Page 39 of The Wish List
He seemed so gentle, and she knew without a doubt that instead of taking advantage, he would protect her. Except Freya didn’t need protecting. Trinity needed protecting. Beth probably needed protecting from herself because she was undoubtedly still doing her routine of taking on the whole world like it was her responsibility.
What Freya needed was an excuse to let go.
Not the fake explosions that happened with the camera rolling but really feeling free. Greer made her feel free.
They stood together for several seconds as if they were caught up in the swirling connection looping between them. It made her heart happy that he seemed just as reluctant to let go as she was.
She heard the sound of Trinity singing as she came down the stairs. A moment later, the heat of Greer was gone as if it had never been there. Freya shouldn’t miss it as much as she did, but he’d managed to move a few feet away at lightning speed.
“Are we filming a lingerie ad in the construction zone and no one bothered to mention it to me?” her sister asked as she took in Freya, who was now standing by herself on one side of the two-by-four. “Because I have to tell you, the look is weirdly empowering.”
Greer chuckled. “Your mom would be so proud,” he told Freya.
She gave him an enthusiastic one-fingered salute.
“My mom has never been proud of me.”
“We’ve been over this,” he said with the patience she’d come to expect from him. “She’s proud of all three of you.”
Freya stared at him, unsure of how to answer, wanting to believe him with every fiber of her being.
“She likes to touch my stomach,” Trinity said into the silence.
Freya stared at her sister. “Mom does?”
“Yeah. Every time I’m alone in her room, she has me climb up in bed with her and puts her hands on my stomach until the baby kicks. I haven’t had the heart to tell her I’m having a boy.”
“You think that’s going to upset her?” Greer frowned. “Your mom loves the twins.”
Trinity’s rosebud mouth opened slightly, and the pucker that marred her forehead smoothed. “She might be happy I’m having a boy. She was never all that interested in her girl children. Maybe a boy grandchild will be different.”
“It will be. Your mom is different from how the three of you describe her. From how she used to be.”
“You’re right,” Trinity said, and Freya had to agree.
Once again, she wasn’t sure how she felt about Greer being so able and willing to point out her mother’s new and improved personality. Perhaps the change wasn’t fully a result of the brain damage from the stroke.
Beth admitted she wasn’t close to Mom despite living in Magnolia. Freya hadn’t given May much of a chance over the past few years. If she’d come to visit or spent longer with her mom on the phone, there was a chance she wouldn’t have so much trouble believing this loving mother persona would last.
“They’re doing a holiday concert at the school this afternoon,” Greer told the two of them. “I wanted to ask if it was okay if I bring your mom to it? I know she’s still weak and it would be a shorter outing, but I thought she might enjoy it. She loves holiday music.”
“Mom loves Christmas songs?” Freya bit back a snort. “You must be joking.”
Greer shook his head. “Come on. That can’t possibly be something new. Does anybody acquire a midlife taste for Mariah Carey and Bing Crosby?”
“I can remember Mom singing ‘White Christmas’ in the kitchen when I was little,” Trinity said with a grin. “Not once the book was published because then she was always doing special events around the holidays but before that. Freya, you remember, right?”
Freya searched her brain. It felt like she’d buried all of the positive memories she had of her mother. It was too easy to focus on the negative and keep her heart hardened. If she overthought the good times, it only made her sad. It made her remember all the things she’d lost after her parents split up and her mom started on her new path.
Their lives hadn’t been perfect before that, but they’d been better than they were after.
“I remember,” she admitted now. “She made thumbprint cookies. That was back when she still liked to cook, or at least pretended she liked to cook. We’d bake cookies, and she’d dance around the kitchen singing at the top of her lungs.”
Greer grimaced. “That must have been horrifying. Your mom has a terrible voice even though she loves to sing.”
Trinity laughed. It might have been the first time since the doctor’s appointment, and it warmed Freya. It warmed her heart toward Greer as well, which was the last thing she needed.
“Freya takes after her. Dogs hide when she starts singing.”
