“As always.” Her mom pulled a pan of barbeque chicken from the oven. “I made a few extra pieces for you to take home. Now that you’re working on that mural, I know you’re barely taking time to cook or eat.”
Michaela opened her mouth to refute her mother’s words, but couldn’t, so she closed it. ”Thanks, Mom.” Growing up, her parents often had to drag her away from a canvas to do her chores, eat, or anything else. Her cell rang and she searched her tote to find it. She smiled when she saw Hunter’s name. “Hey, handsome.”
“Hey, baby. How’s the mural going?”
“Good. I went in today for a few hours and I’m almost done with the children’s mural.”
Hunter laughed. “A few hours? More like the security guard had to drag your butt out when it was time for the building to close.”
“Nobody asked you.” She quieted. “I never thought I hear your laugh again.”
“I hear you, but I’m glad to have you back in my life again.”
“So am I. Are you coming home anytime soon?” Her mind understood that they couldn’t make up for lost time, but her heart didn’t want him out of her sight again.
“Probably not for another couple of weeks. With the new resort opening soon and renovations being done at one of the casinos, I have to make sure the marketing plans are in place. But I’ll definitely be there next month for the unveiling.”
Disappointment filled her. “Oh. I was kind of hoping to see you sooner. I would come to you, but I don’t want to mess up my flow.”
“The time will go by fast. What are you doing?”
She’d completely forgotten that her mother was there listening and hazarded a glance over her shoulder. Her mother stood leaning against the counter with a knowing smile on her face. “I’m having dinner with Mom.”
“Tell her I said hello, and I’ll be by to talk to her the next time I come home.”
“I’ll do that. I know she’ll love to see you. I’d better go so the food doesn’t get cold.”
“I love you, Michaela.”
“Love you, too.” She held the phone against her heart, never tiring of hearing him declare his love.
“I see things are moving pretty quickly with you and Hunter,” her mother said, handing Michaela a plate.
“It’s almost as if we’re picking up where we left off, but different,” she said while loading the chicken, mashed potatoes and spinach onto her plate. “Does that even make sense?” The old familiarity had come back, but the connection seemed to be different, deeper.
“It makes perfect sense. This experience has caused you both to grow. Adversity has a way of stretching you like nothing else.”
“Ain’t that the truth. I’d rather skip it though, and just have a boring predictable, no drama life.”
“Wouldn’t we all? Michaela, I understand how wonderful this all is, but make sure you’re ready to do this relationship for the long haul, that if some other hard challenge comes around, you’ll hang in there at all costs. Honey, if you’re not ready for that, then you and Hunter are going to be right back where you were last year.”
Michaela digested her mother’s words. “I get it, Mom. I do admit that I had some fairy tale vision of what marriage should be like, but I know better now. Although, I do believe I’ll still have my fairy tale because, yeah, Hunter is totally a prince.”
Her mother burst out laughing. “That always helps.”
She grinned. “It does, but I’m also realistic enough to realize that life doesn’t always play by my rules. I only have to look at what happened to Dad and Hunter to see it. And, Mom, I am truly sorry for the things I said back then. I was concerned about losing both my parents—Dad to cancer and you from exhaustion. But something came to mind yesterday that I, somehow, buried. Although taking care of Dad wore you out and I’d hear you crying at night,” she started, then paused at the sound of her mom’s soft gasp. Michaela reached for her hand. “I heard you, Mom, even though I know you didn’t want me to, that you were trying to be strong for me and for Dad. But I also remember your words of love to him, and hearing you tell him how much you’d been blessed by having him in your life. Those are the things I should’ve kept in my heart, instead.”
“Those are the most important things,” she said, giving Michaela’s hand a gentle squeeze.
“Yes, they are.” Michaela’s feelings for Hunter mirrored that of her mother and father. And if, for some reason, he had a relapse, she planned to be right there whispering how much she loved him, telling him how much he’d blessed her life, and assuring him that she’d be right there and it would be okay. That he could always,alwayscount on her.
* * *
“Dinner was great, Mom,” Hunter said, wiping his mouth on a cloth napkin. When he’d let his parents know he’d be flying in that Tuesday, his mother had invited him—ordered him would be a better description—to come to dinner. He’d come straight from the airport. Luckily, Ava and her family had joined them, so he had one less visit to make.
“I’m so glad you could carve out a little time out to visit. I know you’ve been busy getting back into the swing of things at Prescott Holdings and overseeing the mural.”
“Hard not to carve out time when you didn’t really give me a choice,” he drawled.
