Page 20 of The Glass Dolphin

“Come on,” she said. “I know you’re dating Mandie, and you’ve given menothing.”

Ginny too looked at Charlie, her eyebrows up. He glared at her. “Why don’t you go first, Ginny? You’ve got news.”

Alice’s eyes nearly fell out of her head she looked at Ginny so fast. “News? Ginny?” She’d dated a nice boy here in the cove, but they’d broken up when she’d left for school.

Ginny rolled her eyes now. “It’s notnews. This boy at the coffee shop asked me out, and I said yes. We’ve been out a few times.” She shrugged like this was un-newsworthy, but Alice disagreed.

“First,” she said delicately. “He’s probably not a boy. He’s an adult, right?”

Ginny blinked, like this was the first time she’d considered that. “Yeah,” she said.

“Then he’s a man,” Alice said.

“Gross,” Ginny said, volleying her gaze from Alice to AJ to Arthur. “I’m not dating a…man.”

“I thought you didn’t call it dating,” Alice said innocently. She put another bit of roll on Asher’s tray, because he shredded everything before it went into his mouth. She grinned over to Ginny, who still seemed to be catching on that she was, indeed, dating a man.

“They’ve been out more than a few times,” Charlie said. “Just sayin’.”

“Charles,” Ginny barked. “Why don’t you tell Mom about how you and Mandie are talking about getting married?”

The air left Alice’s lungs. She didn’t even have enough to sputter a single word. Matt started to chuckle, which so didn’t help the panic parading through her. He looked over to Alice, his laughter growing in volume and intensity.

“Ah, raising young adults,” he said through the laughter. “It’s so much fun.”

That was the opposite of the truth, but Alice caught the sarcasm in his tone. She finally thawed enough to say, “Is that true, Charlie?”

“We’ve talked about it once,” he said, shooting lasers at his twin. “One time, Mom, and it’s not really going to happen.”

“Ever?” Arthur asked quietly. “Or what timeframe are we talking about?”

Alice appreciated having a level-headed partner in situations like this. She had Mom Lecture 101 ready to go, which would include how Charlie could barely pay his rent and feed himself, and how did he think he and Mandie were going to do that—with no education, no skills, no training, no nothing?

She pressed her lips together and gave her son a chance to answer.

“I’m not sure,” Charlie said slowly. “I’m not going to rule out ever, but I don’t think it’s going to be soon.” He looked from Arthur to Alice. As he reached toward her, Alice tensed. “Okay, Mom? So don’t worry.”

“Charlie, I am your mother,” she said. “I’ve been worrying about you since the moment you were born.” She gave him a small smile and let herself get distracted by Asher’s squawking demand for more bread. When she focused on her children again, an overwhelming sense of love filled her.

“I love you two,” she said, her voice turning somewhat misty. “You’re adults. I’ve done the best I can with you—and I will keep doing the best I can.” Her lungs shook as she filled them with another round of air. “I trust you, and I know you’ll do what’s right for you.”

Charlie’s jaw jumped, but he nodded. That was a decently emotional reaction for him. Ginny smiled and nodded and even said, “Thanks, Mom.” She took another bite of turkey, chewed, and swallowed, the smile dropping from her face.

“Oh, my goodness,” she blurted out. “I’mdatingaman.”

Only a heartbeat of silence passed, and then everyone in the room—except Ginny—burst out laughing, Alice included.

ChapterNine

Clara Tanner switched off the television, though everyone she’d invited for Day-After-Christmas dinner was watching it. “Come on,” she said. “I’ve called everyone to dinner three times now, and I’m sick of being ignored.”

Her husband got to his feet first, followed by her brother. Reuben joined her in the kitchen and said, “This whole thing with The Glass Dolphin is wild, isn’t it?”

Clara shot a look at him, then over to her mother. “Don’t say anything about it to Mom, okay?”

Reuben looked over to her too, and Clara watched as she put her hand in Theo’s and then stood. She’d been dating him for six or seven months now, and they sure seemed to like each other. Clara wasn’t sure how she felt about her mom dating again. It felt surreal almost, like discovering a forgotten door in a well-known house, one that led to a room she never knew existed.

She’d had to get to know her mother and her brother all over again after sequestering herself and her family in Vermont for the past two decades. It still boggled Clara’s mind that when everything had fallen apart, neither of them had fired questions at her. Neither had turned her, Lena, or Scott away. Neither had whispered about her behind her back.

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