“Mom’s waiting downstairs for me to sit and have some sweet tea with her. I’m going to go ahead and tell her. I don’t like lying to her, and I’ve been lying to everyone for years—myself included. Maybe she can help break the news to Dad or at least help smooth it out if it looks like it’s going to go wrong.”
“You really think she will accept this—accept us?” He sounded concerned, and I hated that he felt that and doubted himself at all.
“You make me happy, Dean. I love you, and you love me. That’s all she will care about.”
“We are almost to Savannah. Call me when it’s done to let me know how it went.”
“I will.”
We said our goodbyes, and I took a deep breath and headed downstairs to find Mom in the kitchen with two large glasses of sweet tea sitting on the island. “Hey.”
“Hey, honey.”
I forced a smile and took a seat beside her, trying to find the words as I played with the condensation on the side of my glass. “You avoiding the subject is making me nervous, Nora. What’s going on?”
“There’s something I’ve been keeping from you—from everyone—for a long time. I was lying to myself just as much, so please don’t think it was just you I was keeping this from.”
“Heavens, Nora. What is it?” She nervously sipped at her tea.
“I’m in love with someone. I have been for years, and he feels the same way about me that I feel about him.” I swallowed hard and looked at my hands around my glass of untouched tea. “He even went away for four years, trying to get away from what he was feeling. It didn’t work for either of us.”
Mom gasped, and I looked over to see her hand covering her mouth. Tears were in her eyes, and my stomach knotted, waiting for her to say something.
“Oh Nora. You and Dean.” It was more a statement than a question, but I nodded affirmation anyway.
“Yes. I love him, Mom. Coming home, being around him again, it just took the embers of what we felt for each other and ignited them into a wildfire. We’ve both been running from it since we met, but we’re also both tired of running and hiding from it.
“Drew found out last night at the carnival, and we plan to tell Dad tonight. I just didn’t want to lie to you anymore since you caught me texting with him this morning.” I looked back up at her and was surprised to see her softly smiling. “You’re not mad?”
“Mad that you love a good man who will treat you right, no. I kinda always expected there were some feelings underneath that neither of you acknowledged. When you were both in the same room, the atmosphere was charged, whether you knew it or not. You both seemed to avoid each other, but it was how y’all avoided each other that was a giveaway.” She laughed as a tear slid down her cheek. “Although, I had no clue that this is the reason Dean stayed away so long.” She chuckled.
“Does Dad know?” I asked, hopeful that maybe he already had his own suspicions and Dean was completely worried for nothing.
“I never said anything to him because nothing was happening. If I had seen a change while Dean was living here, then I would have said something so he could know. I figured the sparks faded for one or both of you when Dean left, so I never thought about it again until dinner last night.”
I laughed. “Oh my God. Dean has been worried that this would rip our family apart. I told him you and Drew would be okay with it. I think he’s most worried about Dad. Their relationship has been so rocky for so long, and got worse when you and Dad married because he was attracted to me and didn’t know what to do with those feelings.”
“Dean’s a good man. He’s grown a lot over the last few years, and your dad has too. We never stop growing, even when you get to be our age. You will meet people that will change your life in the best and the worst of ways, and those people are the ones who you learn the most from.”
“Be honest, Mom. How do you think Dad is going to take this?”
Mom sat quietly and took another sip of tea as she contemplated my question. “He’ll be shocked and question it at first, but he will come around, mainly because he’ll realize the reason his son is finally coming home is because of his relationship with you.”
She paused a minute. “Wait. What about the girl?”
I sat back and looked at Mom, my confusion must have been evident. “What girl?”
“The one Dean and Drew were talking about at dinner. The girl he’s been writing for a year.”
I laughed and told her what I had been doing for a year, catfishing Dean with mailed letters. “How did Dean take that when you told him it was you?” she asked, laughing at how far I’d gone because of my feelings for him.
“He was relieved, actually. He didn’t have to break some girl’s heart or explain that friendship to me, risking hurting me.”
“I think y’all will be good for each other, honey.”
“I’m glad you think that because there is something else,” I hedged.
“Oh God, what else? You can’t be pregnant already, he just got home.”
