“Mom!” Colby set her hands on her hips. “Don’t start in on Gentry.”
Gentry may have been in need of guidance, but she was basically good-hearted, if still a bit juvenile and self-centered. And honestly, Colby’s mother had made a habit of trying just about everything once. If she hadn’t tried pot yet, it was only a matter of time before she wandered into a legal dispensary. Perhaps even with her new poet friend.
“Sorry.” Her mother had the grace to blush.
“Hello!” Alec’s voice beckoned from the side of the house, surprising them both as he rounded the corner carrying a small box. “I saw your car in the driveway, but no one answered the doorbell.”
He’d made good on his promise from last night. She hadn’t been able to count on Mark to follow through with something as important as his therapy, let alone little things like this. Alec nodded at Colby, and a swell of gratitude and temptation cracked that fortress around her heart. How long had it been since anyone had done her a small kindness without expecting something in return?
“Alec.” Her mom wiped her hands on her jeans and started toward him with open arms. “My, my! Such a handsome young man. Come give me a hug.”
He did look handsome. Dark jeans, a crisp white shirt, his floppy bangs playfully dangling above his eyes. The late-afternoon sun bathed him in a movie star–quality glow. Colby gave herself a mental smackdown for that dippy reverie.
“Not so young, Leslie. But thanks.” Alec gave in to her embrace. “You look wonderful, too.”
“Thank you, dear.” Her mom smoothed her hair, preening. “What brings you by?”
“I’m having dinner with my mom, so I thought I’d drop off a few extra pear croustades.” He smiled broadly before winking at Colby. “I remembered how much you always liked them.”
Colby’s reluctant heart skipped another beat in response to his thoughtfulness and soft spot for her mom. Then again, maybe he just wanted to secure his job. The sad fact that she couldn’t trust his intentions skimmed plaster over those cracks Alec had just opened.
Her mother’s hands waved excitedly before she took the box and opened it. “Oh, thank you! This calls for coffee.”
Coffee, of course. Never tea. Her mother never drank tea anymore.
“Shouldn’t we finish this fence first? The rabbits, remember?” Colby guzzled her last bit of water, belatedly realizing that she must look frightful in her grubby jeans, gray T-shirt, and sweaty ponytail.
“Let’s finish tomorrow. Give my fingers a chance to recover.” Her mom wiggled the fingers of her one free hand.
“Looks like quite a project. I didn’t know you gardened, Leslie.” Alec’s gaze wandered from the garden to Colby’s mom. “I’m impressed.”
“You come grab fresh ingredients whenever you need them.” Her mother cast a proud grin his way and touched his shoulder like a practiced flirt. Colby itched with discomfort at her mom’s behavior, given that her own sexual impulses had gone into hibernation until yesterday. “Can you stay for coffee?”
“Thanks, but no. My mom’s waiting on me.”
“Another time, then.” Her mom patted Alec’s cheek. “We have to catch up, especially now that you’ll be working with Colby. I still can’t believe it. After all those years you practiced your cooking on us, and now you two are running a restaurant.”
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to do what I love.” A wistful expression passed over his face. “And who could ask for a better boss?”
“We’ll see if you’re still saying that in a month,” Colby teased, grateful that he acknowledged that she was, in fact, his boss, not his partner. Although, in a parallel universe, she could imagine a partnership with him being satisfying.
Alec’s heart had taken a lot of beatings thanks to his dad’s antagonism, but apparently his rib cage had absorbed the blows without puncturing the resilient little muscle. Alec might not be considered a tough man by other people’s standards, but those folks weren’t using the right measure.
“I need to run, but it’s nice to see you again.” Alec shoved his now-empty hands in his pockets, like always. His nervous tell.
“Say hello to your mom from me.” Her mom turned uncharacteristically serious. “She’s over the moon to have you back home.”
A hush settled over the yard as Joe’s ghost floated among them, right where they’d all played so often. She could almost hear the giggles and shrieks coming back to life as nostalgia grabbed hold. Now her mother, Alec, and she stood there waiting for something, or some words, that never came.
“See you tomorrow.” Alec nodded at Colby and then disappeared around the corner.
“Let’s eat these fresh tarts now.” Her mom waved her over. “Alec looks much better than I remember. Such a gangly teen, and then so gaunt after Joe died. Guess I never paid enough attention to that one.”
Neither did I, Colby absently thought, glancing over her shoulder toward the Morgans’ house.
“That was excellent, Mom.” Alec loaded his dish into the dishwasher. “Nice and tender.”
“I learned from the best,” she said, teasing him.
He smiled and slung his arm over her shoulder. Her brown hair had grayed substantially, but her green eyes still sparkled with gold, like his. He also shared her Eastern European square jaw and high cheekbones, her long neck, and her introverted personality.
If Joe had been his father’s favorite, then Alec had been his mother’s. Thank God, because he’d needed someone on his side. Someone who’d encouraged his passion rather than disparaged it. His desire for his family to heal was complicated by his dad’s disposition, but Alec could swallow his pride—act more like Joe to make his father happier—if it’d save his family. He owed that much to his mom, anyway.
“My best student.” He crossed his arms. “And my best teacher.”
She sighed. “You look happy. Things must be going well with Colby.”
Colby. Even muddied and sweaty from working in her mother’s garden, she’d looked sweeter than his croustades.
Her grateful expression tonight had made him feel better than when he’d won his James Beard Award. As far as amends went, his tiny gesture with her mom wasn’t much. It would take hundreds of those efforts, but eventually the cumulative effect would make Colby’s life better.
Sadly, nothing could make up for everything his silence had stolen from her.
“So far, so good.” He sat at the kitchen table where he’d grown up, and stretched out his legs. He’d left here at eighteen, still such a boy. Life since then had hardened him into a man. “Leslie asked me to say hello, by the way.”