“How can I ever thank you,” Audrey began, choking up.
“No. I mean it. Don’t. This is a happy house. I told you that when you moved in, and it’s certainly not going to change now that you’re moving out. I have adored having you. I will be rooting for you all the way. You’re certainly welcome to call and come visit. In fact, I’ll be hurt if you don’t. But it’s time to push you out of the nest, my dear. On with your life. I’m very wise about these things, you know? And I’m always right. You’re ready.”
Audrey stood up, nodded and worked hard not to cry.
“I didn’t think anyone in the world would have given me another chance, except you—”
“No. I mean it. Don’t. If you want to pay me back, you find someone else to help get back on their feet. That’s the thanks I’m interested in.”
“All right. I will,” she promised, looking around longingly at the pretty iron bed with the pink flowery quilt, the lace curtains, tiny sitting area and a kitchenette the size of a broom closet. Her sanctuary in her time of need. “I’m going to miss this place, too. So much.”
Marion beamed at her. “You’re ready to go, my dear. And you never told me. What did you think of Simon?”
“Well, he’s not sixty and balding.”
Marion whole body shook because she laughed so hard. “How in the world did you get the impression Simon Collier was sixty and balding?”
“I don’t know. I mean, you talked about how successful he is and that the man is rich. I just assumed he wasn’t…’.
Ridiculously attractive ?
Audrey hoped she wasn’t blushing just thinking about it.
Honestly.
“How old is he?” she asked, because it was the first question that occurred to her, and she didn’t want to even talk about how good the man looked.
“I don’t know. I’ve known him forever. Since he was practically a boy.”
“And has he always been so…demanding?”
“Yes.” Marion nodded. “And always known what he wants and how to get it. In business, I mean.”
Audrey felt a little flutter of panic. “Marion, you’re not trying to fix me up with Simon Collier, are you?”
“No. Of course not—”
“Because a man is the last thing I want or need in my life.”
“I know,” Marion said with an odd look in her eyes that made Audrey nervous. “Now, is this all you brought?”
Audrey nodded, picking up the overnight bag and the handle of her rolling suitcase.
When they got outside, Marion shut the door and said, “Don’t look back. Only forward. It’s the only way to get to where you want to go.”
And Audrey was ready to cry again. “I saw Andie today.”
“Really?” She knew how much this meant to Audrey.
Audrey started down the little path that led around the side of the house and to her car out front, with Marion following. “A few blocks from Simon’s. She was furious when I told her I’d be living and working nearby.”
“Well, you knew she’d likely be upset about that. It’s not a surprise, and it’s not a setback. It just proves you were right in thinking if you could be close, you’d run into your daughter. Give it time. You’ll wear her down.”
“Oh, I hope so. I don’t know what else to do.”
Marion rolled her eyes, then grinned. “She’s a teenage girl. They change their minds every thirty seconds, and they find drama in the smallest of things.”
“It was no small thing that I did.”
“I know, but you’re still her mother. A girl her age needs her mother, and it’s never too soon to learn how important forgiveness is,” Marion insisted. “I’m right about this. And I’m right about you, too. Try to believe me, if you can’t believe in yourself just yet.”
“I will,” Audrey promised.
She got to the car, hefted the suitcase into the backseat, then the shoulder bag. Her cell phone rang.
“It’s Richard.” Audrey made a face when she saw the number.
“Don’t let him bully you. The man is certainly not blameless in all this.”
Audrey took a breath and answered, “Hello, Richard.”
“What kind of nonsense is this I hear about you moving to Highland Park, Audrey?” He was bellowing, so Marion heard every word, too.
“It’s true. I’ll be living there. I have a job.”
He laughed. “And I can just imagine what you could do to earn your keep in a place like Highland Park.”
Audrey saw red but held her tongue. The conversation wasn’t anything unexpected. Andie didn’t want her there. She wanted Richard to ask her not to come back.
She listened as long as she could stand to, then simply said, “Tell her I’m sorry, but I’m staying.”
Richard called her selfish, irresponsible and a bad mother. He was still yelling when she hung up on him.
Marion stood in front of her, looking sad and angry and yet calm as could be. Put Marion in the midst of the worst of emotional storms, and she’d look just like this, as if she was saying to you, Okay, let’s think about how you can handle this without doing anything stupid.
“You heard him. Andie begged him to tell me to go away.”
Marion nodded, wise and confident in a way Audrey thought she could never, ever be again, if she ever had been that sure of herself in her life.
“The surprise is that Richard actually took the time to listen to her and then did what she asked,” she told Marion.
“I was thinking the same thing myself,” Marion said, putting a hand over Audrey’s and holding on to her. “And I’ll tell you a little secret, just because it might make you feel a bit better. If you ever wanted him to, Simon could crush your ex-husband with his little pinkie. Businesswise, I mean. If the urge to have Richard destroyed just happened to overtake you and couldn’t be resisted.”
Audrey laughed, liking the idea of anyone being able to crush Richard.
“If our daughter wasn’t headed to college in a year and a half, I’d consider it,” Audrey said, trying to hang on to her resolve to do this. “What do I do now?”
“You trust yourself, Audrey. Trust that you know what you’re doing, what’s important to you. Your daughter. And that you’re working to make things right with her.”
Audrey leaned down and hugged Marion. “How did you get to be so smart?”
“I made a ton of spectacular mistakes of my own. The trick is learning from them, which you’ve done.” Marion let her go, giving her a big grin. “Now, go get your daughter back.”
Audrey found Simon Collier’s house quiet and dark as she pulled into the driveway and parked at the bottom of the steps that led to her quarters. She was unloading the first box when the front door opened. Ms. Bee looked out, and Tink barked like crazy.
“Early, I see,” Ms. Bee said, as if she were both surprised and, possibly, actually pleased by that particular trait—someone arriving early for work.
“You can let the dog out. I’ll take charge of him now,” Audrey told her.
In two seconds flat, Tink shot out the door and across the