“Yes!” my mom screams, fist-pumping as she races around the kitchen. She’s laughing as she skips behind me, whacking my ass with the dishtowel over her arm.
“You’re being way too much right now,” I tell her, even though I secretly want to do the same thing every time I realize how lucky I am.
Finally, my mom stops her nonsense, pretending to be winded as she leans over and pants loudly.
I shake my head at her, enjoying the ease of spending time with my mom. It feels like old times, before everything was too complicated, and that’s exactly what I need right now.
The timer dings, signaling the noodles are ready, so I carry the rest of the food out to the table. My mom joins me a minute later with a bowl of steaming noodles.
“It’s not Italy, but it’ll do,” my mom teases.
“Nowhere else I’d rather be,” I say. As the words leave my mouth, I realize it’s the truth. Sometime in the last two months, while I was out seeing the world, I realized Wild Bluffs is my home—not just the town I grew up in or the place I’m living while I take care of my mom.
Mom and I fall back into our natural rhythm of conversation—her pestering me with questions until I’ve given complete-enough answers for her to be satisfied. I know we need to talk about real things like her work and care, and how we’re going to afford it when I’m out of a job now that I know Trent is drowning in debt and Mitchell Security is no longer an option. But I don’t want to.
My mom is having a good day, rarely repeating herself and tracking the conversation, even the parts about where I was and what I was doing. I’m not going to waste this gift on talk of in-home care, cutting hours, or anything else.
Finally, though, my mom takes the decision out of my hands. “I assume Bill told you I’m going to have to cut my work hours?”
I pause, my fork halfway to my mouth, and look at her. The reality of the conversation I’ve been avoiding settles in. I slowly set my fork down.
“Yeah,” I say, my voice betraying my concern. “He mentioned it. How are you feeling about it?”
My mom’s expression softens. “Well, honey, we both knew it was coming. The doctors say I can keep working for now, since I’m so familiar with the diner and with Bill and Mildred, but I can’t keep up the same pace. I’m not my best self when I get tired.”
I nod, though my chest feels heavy. My mom has been amazing through this entire diagnosis, never letting it get to her, and I feel like I have to be as strong as she is.
“I’ve been looking into some of the options. Maybe…maybe we should look into hiring someone to help around the house while you cut back on hours?”
What I actually mean is someone to be around to help make sure she doesn’t get confused or overwhelmed when she’s home alone, but helping around the house sounds nicer.
Alice Anderson is not buying it, though.
Mom waves her hand dismissively. “I don’t want to be a burden. I’m not ready for that yet. Just…” She sighs, looking out the window for a moment as if gathering her thoughts. “Just make sure you don’t get so focused on taking care of me that you forget to take care of yourself too.”
I feel a lump rise in my throat, but I push it back down. “Oh, you mean like you did for the first eighteen years of my life?”
She smiles, her eyes filled with love. “It was the best way I could possibly spend my life.”
Tears pool in my eyes, and I blink, trying to force them back. “Then why won’t you let me make the same decision for you?”
“Because you have someone else to focus on now. Don’t let your love for me keep you from loving her. She’s where your future lies.”
The words hit me hard. I think of Kelsey, of everything we’ve been through, and how right it feels when I think about focusing all my love on her. No, I’ll never stop loving or caring for my mom, but she’s right, I can’t let it consume me—I have other things worth living for now.
“I just hope you don’t wait too long so I can remember your wedding,” my mom says, a smug smile pulling at the corners of her lips.
“Mom!” I chastise. “You can’t say things like that.”
Though, now that she’s brought it up, I can picture it. A small wedding backed up against the sand bluffs that surround the town. Just a small group of people, Kelsey’s family and mine, watching as Kelsey walks toward me in a white dress with a loving smile on her face. I know with everything in my heart that it’s a glimpse into my future, but my mom’s right—there’s a chance she’ll have progressed to a point where she won’t remember it.
She laughs, and I can’t help but chuckle too. “I can joke about it if I want. But, just a heads-up, if you don’t bring Kelsey by soon, I might just forget you aren’t married and insist on calling her your wife all night.”
“You know, for someone who never decided to get married, you sure are pushing it hard,” I say.
“I just want you to be happy,” she says, reaching out to pat my hand. “And since you were a boy, Kelsey Harper has made you happy. I’d just hate to see anything get in the way of that—including your dumbass half brother. What is going to happen to Mitchell Security?”
“I don’t know,” I answer truthfully, not at all surprised that the news of Trent’s poor decisions has already made its way through the Wild Bluffs gossip mill. “I can’t get a hold of Trent, but I know he leveraged everything to support his new lifestyle, including the firm. So I can only assume it’s so underwater, we’ll be lucky if we can pay employees their last paychecks, let alone keep running the company.”
