he’d cook.”

Simon had to grab his soda to wash down the wad of pie that stuck in his throat. Just as he was about to lose it, he looked at his mother’s face, saw real pain there that he hadn’t noticed before. Hadn’t he just told her she needed to get out there, to live her life? He swallowed his objections and, like Gilly, thought it best to focus on enjoying the rest of his mother’s time here in town. “I talked to Nick today and got a firm date for closing. Two weeks from today.”

“I wish I could be here for it,” Gretchen said, still teary eyed.

Gilly frowned. “On a Monday? I was hoping to help you out.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll round up the guys and we’ll knock it out in a few hours. I don’t have that much stuff. But I should probably start packing things up.”

“No, I think I’ll ask Sydney for the day off, give her plenty of time to switch around schedules. We do it all the time. That way, I can at least watch Delaney for you. And it isn’t easy packing with a toddler. Now you’re dealing with Jayden. I’ll help you pack this weekend.” She wiped Jayden’s messy mouth and then turned to do the same with Delaney.

It was all so normal to sit around like a family, Simon thought, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, as if they’d been doing it forever. He listened to Gilly go over decorating ideas with his Mom. For his house. They were already like a team. This was so surreal. Instead of panicking, his shoulders relaxed. There were no egos at play here.

With the kind of life he’d lived, nothing he’d ever imagined would have brought him to this point, to this woman. And yet, here he was, listening to the woman he loved…

Whoa. Where had that come from? Loved? He glanced over and stared at Gilly, watching her interact with the kids. She was so good at everything she did and so down to earth. When exactly had he fallen off that cliff?

He knew she was like a burst of bright sunlight, someone he enjoyed being around. He’d even fallen for her kid. He glanced over at Jayden’s face, messy again from tomato sauce. How had he gotten a ready-made family so fast? And why didn’t it scare the bejesus out of him?