Page 116 of Finding Home

“That’s good.” Her mom smiled with approval. “I’ve been seeing someone for the last twelve years.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I had…well, I have a lot of work to do. It’s hard, but it’s good.”

“I’d like to get a few months under my belt first, but would you be open to us finding a therapist to see together? Someone to help us work through things. Today has been a start, but we have so much work to do.”

“Of course.” Tears welled in her mom’s eyes.

A silent beat passed, allowing them to breathe in the moment of first steps. Of new beginnings. They would never be what they were, but they could be something new. Something better.

“What about Clayton?” Her mom’s quick change of subject was dizzying.

Elle’s forehead furrowed. “What about Clayton?”

“Perry’s a small town. I heard the talk about the two of you and saw you together. My track record with romance may be less than desirable, but I can spot two people deeply in love with one another. I had a front row seat to your aunt and uncle, after all. That man loves you and I think you love him too.”A teasing quirk of a smile lifted her mom’s lips.

“So, you’ve been readingSense and Sensibility?” Elle blurted, trying to change the topic. It was too painful to talk about Clayton and even more strange to talk about him with her mom.

“You still do that.” She wagged knowing brows at Elle.

“What?”

“Change the topic when you don’t want to talk about something. You’ve done that since you were a little girl.”

Elle sipped her tea.

Shaking her head, she answered the question about the Austen book. “Yes, I have read it many times. I found your copy after you left. It was the last book I remember seeing you read. I guess I thought if I read it, I’d feel like you were there. I don’t know. Then the story resonated with me. Elinor was so strong, brave, and lovely. She took care of everyone, not asking for anything for herself and languishing in sorrow until she got her happy ending.”

“A wedding?” Elle smirked.

Mom just rolled her eyes. “Then there was flighty Marianne with no care for anyone but herself, chasing love without thinking of the consequences until she finally learned her lesson and got her happy ending.”

“Another marriage.”

“Smartbutt,” her mom chided with a chuckle.

Elle laughed in reply.

“Yes, to Colonel Brandon. Marianne and Elinor were sisters, but I saw us in them. You in Elinor, of course and me in Marianne. It shouldn’t have been that way, but it was.” Her mom’s apologetic voice was soft.

Elle shifted in her seat. She had the same thought when she and Clayton had snuggled on the couch in his mancave watching the film version of the book. The parallels between the Dashwood Sisters' relationship and she and her mother were a little startling. Elle the Elinor taking care of their broken family and Mom the Marianne swayed by her fanciful desires.

“Maybe Daniel is your Colonel Brandon.” Elle bit her lower lip, thinking of the unassuming but dragon slaying soldier turned chaplain. His quiet patience and steadfast love for her mom was so similar to Colonel Brandon’s for Marianne.

“Maybe.” Her mom sighed, then pursed her lips.

“What?” Elle coaxed.

“Maybe Clayton is your Mr. Ferris.” Then she paused, squinting her eyes. “Or, perhaps, your Mr. Darcy.”

If someone had told Elle even three hours ago, that she’d be sitting in her condo overlooking the Pacific, drinking tea and talking to her mom about Jane Austen, she wouldn’t have believed it.

They sat for several more hours, each taking those first steps on the new path they would traverse together toward healing and forgiveness. Elle’s walled-off heart poking through the new gaps in the crumbling wall.

The relationship with Clayton had started dismantling Elle’s wall, brick by brick. Not just allowing those Elle loved in but herself out. The work would be hard, but she’d continue, allowing her to build a new relationship with her mom and with herself.

Placing her teacup down, her gaze fixed on her mom. “Mom, call me Elle. That’s what my friends call me.”

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