Page 87 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
“Can I get you anything to drink?” she asked, hoping to soften the rolling tension coming from her mother.
“That would be nice, dear,” April said, giving her an encouraging smile. “How about hot tea? You can feel fall in the air. It’s going to be a cold winter, I think.”
“Yeah,” she said, falling into the weather talk—the last vestige of civility between people who were at odds with each other. “I had to bring out my down jacket for the first time last night.”
“Andy said you two went on a moonlight walk last night after Danny went to sleep,” April said, taking her arm and leading her into the kitchen.
She cast a last look at her mother before she walked through the doorway. She was stiff and sour-faced and radiating anger. Tea wasn’t going to soothe her. She wasn’t willing to be soothed.
“Yes, it was nice of Matt and Jane to come over and stay with Danny,” Lucy continued, grateful to have April there as a buffer.
“Everyone is all too eager to help you and Andy spend more time together,” April said, standing beside her at the counter as Lucy set the old flowery teapot on the stove. “Don’t be shy if you need a night here and there. It can’t be easy sometimes, wanting to be alone with a little boy in the house.”
Lucy fumbled with the tea box, and it shot out of her hands, bouncing along the counter. Oh good Lord, was April really going to bring that topic out into the open?
Andy took his role as a father seriously, and so far, they’d only had one sleepover, courtesy of Natalie and Blake, who had watched Danny for the night. Not wishing to add more talk to the gossip mill, he had come to stay atMerry Cottage, teasing her that he was rather coming to like her princess bed.
“That’s very kind of you,” she told April, taking the box of tea from her when she handed it back with a knowing smile. “We’re all managing the newness of everything.”
April gave her a wink. “Good. Every time I see my son, I can’t believe the change in him. It’s like he’s come alive again.”
Lucy’s heart clutched. She was coming alive too, in a way she hadn’t expected. “He’s a good man. Always has been. We’re lucky to have each other.”
The future was as out of focus as many of her photos, but she could say that much without pause.
April put her arm around her and gave her a loving squeeze. “We’re so happy you’re back, Lucy. All of us.”
She looked over her shoulder, and when she didn’t see her mother, said, “Except her, it seems.”
April also checked to make sure they were alone. “She is, Lucy, truly. You two just butt heads a lot. Being away made that easier. Your mom wouldn’t have asked you to shoot the calendar if she hadn’t wanted to spend quality time with you. But you’ve kept her on the sidelines and that hurt her feelings—something she’d never admit in a million years.”
Crap. April had to go all Oprah on her. “You’re right. We have always butted heads. I was hoping this time we wouldn’t because this calendar…”
She broke off, realizing she had almost admitted how pivotal and important it was to her as well.
“This calendar?” April encouraged, her round face gazing at Lucy with openness and love—rather like her son did when she was feeling vulnerable.
“Well, it means a lot to me too, especially because of Andy.” As a save, it wasn’t bad.
“Then let your mom in a little,” April encouraged, turning the burner off when the teakettle gave a piercing whistle.
“A little?” she asked with a laugh, rubbing the hard ball in her sternum. “Are we talking about the same woman here?”
April laughed too. “If you’re going to stay in Dare Valley—which I very much hope you do—you’re going to have to find a way to meet each other in the middle. Otherwise you’re going to implode and kill each other.”
She wasn’t wrong, and since Lucy wasn’t thinking long-term at the moment, she decided to stick her head in the sand a little longer and just get through today.
“Are you two finished lollygagging around?” her mother asked, walking into the kitchen.
Lucy’s eye twitched. “We were just making tea, Mother.”
“Sounds like you were making a lot more than tea to me,” she said, her mouth carved in a stern line.
“Oh, Ellie,” April chided. “Sit down at that table over there, and let us finish off the tea. We’re going to be civilized here.”
Her mother sat while Lucy poured water carefully into the mugs. It wouldn’t do to miss the cups because of her depth perception issues. Fortunately, she’d learned the trick of putting her finger on the rim of the cup to guide her.
After dunking the tea bags a few times, Lucy brought out the honey and lemon. She set everything on the table, and they all sat down and reached for their mugs. Lucy gulped her orange pekoe and immediately started coughing on the too-hot liquid.
