She smiled. “Are you happy?”
“I am,” I confirmed. The slim chance that this woman might really be my mother made me want to give her peace. “I have a veryhappy life.” I reconsidered. “Okay, I had some ups and downs as I was trying to find myself, but I’m very happy now.”
Mom nodded in understanding. “When did you find yourself?”
That was an easy question to answer. “When I came to Moonstone Bay.”
“To live with your grandparents?” She didn’t look hopeful as much as resigned. What was up with that?
“I never lived with May and Wesley,” I replied. “I grew up with Dad. I didn’t even come to Moonstone Bay until I was well into adulthood.”
“I didn’t realize,” she said dully. “I thought … well, I thought Mom and Dad would reach out to your father to see you.”
“I think they did. Dad kind of admitted that. He shut them down. He didn’t want me coming here. In fact, he did everything in his power to make sure I wouldn’t come.”
Mom looked as if she was trying to understand. I’d imagined a million conversations with my mother since first seeing her shambling through the cemetery. Never once had I envisioned her asking this question, and I was sad to be the one to have to tell her some hard news.
“Grandma died,” I blurted. There was no way to sugarcoat it. “She left me the lighthouse in her will.”
“I see.” Mom looked troubled. “How long ago?”
“More than a year, less than two years.”
“And you moved here to live in the lighthouse?”
I bobbed my head.
“And you’re staying?”
“I am.” I held up my hand to show my engagement ring. “This is home now.”
Her eyes lit up when she saw the ring, then she frowned. “Who?”
“You wouldn’t know him.”
“Try me.”
Could this information be used against me somehow? Could it beused against Galen? Ultimately, I couldn’t think of a single reason not to tell her. “Galen Blackwood.”
Mom’s eyebrows lifted. “Marjory Blackwood’s boy?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.” She pursed her lips. “Is he like her?”
That made me laugh. “The exact opposite. He’s pretty happy-go-lucky, although he can be intense. He’s the sheriff.”
“Really?” Mom almost looked tickled. “I guess that means he’s nothing like his father.”
“He’s put distance between his family and himself. He wants to be his own man. His mother isn’t even talking to him right now. A half-brother came out of the woodwork — DNA tests prove it — and Marjory is angry.”
“It sounds as if you know her fairly well.” Mom cocked her head. “Do you trust her?”
“Sometimes,” I replied. “She tries to steamroll people. She wants Galen to be a specific man. I wasn’t her first choice for him, but he does what he wants.”
“You wouldn’t be,” Mom agreed. “She’d want full shifter grandchildren.”
“That was a concern … for her.”
