“After,” she said quickly. “Guess what? We brought Nate’s favorite ice cream with us.”
“In that case, I’ll take the ice cream out of the freezer. I’ll be back soon.” She balanced a bowl of salad on top of the dinner plates and carried them into the kitchen.
Joseph had already rinsed the plates and was loading them into the dishwasher.
“Thank you for doing that. Are you okay?”
“I’m better now. Mom died two days before my twenty-second birthday.”
“I’m sorry. Is that why you don’t like celebrating your birthday?”
Joseph rinsed the dishes she’d left on the counter. “For the first few years after she died, it was. But then it became easier to bury myself in work and anything else that was happening.”
Shona leaned against the cupboards. “After Chris died, I used to visit the cemetery each day. I thought it was helping me, but it wasn’t. When Nate told me he missed the person I used to be, I cried all over again.”
“I’m sorry about your husband.”
Shona put the plates inside the dishwasher. “Thanks.”
“I can’t imagine what it must have been like.”
Usually, she would have said it was hard, but they got through it. This time, there was something about Joseph’s steady gaze that made saying those words feel like a lie. “Our world fell apart. I was in the car with Chris when a drunk driver hit us. My injuries kept me in the hospital for weeks. Nate stayed with some friends, but he retreated into himself. It took a long time for him to come to terms with his dad not being here.”
Joseph’s gaze softened. “What about you?”
“I still have moments when grief sneaks up on me, but those times are becoming less frequent. I don’t know what I would have done without Nate. When I couldn’t work because of my injuries, he went to school and had three part-time jobs. It gave us enough money to buy groceries and pay most of our bills.”
“What about your family? Were they able to help?”
“I don’t have any family. My mom died before I got married, and I never knew my dad. Chris’ dad did what he could, but he lived on the other side of the country.” Shona saw the compassion in his eyes. “I was lucky. I had great friends.”
“When my wife left, I couldn’t understand why. I thought we had a good marriage, but I had no idea what was happening in her life. Or Adele’s.” Joseph put the last of the plates into the dishwasher. “Hillary wanted to find herself. That meant leaving Adele with me. When she went overseas, she met someone else. She married him after our divorce was finalized and made her home in Australia.”
Shona’s eyes widened. “She didn’t want Adele to live with her?”
“No. Looking back now, it was the best thing that could have happened. I was so involved in work that I never made time for my wife or Adele. It wasn’t until we were working out our divorce settlement that things got messy.”
“Even the most amicable divorces can become a minefield.”
Joseph looked through the window. “She threatened to take Adele to Australia if I didn’t give her what she wanted. Using Adele as a bargaining chip wasn’t going to happen, so I signed the divorce settlement and moved to Sapphire Bay.”
He looked so sad that Shona placed her hand on his arm. “Adele’s happy and you’ve made a wonderful life here. All you can do is look forward.”
“It took a long time to realize that.”
They both turned around at the sound of footsteps on the wooden floors.
Nate and Adele were holding the rest of the dinner dishes.
Adele placed hers straight into the dishwasher. “Nate and I want to help make dessert.”
Joseph smiled. “Were we taking too long?”
“Only a little bit.”
Shona sighed at the tender way Joseph looked at his daughter. It was clear he loved Adele with a strength that would withstand anything life threw at it. Including celebrating birthdays he’d sooner forget.
She opened a cupboard and smiled at Adele. “In that case, you can scoop the ice cream into these bowls. The candy sprinkles, chocolate sauce, and chopped nuts are in the pantry behind you, Nate.”
