Chapter 14
Amber excused herself, and Kristine was left with Amy and Conlan. “Mom, I need to talk to Jayce’s family.”
“Of course, dear. I imagine you’d want to talk to Jayce too. He’ll be your plus-one, right?”
“That’s just it. I need to invite him, but he’s…um, unavailable right now.” She hoped her mother wouldn’t ask too many questions. Maybe she could distract her by changing the subject—using Amy’s own tactics against her. Hopefully she wouldn’t recognize what Kristine was doing.
“Conlan. So, you’re to be my new stepfather. How do you feel about that?”
“Ah, darlin’. I couldn’t be more pleased. To start a new life with a family I can already be proud of, well, it’s a dream come true. And…” He gazed at Amy. “We hope to have a large family in the years to come. Best to get started early.”
Amy grinned and then shyly gazed at the floor. “We haven’t even talked about where we’ll live yet.”
“I have me business in Northern Ireland. But if you want to be close to your daughter, I can run the management remotely.”
Amy threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “I’m so glad you feel that way. I do want to be close enough to my daughter to spend some time with her. We’re not just mother and daughter. We’re dear friends, and I enjoy her company. I would miss her terribly if we were to move so far away.”
Kristine relaxed. “I’m relieved to hear that also. I would miss you too, Mom.”
“We have a little work to do at home, Kristine. By we, I mean you and I.”
“Really? What’s that?”
“We need to purge and pack.” Amy smiled at her daughter and grasped her hand. “I know there are things that may be special to you that I might not want. And vice versa. Let’s try to pare down as much as we can without throwing away each other’s sentimental items.”
Kristine chuckled. “You’re the one with all the souvenirs. I don’t have much stuff I’m attached to. I could probably pack everything in two boxes.”
Amy’s brows lifted. “Are you telling me that you might move too? I know the place is expensive, but I think your salary should be enough. If not, I can supplement…”
Kristine hadn’t really thought it through and needed time to talk to Jayce. “I don’t know. I have so many things to figure out.”
“Do you think Jayce might consider moving to New York with you?”
Kristine sighed deeply. “He really can’t. He has family obligations here, he says.” She didn’t know exactly what he meant by that, which was one more reason she wanted to talk to the Fierros.
“Well, how do you feel about moving this way?” Amy asked.
Kristine sighed. “I really need to talk to the Fierros. Only one problem: I don’t know where they live.”
“Well, we can fix that.” Amy opened her purse and extracted her cell phone. She typed for a few seconds, and then her eyes widened. “Oh dear, I’m afraid there are quite a few Fierros in the Boston phone book.”
Kristine laughed. “I could have told you that. Jayce has six brothers, and as far as I know, only one of them lives far away. He also said something about uncles and cousins in the area who are also firefighters. I could probably walk into any fire station and yell ‘Fierro,’ and somebody would answer.”
Amy gasped. “Don’t do that! Don’t you know thatFierromeans ‘fire’ in Italian?”
Kristine’s jaw dropped. “Oh!” Then she giggled. “Yeah, no. That may not be a good idea, especially since Boston has a large Italian population. So, how will I find him?”
“Amber might know.”
“Of course. She must, and she can probably take me there in the blink of an eye.”
Amber rounded the corner and said, “Did I hear my name?”
“Yes, dear,” Amy said. “Kristine needs to find Jayce’s parents’ home. And none of us knows where it is.”
Amber tipped her head. “I’m afraid I don’t know either. I’ve never been there.”
“Please don’t trouble yourself,” Kristine said. “I’ll find them.”
