Page 57 of The Summer Swap

They ordered fish and shared a bottle of chilled white wine.

“My mother called this morning.”

“She did?” He raised his glass in a silent toast. “What did she say?”

“That she’d been worrying about me. Us.”

Theo put his glass down. “Your mother said that?”

“Yes. She’d heard about Michael. I don’t know how. Maybe she read something. She wanted to check that you and I were okay. And she apologized for leaving the party without telling me.”

“Did she realize how worried you were?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t think she was giving any thought to me or anyone else on that particular day. Something happened.” She frowned. “She said there was something she urgently needed to do.”

“She didn’t tell you what?”

“No. She said she’d explain everything when she next saw me. And she apologized for being difficult and thanked me for working so hard on the party. She sounded—different.”

And she still didn’t understand it. Something seemed to have changed, but she couldn’t identify what exactly.

Theo picked up his wineglass again. “The important thing is that you had a good conversation. We should drink to that.”

Kristen didn’t raise her glass. She was thinking about her mother. It had been a good conversation. It had lacked the tension that punctuated most of their exchanges. Her mother had seemed softer, more receptive. Vulnerable. She’d asked about Kristen. Seemed concerned about Kristen, to the point that Kristen had almost blurted out how awful she’d been feeling, how lonely she’d felt and what a mess her life was. The urge to confide had been all the more unsettling because she didn’t have those sorts of conversations with her mother.

She’d held herself back and instead they’d talked about Michael, and also Theo.

“She asked a lot about you.” Kristen finally picked up her glass. “She wanted to know how you were.” And now she thought about it, her mother had asked a lot of questions about Theo. Whether he was working a lot. How Kristen was handling that.

It was as if she’d somehow guessed Kristen was having problems in her relationship, but how? Kristen had said nothing.

Theo was watching her. “Did she say where she was?”

“She is staying on the Cape.”

“Why the Cape?”

“I have no idea.” But something flickered in her brain. A long-ago memory. “When Winston and I were young, our parents used to sometimes disappear to the Cape for the weekend to paint. Granny used to come and look after us.”

“Where did they stay?”

“I don’t know. I was young. I didn’t ask. And then I think they stopped going.”

Theo took a sip of wine. “This thing she needed to do so urgently—is it to do with your father, do you think? A trip down memory lane?”

“I don’t know. I assume she’ll tell me if she wants me to know. But I was glad she called.”

“Yes. It’s important to stay in touch with family. Make the most of every day.” Sadness crossed his face and she knew he was thinking about Michael, so she changed the subject quickly.

She told him about an art dealer in Paris who was flying in to discuss one of her father’s works and the private collector who continued to contact her about a painting of her father’s even though she had informed him on numerous occasions that particular work he wanted had been gifted to a grateful nation on her father’s death, and was currently hanging in a major gallery being enjoyed by millions.

It occurred to her as she talked that even though her father was gone, he still occupied most of her life. What did that say about her? She needed to change something. She needed to shake things up. But in the meantime, this was all she had.

She was partway through a story about a postdoctoral student who had contacted her about a research project when she realized she’d lost her audience.

“Theo?”

He blinked, bemused, as if he’d forgotten she was there. “Sorry. You were saying something about Paris.”

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