“Take care of yourself, Cole.” Her hand dropped to her side, and she shifted her purse strap higher up on her shoulder.
“You, too.” I stood there while she made her way up the sidewalk and disappeared through the front doorway. Then I got the hell out of there as soon as I could. I hadn’t given any thought to where I’d go after I dropped Winter off, but the answer was obvious. Mama Mae’s place was less than an hour’s drive away. I didn’t have a good reason to not go back to Broken Bend. I shot off a quick text to Mama Mae telling her I’ll be home forChristmas. Then I got on the county road that would take me there.
She met me on the front porch of the old farmhouse where I grew up. Her hair was a little whiter, and she didn’t stand quite as tall as I remembered, but she still smelled like homemade bread and baby powder.
“What a pleasant surprise.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. “If you’d told me earlier you were coming, I would have called a few of the boys to stop over tonight and welcome you home.”
“I didn’t know I was coming until about an hour ago.” Stepping into the front living room was like taking a trip back in time. Not much had changed since I’d left for good over twenty years ago.
“Have you eaten yet? I’ve got some beef stew leftover from dinner. I’m surprised my boys didn’t finish it all. I can fix you a bowl real quick.” She led the way into the kitchen. It had always been the heart of her home.
“I’d never turn down a bowl of your stew,” I said. “Especially if it comes with homemade cornbread.”
“Oh, honey. What kind of mother would I be if I tried to serve a meal without fresh baked bread? Come on, sit a spell and tell me what brought you all the way home.” She patted the table and waited for me to sit down before she started bustling around the kitchen.
I wasn’t sure what made me open up to her. Maybe it was being back in the house where I grew up. Maybe it was Mama Mae’s not-so-gentle prodding, but for somereason, I told her about running into Winter, and how I’d driven her all the way home from Chicago.
“You care about this woman,” Mama Mae commented as she set a steaming bowl of stew in front of me.
I shook my head. “It’s not that easy.”
“It always seems that way, sugar.” She pulled out a chair across from me and sat down. “Though when you think about it, there really isn’t anything as easy as love.”
Love. There it was again, that fucking four letter word that kept popping up.
“You’re oversimplifying things, Mama Mae.” She had a way of doing that, of distilling something that seemed so huge and insurmountable into something even a toddler could understand.
She reached across the table and set her hand on my arm. “Do you have any idea what I’d give for one more day with my love? When your heart finds its other half, all you need to do is open yourself up to the goodness that’s waiting for you. It really is that easy, Cole.”
Mama Mae meant well, but she didn’t fully understand the stakes. “She’s two decades younger than me. My son’s ex-girlfriend.”
“Did I ever tell you that when I met my husband, he was dating one of my best friends?” She tilted her head and waited for me to respond.
I gave in. “What happened?”
“He broke up with her the night we met. I didn’t want to give him my number. What kind of woman steals aboyfriend away from her bestie?” She squeezed my hand, then pulled back to pick up her mug. “But that man was persistent. When I finally agreed to go out with him and stopped trying to resist what I felt in my heart, it was magic.”
Mama Mae rarely talked about her husband. She’d lost him at such a young age, though she’d always said she didn’t regret their short time together. “What happened to your friend?”
“Oh, she came around. It took a little while, but even she could see that the two of us were made for each other. She ended up being the maid of honor at our wedding and married one of the groomsmen.” She let out a chuckle and gave me a sympathetic smile. “So you see… when true love is involved, it really is that easy.”
Nothing about my feelings for Winter seemed easy at all, but I appreciated the pep talk. “Do you mind if I crash on the couch tonight? I might stick around for a day or two and think about what you said.”
“You can stay as long as you want. No matter how long you’re away, you’re always welcome. After all, this is your home.” She got up and pushed her chair back under the table. “I’ll go grab you a blanket and some pillows. I’m so glad you’re here, Cole.”
I stood to give her a hug. I’d been away too long. “Thanks, Mama Mae. It’s good to be home.”
CHAPTER 13
WINTER
I saton the front porch swing with a blanket wrapped around my legs and stared down at the ornament Cole had given me last night. He looked so different in the photo than the grumpy guy in a suit I’d run into at the airport. Both of us were smiling directly into the camera. If I’d been looking at a picture of two strangers, I might have thought they were a cute couple, maybe even on their honeymoon based on the way the man’s hands possessively wrapped around the woman’s waist and her butt pressed back against him. It was too bad we couldn’t be newlyweds, but I needed to stop wishing for something that could never happen.
The front door creaked and my mom stepped out onto the porch with a carafe of coffee in her hand. “Need a refill before we start baking?”
“Sure.” I tucked the ornament under the blanket and held out my mug. “How many cookies are we making today?”
“As many as we can until we have to leave for the carnival.” She smoothed her hand over my hair. “Are you feeling okay, sweetie? You haven’t seemed like yourself since you got home last night.”
