She cupped his cheek. “You help just by being you.”
He thought that was a pretty nice thing to say.
Then he realized there was way too much roast left over, and he’d be insulting his hosts if he didn’t show how much he’d enjoyed Dave’s cooking. So after he cleared the table of all the dirty dishes, he put them in the dishwasher and returned to his seat and empty plate. Then he took another helping and enjoyed his food.
* * *
Rena found her mother sitting on her bed, crying.
“Oh, Mom. What’s wrong?”
Her mother accepted her hug. “You were right. About all of it.”
“Mom?” She hadn’t felt right. Dave had been open about everything, and he’d been charming tonight. She’d thought about what Axel had said when they’d talked about this. That maybe she felt threatened by her mother finally finding happiness and because her mom had had so many bad boyfriends, Rena didn’t want to see her hurt again so imagined the worst of Dave.
“He and his wife have been talking a lot because his daughter’s pregnant.” Her mother blew her nose. “I’m genuinely happy for him, but I don’t like it. He’s committedto me, or so he said.”
“Has he been unfaithful or something?”
“No. I just don’t want him talking to her. He tells me she has a new boyfriend, the mom, not the daughter. That they have been over for a long time before I was ever in the picture. I want to believe him. But he gets texts he won’t let me see. And he’s busy all the time when we’re supposed to be together. I don’t know if he’s cheating on me or this new contract at work really is taking up his time. And he gets so defensive if I ask about the divorce. I can’t wait for it to be over, but he acts like he’s getting ready to go to a funeral.”
“Well, Mom, for him, it kind of is like a funeral. His marriage died. He loved her once, I’m sure. But when he gets divorced, that future he once had will be lost.” She didn’t want to hurt her mom more, but she had to ask, “Are you sure this is what you want? He hasn’t been separated from her that long.”
“They’ve been living apart for a year, just hooking up now and then before he met me.”
Rena blinked. “Ah, okay.”
“So, if she’s got a boyfriend, the daughter’s married and ready to have a baby, then where does that leave him and me? I thought he wanted to be with me, but he keeps putting me off. He hasn’t introduced me to this daughter yet because it’s ‘hard for her.’” Caroline swore. “It’s fuck-all hard on me too! Damn it!” She broke down crying again.
Rena let her mom ramble, letting all the hurt out. She tried to soothe with hugs and kind words, but Caroline Jackson had balled herself into a meltdown of misery.
This is what I’ll be like when Axel and I are over,Rena couldn’t help thinking.
As if she’d conjured him to appear, Axel stood in the doorway. “No, no. No more tears.” He walked in, sat on the bed, then picked up her mother to sit in his lap. He hugged her, crooning in German, as if he hadn’t just met the woman an hour and a half ago.
Her mother didn’t seem to mind, sobbing her heart out on his chest.
Rena just stared, wide-eyed.
Talk to herhe mouthed, patting her mom on the back, and said to her mom, “No tears, Caroline. You will be happy,ja.”
Her mom cried harder. “No.”
“You meannein.” He winked at Rena and nodded toward her mother.
“Mom, Axel’s right. You’ll be happy if you let yourself be happy. I was wrong about Dave. He seems like a nice guy. But he probably needs time.” She’d read about these situations a lot in magazines. Rena was a student of the human heart. “I think you need to let Dave grieve his marriage. But maybe don’t rush into anything. You said he’s financially set, and you know you are. So take it slow. Keep dating, but don’t move in together.”
“But I l-love him.”
“I know, Mom.” It hurt to see her mother so unhappy. “And if he loves you—”
“He s-says he d-does.”
“Then give him space and time to come back to you.”
“Caroline,” Axel cut in, “from a man’s point of view, you are beautiful and smart. You can have any man you want.”
She lifted her head, wiped her eyes, and blinked at Axel. “You think?”
