Page 56 of In this Moment

Right. He had said he would do that. “No better time than the present.” He shrugged and dialed his mom’s cell phone number.

She picked up on the first ring, and after a few minutes of chatter, they secured a breakfast date for twenty minutes later at Dream Puff’s. That way Declan could take care of two things at once and everyone would be happy.

Perfect.

It was a short walk from Evie’s house, so Declan showed up to Dream Puff’s right as his mother pulled up out front. “You look great, Mom. The lake is agreeing withyou.”

“Not you too.” She pulled out of the hug and gave him a light slap on the shoulder. “You boys are sure hell-bent on getting me to admit I like thelake.”

“Well,” he held the door for her and they walked in, “are you going to admit it ornot?”

His mom shot him a look, but only said, “I’ll have a coffee and an apple Danish.”

Declan looked at her in horror. “A Danish?”

“Everyone thinks the cinnamon buns are where it’s at.” She smiled. “But the real secret is in the Danish.” She glanced at Suzy, who watched and waited for them to make up their mind. “Am I right?”

Suzy laughed. “You know I’m going to agree with you, Maureen. The apple Danishes have always been my favorite. I’m not sure how the cinnamon buns caught on before they did.” The other woman was plating up a Danish as they spoke, which she handed across to Declan’s mother.

“I’m going to have to try this.” He paid for their purchases. “But it will have to be pretty awesome to sway me from thebuns.”

They made their way to a table in the corner and sat down. His mom immediately dug into her Danish and before she could eat it all, Declan held out his hand for a piece.

“It is good,” he had to agree. “But I don’tknow…”

“You stick with your cinnamon bun, son.” Maureen finished off the rest of her pastry and licked her fingers. “More for me.” She laughed and patted her flat stomach. “Not that I need them. Too many of Suzy’s delicious goodies will be the death ofme.”

“Don’t even talk like that. Besides, you look amazing. You alwayshave.”

“Thank you.” She raised her coffee mug. “You always were my favorite.” She took a sip of her drink and set it down carefully before she looked at Declan. “I suppose you were told to speak with me,” she said, getting straight to the point. Declan always did like that about his mom. Straightforward and to the point. She never had time for fooling around or playing games. “Well, I’ll save you the time. I’m not interestedin—”

“Mom.” Declan held out a hand to stop her. “Before you say no to the condo, I want you to consider all the facts. I know that Cedar Springs has some bad memories for you but things have changed now.” She opened her mouth to speak, but Declan quickly continued. “Ian and Gwen are here, as well as Mitch and Jade. And they’re going to have a baby. Your grandchild, Mom. Your first grandchild. You’ll want to be close to the baby, Mom. I mean…a baby. And one you don’t have to take care of. You only get to spoil it rotten.” She smiled and shook her head. “Not to mention that it looks like Cal and Milena will be here for a while and how great is that? To have everyone together and get to know these new women in your sons’ lives.”

“Don’t forget you and Evie.” She tilted her head and gave him a look that, if he didn’t know better, meant she knew his relationship with Evie was full ofshit.

“Right,” he said quickly. “And us. See? There are so many reasons for you to be in Cedar Springs again. Plus.” He gestured to the empty plate in front of her. “There are Danishes. And you could have one every day. Or…” he spoke before she could object, “every second day. You know, to protect your girlish figure andall.”

That put her over the edge. Maureen dropped her head in her hands and started to laugh. “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about? The condo?”

“Of course.” Declan shrugged. Was there anything else? “Cal told me you weren’t committing to anything and he needed an answer for Milena. Besides, what were you just about to object to? What did you think I was talking about?”

Maureen waved her hand and shook her head. “I thought you were going to try to convince me to get that lake view condo Milena had saved for me. And I told both her and Cal, I don’t want a lake view. I want a mountain view but they just won’t listen to me. You’re right, Declan, there are a lot of good reasons for me to be back in Cedar Springs, but all of those reasons do not erase all of the bad memories that I have fromhere.”

“I know.” He nodded solemnly. “But you must have more good thanbad.”

“Of course I do.” She looked at him as if he were crazy. “I always have. You forget that I’ve been coming out to the lake here since I was a child. Long before your father did his best to ruin this place for me, I had my own love affair with the lake. That will never goaway.”

“Good.”

“And I’ve already decided to sell my house in the city and move out here. After all, it’s time I retire and I have some savings set aside. Besides, maybe I could help Ian out with the marina, or Jade and Mitch when the baby comes. Jade seems so set in returning to work, but I have a feeling that she won’t know what hit her the second she holds that little bundle in herarms.”

Declan laughed and picked up his mug. He completely agreed with that. Jade was a tough cookie on the outside, but she was going to absolutely melt when her baby wasborn.

“I’m going to take a mountain view condo and that’s that,” his mother said with authority. “And now that all of that is settled, let’s talk about what I really want to talk about.”

“What’s that?” He took another bite of cinnamon bun and promptly choked on it when his mother spoke again.

“Why you’re pretending to be engaged to a woman you’re obviously in lovewith.”

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