Kevin stilled at the news. “Why?”
“She and I have plans, if you must know,” Mick said, though it wasn’t very convincing.
“You called her about me, didn’t you?” Kevin said flatly. “Dad, why would you do that? Don’t you think I have enough family on my case, as it is? I don’t need Mom chiming in with her two cents. She has no right.”
“Get over yourself,” Mick retorted. “Your mother and I are trying to patch things up. We talk every night. I try to lure her down here every chance I get.”
“Then she’s not developing some sudden need to be the mother that she stopped being over fifteen years ago?” he asked skeptically.
Mick flushed angrily. “She never stopped being your mother,” he told Kevin. “She stopped being my wife. Both of us made some lousy decisions back then, and you kids suffered because of it. That’s my fault as much as hers.”
“You weren’t the one who chose to date while you were still married,” Kevin said just as heatedly.
Mick’s fist came down on the table. “Dammit, she did not have an affair, Kevin. You know that.”
“Maybe not, but she was seen all over town in the company of some other man while you were away on business. How am I supposed to respect her after that?”
“You give her another chance, same as me,” Mick retorted. “Every one of us has made mistakes, Kevin. Your mother, me, even you, I suspect. All we can hope for after is that we’ll be able to make amends and be forgiven.”
Kevin thought of the mistakes he’d made with Georgia, not by betraying her, but by letting her go back to Iraq without a fight. How could he make amends for that? How could he ever be forgiven, when she was gone? To his regret, he could see his father’s point, but he wasn’t ready to let go of the past, not his own mistakes or his mother’s.
“I think maybe I’ll see if I can stay with Bree and Jake this weekend,” Kevin said.
“They’re practically newlyweds,” Mick objected. “They don’t need you and Davy underfoot. And Abby and Trace have little enough time alone as it is, in case that was your next excuse for getting out of here.”
“Then I’ll book a room at the inn,” Kevin said.
“Jess is all booked up. Told me so herself last night.”
Kevin resigned himself to staying put. Running was cowardly anyway. Why should he be the one to leave? This house was as much his home as it was his mother’s. More so, in fact.
“Dad, do you seriously think you and Mom will get back together?”
“I’m counting on it,” Mick replied without hesitation. “There’s never been another woman for me, Kevin. Never.” He gave him a pointed look. “And there’s never been another man for her, either, in case you were about to offer your opinion about that.”
“You really believe that, don’t you?” Kevin said, wondering at the fact that a man as smart as his father could be so gullible.
“I know that,” Mick told him. “And if you took a few steps back from your own pain at having your mother move away, looked at the whole situation back then, you’d know it, too. Her seeing that other man meant nothing. It was a cry of desperation, but I had too much pride to see it for what it was. I reacted the same way you did, judging her without asking for one second if I was responsible for her needing a little attention from someone else.”
“So cheating is okay, if she was feeling neglected?” Even as the words left his mouth, he knew the bitterness behind them had little to do with his mother. For weeks before she’d died, he’d worried and wondered if Georgia was being faithful to him. He knew what it was like over there, knew how hard it was to face the danger alone. He’d had not one shred of evidence to support his suspicions, but each time she’d mentioned another soldier’s name in passing, his jealousy had deepened. If his worst fears had been confirmed, he wasn’t sure how he would have handled it. It wouldn’t have been like this, that’s for sure. His mother’s behavior years ago had hardened his heart toward cheating, no matter the excuses behind it.
“I can’t believe you’d just turn the other cheek, Dad,” he said.
“Your mother never cheated,” Mick repeated emphatically. “She might have thought about it, might even have wanted me to think she would, but she never did. I believe that with every fiber of my being.” He looked Kevin in the eye. “And even if she had, it’s in the past now. We’re moving on, finding our way back to each other. It’s what we both want, and if you can’t embrace that, then just stay out of our way.”
“So you don’t care what I—what any of us, for that matter—think about this reconciliation?”
“We care,” Mick said. “But it’s not going to be the deciding factor. You’re adults now, not children. Your opinions count, certainly, but you’re old enough to understand that love is what matters in this life, and we shouldn’t let anything stand in the way of that.”
“You let work get in the way,” Kevin reminded him.
“And I was a damn fool,” Mick replied without hesitation. “That’s a lesson I’m passing on to you here and now. If you’re lucky enough to love someone, make that your top priority.”
His father’s belated transformation was hard to buy, but there was at least some evidence to support it. “Is that why you’ve cut back on work, taken to volunteering?”
“Yes.”
Kevin tried to grapple with this turnaround. “And you don’t feel like you’re sacrificing your identity?”
“I have plenty of testaments to my identity as an architect all over this country,” Mick said. “The identity that matters is how well I’ve done as a husband and father. That one’s still evolving.”
Kevin looked into his father’s eyes and saw a serenity there that he couldn’t recall ever seeing before. He was at peace with the choices he was making lately. Kevin would give anything to find some measure of peace these days. He didn’t think he was going to find it in work, despite what everyone else seemed to be pushing him toward. As for love, what had that ever gotten him but a broken heart?
By midafternoon Shanna couldn’t stand it another minute. Beyond asking where she wanted things, Kevin hadn’t said two words to her all morning and only a half a dozen since lunchtime. The silence was making her a little crazy.
She poured two cups of coffee, frothed milk and added it to hers, then walked over to where Kevin was sorting the books for the nonfiction section according to category.
“Time for a break,” she announced, holding out the coffee.
He accepted it with obvious reluctance and eyed her warily. “What’s up?”
“That’s what I want to know,” she said. “You’ve hardly said a thing all day. Is something wrong? Is everything okay with your son?”
“Davy’s over at my sister’s playing with his cousins. Abby has a nanny who watches them during the summer.”
“Okay,” she said. “Then, if you’re not worried about him, what’s on your mind?”
He sat back, leaning against an overstuffed armchair she’d placed in the middle of the room. There were similar chairs scattered throughout. Most had been thrift shop finds, but all had been fitted with bright new slipcovers. Kevin’s gaze finally met hers.
“Why does something have to be wrong?” he inquired testily. “Don’t you ever have a day when you simply don’t have much to say?”
“Sure,” she said readily. “Usually when something’s wrong.”
His