“Come on, Mom,” Katie said.
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you, sweetie?”Ana asked.
Katie looked at her mom, and like so many times before, it was like her mother was a mind reader.She didn’t even have to say or do anything, her mother always knew what was going on with her.
“Is it that obvious?”
“To the outside world, I doubt it.To me, one hundred percent,” Ana said.“You and Hawk are a good team.”
“What about Adam?”
“Honey, I’ve told you, Adam did not want you waiting around for him, or to not find love again.”
She sighed.
“He talked to me a lot,” Ana said.“You know this.When you had to deal with the shop and he needed someone to take care of him, I was there.We’d talk for hours, and he was always so afraid you’d refuse to find someone else.”
“I’d refuse?”she asked.
“He knew how stubborn you were.He knew you were in love with him, and he also felt a little guilty.”
This made her frown.“What do you mean?”
“He wasn’t able to give you the children you always wanted, and I know that upset him a great deal.He loved you more than anything, and all he wanted to do was give you everything.”
Katie didn’t blame him.“He went through so much.”
“And so did you.Don’t lose this with Hawk out of guilt.If you love him, tell him.Don’t hold back because of your past, allow yourself to believe that you can’t miss a single moment of life.Our time here is so short, honey.So short.”
“Mom?”
She looked toward her mother and saw tears in her eyes.
“You know, it feels like yesterday when I met your father,” Ana said.“The time we’ve had has been so magical, you’re thirty-five years old, and we’ve been together forty years.”Ana laughed.“Forty amazing years.”
“Has something happened?”
“No, of course not, but I want you to realize that time goes by so fast.One moment, you’re a teenager and think you know everything and that older people suck.Your parents suck, because they don’t know everything, and you have all these memories.Good and bad.”She took a deep breath.“I don’t want you to have any regrets, honey.”
Katie looked at her mother.“I won’t.”
“I love you.”
Her mother embraced her, and Katie held onto her, then Hawk walked through the door.
“Am I interrupting anything?”Hawk asked.
“No, not at all.I just came to see my daughter.”
“I could give you my lunch and get another one,” Hawk said.
“Don’t be silly.I’m going to go and meet up with Kyle.We already have plans.Enjoy your lunch, you two.”
And with that, her mother was gone.
Katie looked toward Hawk.
“Is everything okay?”
