Page 25 of Wishing for Love

“I didn’t have the life you did,” she said. “And I do talk about my siblings.”

“True,” he said. “But never your parents.”

She decided to have a cup of tea over coffee and went and put a tea bag in a cup and under the one-cup maker for the hot water.

“Not much to say. I came from working poor. Not even middle class. Everyone went to college but Landon. He busts his butt as a grocery store manager. Makes good money, but I’m not sure money is everything.”

“No,” he said. “It’s not, but it helps to have it.”

“Trust me,” she said. “I know. My siblings, I’d say they are mostly living the middle class dream or life. Good for them. Taylor probably got it the best, but she still works. She had it bad for years.”

“What happened?” he asked. “If you don’t mind sharing. You seem to be the closest to her and it sounds like she’s got a great husband and life.”

“She had a baby in her mid twenties or so. I don’t remember her age exactly. She met this guy. He had a privileged life, but she liked him a lot. The pregnancy was an accident and he didn’t want any part of it. He moved back to New York and had to pay support.”

“Asshole,” he said. “He didn’t want to see his kid? I’m assuming that is Angie, the niece you’ve talked about?”

“Yes. But his parents had the money and they wanted their grandchild. Since Jack’s parents were pretty much supporting his lifestyle, they forced his hand to file for custody.”

“Damn,” he said.

“Taylor didn’t have the money to fight and moved to New York so that Jack could see his daughter. Which of course he didn’t want anyway. It was more for the grandparents.”

“At least someone wanted to see her,” he said. “I’m sure it was stressful, but a child should get as much love as they can from people.”

She thought that was the sweetest thing ever. “You make a good point. And since Taylor ended up marrying her boss, Angie gets lots of love and now has two younger siblings. She has a whole new family in her life because Reed’s family is awesome.And she still has Jack’s parents. Last I heard, Jack rarely sees his daughter. He normally gets her and drops her off at the grandparents for them to have the time with her.”

“You can’t force people to be a parent,” he said.

Crystal looked over to the side and saw that Elsie was watching some TV show. She promised the little girl they’d do a ton of arts and crafts tomorrow while Phoenix worked from home. But today she needed some time to cook and have dinner on the table.

She wanted to make it special for the first holiday without Maryn. Phoenix had said he spent most holidays with Elsie and Maryn anyway if he couldn’t get home.

“No,” she said. “Can I ask what kind of mother Maryn was? Just so I know. Maybe there are things I should be doing more of. I mean I don’t want to replace her, but if I can help any.”

“That’s nice of you to think that way. Maryn was great. She was strict but fun. She worked a lot and at times would take Elsie with her if she had to get a house set up. Elsie would play on a tablet or color.”

“Elsie went to house showings with strangers?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “Just if Maryn was setting the house up for someone else to come. It wasn’t often, but it happened. I had Elsie a lot too. Not in my company building. It’s not always safe and I felt bad having her stuck in my office. But at night I’d be working from home and would entertain her here. She had her own room but nothing like it looks now.”

She grinned. “It wasn’t pink?”

“Oh, it was pink, but not full of that many toys. There are things still at Maryn’s house. I’ve got to get over there and clean it out so I can put it up for sale. It’s just finding the time.”

“And maybe letting go of it is hard?” she asked.

“You have no idea. I’ll have to bring Elsie there to get anything she wants, but thoughts for another day. I forgot to tellyou I’ve got counseling set up for Elsie starting next week. I had to wait to get in.”

“That’s good,” she said. “I was going to suggest it anyway, but she seems pretty good. She has moments where she gets upset. I tell her to talk it through, that it’s okay to cry. I ask her questions about her mother and she seems happy to talk about her at the same time she’s upset. I hope that is okay.”

“It is,” he said. “I should talk about her more too. I need to keep Maryn’s memory alive.”

“But it’s hard for you too,” she said. She reached her hand over and laid it on his. The heat sent tingles up her arm and down to her belly again. Maybe it was a test of sorts, but she just wanted to offer comfort.

“It is,” he said. He turned his hand and covered hers for a second. Probably a test for him too. “But it helps to have you here and give me a reminder.”

“Maybe a distraction too,” she said softly.

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