Page 36 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
He hung his head. “You sound like Lucy.”
A soft chuckle reached his ears. “She’s always been a smart one. You might be a doctor, Andy, but you’re not God.”
“More’s the pity,” he mumbled. And because he was sure she was going to sock him for being irreverent, he added, “Think of all the people I could help on a daily basis if I were.”
“Oh, honey,” she said in that aggrieved tone herecognized from his childhood. “What do you think you do every day at the hospital?”
He didn’t have a response to that. Since Kim’s death, he’d questioned everything, including his purpose as a doctor. His mother and Lucy were right about him. In one very dark moment in the middle of a long, sleepless night, he’d asked himself: What kind of doctor couldn’t save his own wife from dying of cancer?
Fortunately, between his hours at the hospital and his responsibilities as a single father, he’d had little time to sit with that question. But this business with his mom’s health scare and Lucy’s eye… He was being faced with his own helplessness all over again.
“I’m glad you’re doing the calendar, Mom,” he said, reaching for his beer. “I’m all for anything that’s going to help raise money and awareness for breast cancer.”
“Would you be willing to be featured as one of the twelve?” she asked.
He gasped in horror. “Good God, no.”
“I was only teasing.” She laughed with gusto. “We needed to lighten up. I’m looking forward to being Miss April, by the way.”
“Not April,” he said, groaning. “Even I know you were called Miss April in high school.”
“College too, dear,” she added. “I was quite a beauty in my day.”
“You still are,” he said, leaning over and kissing her cheek. “Don’t let Dad spoil that.”
“I won’t. That Icanpromise you.”
They both reached for their drinks again and sipped in silence. Through the curtains in the kitchen, Andy took in the orange and pink hues of sunset. Fall was creeping intoDare Valley. Soon the snow would come, but for now, the leaves were starting to turn, resembling the sunset outside.
“I’m glad we both moved back to Dare Valley,” he said.
“Me too.” She let go of his hand, and he realized his chest wasn’t as tight.
“I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, honey,” she answered, draining her wine. “Since we’re on the subject of things I’m willing to share, would you kindly let your siblings know that I plan to start dating again? I feel a sufficient amount of time has passed since the divorce was finalized, and I’ve sorted out who I am and who I want to be.”
His mother was planning on dating again? He supposed he should have expected it. She was still young and beautiful and had a lot to give.
“Maybe I’ll see you out there,” she added, jostling his shoulder.
It took him a moment to realize what she meant. “Mom. Really. I’m still easing my way into it. I don’t?—”
“I know you don’t,” she finished for him. “But Kim would want you to.”
That meant his mom didn’t know about the letter Kim had sent him. He’d assumed Natalie wouldn’t share the information with anyone but Blake, but he’d never had the guts to ask her outright.
“I know Kim would, but I have to be the one who wants to date again. Despite the agreement I made with Natalie.”
“That was smart of you,” she said with a slow shake of her head. “Those two belong together.” A pause hung between them, and then his mother said, “Speaking of the calendar, Lucy’s mother and I are worried about her. Has she told you the real reason why she’s back? She toldher dad a few vague things about healing from an attack on a village, but that’s all we know.”
So Lucy had opted for a highly censored version of the real story. He considered his options for a couple moments. “You know I would never keep anything from you, but out of respect for Lucy, anything she might have said to me will remain between us. She’s my best friend, Mom.”
“But she’s Ellen’s daughter and as hard-headed as her father,” his mom said, her mouth suddenly grim.
Personally, Andy didn’t think Lucy had inherited her hard head from Harry, but he wasn’t going to say that to his mother. “I’m not getting into the middle of things.”
“Andy, it’s for her own?—”
