Chapter 14 #2
Two weeks later, the whole town was aware that she’d moved into Cort’s home, intended to keep working at the tavern, and had made a bid on the building in Lankton.
Their plan right now was for Pixie to be her manager. She was an organizational guru and had already impressed Marlow with how quickly she accomplished tasks.
Marlow had fifteen minutes before she’d start her shift. She knew once she stepped out to the floor of the tavern, there’d be questions galore. It didn’t bother her, but she didn’t want the talk to impede her work. Herman counted on her.
The end of August had brought grueling heat, with the sun beating against the windows. She’d pinned up her usual braid and wore her tavern T-shirt knotted at the side.
Cort already sat at a table. He often stopped by for dinner when she worked, and sometimes he brought Pixie, too. Right now, though, Andy was cutting a tooth, and the poor little guy was miserable, which meant Pixie walked with him a lot. He was still breastfed, but now it was supplemented with bottles, so Marlow and Cort could regularly give her a break.
Suddenly Cort showed up at the break-room door. One look at his face, and Marlow knew something was up. “What is it?”
“Your mother-in-law is here.”
She groaned.
“Want me to tell her to leave?”
“Would you?”
He turned to go. Laughing, Marlow snagged him back. “Okay, okay. You would—but I don’t want that. I have a few minutes before I start, so I’ll just go see why she’s here.”
Cort’s expression said it all: he would have preferred to send her away.
Every day, Marlow had wondered when, if, Sandra would return. She had to be curious about the baby. “How about I introduce you?”
“Yes,” Cort said with satisfaction. “Let’s do that.”
Grinning at him, Marlow took his hand and stepped out of the room. There by the door stood Sandra. Everyone, especially Herman, eyed her critically. Marlow didn’t see Aston, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t close by. It would be a long drive for her mother-in-law to make on her own.
Going first to Herman, Marlow said, “Stop it.”
“Why? She deserves the stink eye.”
Cort agreed. “She does.”
The phrase almost made her laugh. “She might, but this is still a public place, and it appears she might be a customer.”
“Doesn’t have to be. I can refuse her.”
Marlow patted his shoulder. “I’d rather not cause a scene.”
His gaze shot to her. “Does that mean you plan to talk to her?”
“Of course I will.” Not that she particularly looked forward to it. “I still have a few minutes.”
He just stared at her.
Softly, Marlow said, “She wasn’t herself that night. I’ve never seen her so broken. Please, let’s try to be kind.”
He gave one sharp nod. “For you, I will. Just know that if it looks like she’s bothering you, I’m setting off the fire alarm.”
The grin got away from Marlow, but she quickly forced her lips into a more sedate line. “I won’t be bothered, so don’t do anything.” When he frowned at her, she added, “You’re a charmer, Herman. I hope you know how much I care for you.”
He turned his frown to Cort. “You going to introduce yourself to her?”
“Marlow is taking care of that for me. Don’t worry, okay? She knows what she’s doing.”
With that vote of confidence, she sauntered over to her mother-in-law.
With each step, she felt the eyes of customers on her—Sandra’s included. Tension thickened the air, making her wonder if her mother-in-law actually felt nervous. For Marlow, it was like facing a tough client. She’d be professional, polite, but to the point.
When she reached Sandra, she said, “Hello, again.”
Sandra glanced at Cort, then away. “I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to see you again.”
“I don’t mind.” She smiled up at Cort. “Sandra, this is Mr. Easton. Cort, this is my mother-in-law, Mrs. Heddings.” Bracing herself for an explosion, Marlow stated, “Cort and I are together now.”
Sandra hesitated only a second. “I see.” She glanced away, and then her gaze lifted. “I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Easton.”
How about that? Progress.
Cort nodded. “Mrs. Heddings.”
“I should apologize to you as well,” Sandra continued. “The way I behaved on my last visit . . .” Words failed her for a moment. “I won’t make excuses. Just know that I regret it a great deal.”
Visibly relaxing, Cort said, “I assume this visit will be different.”
Marlow appreciated his compassion. “If you don’t mind, Cort, I’d like to talk to Sandra alone.”
He said, “I’ll sit right over there.” Meaning close, and where he could see her.
Marlow indicated a table to Sandra. “I have a few minutes before I start my shift. Should we sit?”
Letting out a breath, Sandra drummed up a strained smile. “Please.”
So far, everything seemed to be going well. After Sandra took a chair, Marlow settled across from her, keeping her back to everyone else. This would be easier if she didn’t have to see everyone gawking at her. Again.
Pleasant expression in place, Marlow rested her hands on the tabletop. “Is Aston with you?”
“I left him at a bar outside of this little . . . village. I wanted to see you alone, to talk personally, woman to woman.” Faint lines bracketed her mouth. “If there was anywhere nice to stay overnight, I’d have come alone. Instead, we’ll drive back to Louisville for the night, then head home tomorrow.”
A lot of explanation—that told Marlow very little. “How are you, Sandra?”
Seconds ticked by, emphasizing the silence of the tavern, until finally Sandra whispered, “A mess, actually.” Her spine seemed to droop, her head bowing. “I don’t have the words to tell you how sorry I am.”
It was an olive branch, one Marlow accepted. “I understand. I know that losing Dylan has been difficult.”
“Impossible, really,” Sandra admitted softly. “I can’t imagine anything worse. Not losing Aston. Not losing the business.” Her nostrils flared, her lips trembling. “It would have been easier to give up my own life.”
Marlow felt her pain as an ache in her own heart. “I’m so sorry.” Her whispered words weren’t adequate, but what would be?
Again, time stretched out. Murmurs began in the tavern, and slowly conversation returned. Herman came by, so Marlow guessed he was the reason everyone was attempting to carry on. Bless the man, she really did adore him.
Looking only at Marlow, he asked, “Would you like a drink?”
Grateful for the interruption of the awkward, emotionally laden moment, she smiled. “Since I have ten minutes left, I would. A cola with plenty of ice, please.” She addressed Sandra. “You?”
“I’ll have the same.” Her hands clenched together, but she said to Herman, “Thank you.”
With a nod, Herman meandered away, his reluctance to leave her alone apparent to everyone. Hoping to lighten the moment, Marlow said, “That wasn’t so difficult, was it?”
Sandra cracked a small smile, too. “I didn’t think he’d leave us otherwise.”
“Probably not. He’s protective. Everyone here is—even though I don’t need protecting.”
“Not from me,” Sandra assured her, and she sounded as if she meant it. “Even before that . . . mistake, I didn’t make a very good impression.”
“You were verbally aggressive,” Marlow agreed. “I understand that you were hurting, but these people don’t know you. They may seem laid-back, but they’re all loyal to each other.”
“And to you?”
“Apparently so. It pleases me.”
“And Mr. Easton? He pleases you, too?”
“He pleases me the most.” For the first time since leaving everything and everyone behind, Marlow thought that she might enjoy peace with her in-laws. Not a close continuing relationship, but maybe a congenial one, without all the animosity. “Understand, Sandra, when I came here, I couldn’t have imagined getting involved again. My marriage with Dylan ended long ago. I just hadn’t realized it. Then the divorce dragged on . . .”
“And his death,” Sandra whispered.
Seeing it through Sandra’s eyes now, Marlow kept her tone soft instead of defensive. “All I wanted was to start over. To be free and happy again.”
Sandra straightened. “I know Dylan strayed.”
Just then, with uncanny timing, Herman returned to their table. He set out two tiny napkins and placed tall, icy cold drinks on them. From his tray, he retrieved two straws.
Again, looking only at Marlow, he said, “If you need anything else, anything at all, just give me a nod.” His gaze cut to Sandra, and then he walked off.
Marlow made a quick scan of the room and saw everyone ready to jump to her aid if necessary.
She was an authoritative woman who could navigate high-stakes situations on her own, yet it was nice to have others who cared. She smiled at Cort, and he smiled back.
Sandra had spoken her mind, so Marlow would do the same. “Yes, Dylan strayed.” What a vague way to say that her husband had repeatedly slept with another woman. “I found it unforgivable. He betrayed not only me but the life we had and the commitments we’d made to each other. He destroyed my trust.” And in ways that Sandra would never know, he’d been deliberately cruel.
“He apologized,” Sandra pressed, “and still you went ahead with the divorce.”
There was less accusation in Sandra’s tone and more of an appeal to understand, so Marlow tried to explain. “You know it wasn’t an amicable divorce. Not because he loved me and didn’t want to lose me, but because it angered him that I would dare call him out on his bad behavior.” Something his mother and father had never done. “He expected me to turn a blind eye, to accept his quickly given, offhand excuses. Not once did I think he was sincere.” Because he hadn’t been. “I was so angry and so hurt, I knew I couldn’t move beyond it, and that would have only made us both more miserable. Divorce was the only way.”
“It crushed him.”
“No.” She’d come to the realization that Dylan had never truly loved her. The bigger realization, however, was that she’d stopped loving him, too. He’d been angry, yes, but then so had she, and she’d allowed her anger to dictate her every move. “He was probably embarrassed because his friends found out. He didn’t like that he couldn’t control the situation. He was frustrated and furious that I wouldn’t relent.” She met Sandra’s gaze. “He blamed me for it all.”
Unable to hold her gaze, Sandra looked down at her hands.
“But never, at any point, was your son heartbroken.” That was the absolute truth. “I want you to know that.”
Sandra slowly nodded. “You still can’t forgive him.”
“And so you can’t forgive me?” Marlow saw the stiffening of the other woman’s shoulders. “Actually, I have forgiven him. Not necessarily because he deserved it, but because I do. He hurt me, Sandra, far more than I’d like to admit.” Largely it was her pride that was wounded, so in one way, she was no better than Dylan. “Now that I’m here, living in an entirely different atmosphere, I’m so content and happy that I realize I hadn’t been happy with Dylan, not for a very long time.”
Sandra looked aghast. “You can’t mean that.”
It wasn’t her job to convince anyone of her happiness, so Marlow didn’t try. “I forgive him, but I won’t ever forget.”
“I understand,” Sandra whispered. “Aston has strayed several times, too.”
Marlow went utterly still. Her mother-in-law knew about Aston’s affairs? She’d always assumed . . . But of course, she shouldn’t have. Sandra was a sharp-witted woman. In her position, she had to be. “I’m sorry.”
Sandra shook her head. “That’s what he always said. That he was sorry. Until I stopped mentioning it, and he stopped apologizing. Now that he’s older, I don’t think it happens anymore.” Her gaze lifted to lock with Marlow’s. “Life was easier when I just ignored his infidelity, so I couldn’t understand why you didn’t.”
Something wounded inside her own heart reached out to this indomitable woman who’d forged her own path in a shark-infested business world. “I couldn’t. It’s not in me to do that.”
Sandra’s gaze fell away again. “And yet, I did.”
“I wasn’t criticizing, I promise. Your marriage, your relationship with Aston, is your own business, not anyone else’s.” When that didn’t seem to reach her, Marlow tried again. “You fit in that world with Dylan and Aston, more than I ever could. I tried, and I think I was successful.”
“You did an amazing job, and we’ll always appreciate you.”
“Thank you, but it was never a part of me, not like it is with you. No one would expect you to give up that life, regardless of what anyone else does.”
Sandra’s hands tightened on the tabletop. “I made that business what it is today.”
Relieved to see her mother-in-law returning to her old self, Marlow nodded. “Yes, you did. Others might have done business with Aston or Dylan, but they knew you were the one with the final say.” Whereas Aston could negate or approve Dylan’s moves, he’d never had that power with Sandra. Just the opposite. “You are, and always will be, a force in Heddings’ Holdings.”
“Damn right.”
They shared a smile, a sign of the first genuine camaraderie between them in all the time they’d known each other.
“Were you really not happy with us?” Sandra asked.
“For a long time, I thought I was.” Her mother-in-law deserved nothing but the truth. “If things hadn’t happened as they did with Dylan, I’d be there still. Now, though, living here, I realize that this is the place I’m truly meant to be. I do the simplest things, like walking on the shoreline or watching the sunrise, and it . . .” Marlow felt silly saying it, yet she knew it was true. “It fills me up.”
Sandra glanced around with skepticism. “If it pleases you, then I’ll try to be happy for you.”
“Thank you.” As the old bitterness faded away, Marlow said with sincerity. “I’m so glad you came by.”
“I am, too.” After a slight hesitation, Sandra admitted, “I’ve missed you.”
Shocking, and yet Marlow believed her. Despite all the strife that had been between them, she knew Sandra saw her as a link to Dylan. After all, for nearly ten years they’d been mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
This place, Marlow realized, really was magical. It had changed her, softened her edges and breathed fresh life into her dreams. It had opened the door to new possibilities. Could it do the same for Sandra? In this particular moment, Marlow believed it could.
Reaching across the table, she touched Sandra’s hand. “Have you ever seen fireflies?”
Sandra blinked. “The insects?”
“Yes. The ones with the glowing butts.”
Sandra’s lips twitched. “Years upon years ago, I used to go out with my sister at my grandmother’s house. There were fields around her home, and we would play for hours. Mostly we’d find crickets and butterflies, but I recall seeing fireflies toward evening a few times. The entire field lit up, and my sister told me they were fairies, but I knew better.” Sitting back with a sigh, Sandra whispered, “I’d all but forgotten about that. I think I was only four, maybe five.”
“Well, I’m thirty-five and I still love seeing them.”
A peaceful expression settled on Sandra’s face. “Perhaps sometime I could see them with you.”
The perfect opening! “I’d enjoy that. Let’s plan on it.”
Reluctantly, Sandra slid back her chair. “For now, I should get going. It gets dark early here, with all the trees and hills.”
When she opened her purse, Marlow stopped her. “Drinks are on me this time.”
Instead of debating, Sandra smiled. “Next time will be my treat.”
“So there will be a next time?”
“To see the fireflies.” Seconds ticked by, and then Sandra met her gaze. “And I’d like to meet my grandson.”
There were numerous ways Marlow could reply. She could point out that it was up to Pixie. That it was about time. She could warn Sandra that she’d have to be on her best behavior. For now, none of that felt necessary.
Instead, she asked, “How long did you know about him?”
“I had no idea,” Sandra swore. “I knew Pixie was around and I despised her. I blamed her for everything—and yes, now I realize that was unfair.” She closed her eyes as pain pinched her features. “To think I tried to drive her away, to keep her from being able to work . . .”
While Sandra seemed so receptive, Marlow briefly explained everything Pixie had gone through. “She could have lost the baby, and she could have died.”
“Dear God.”
“She literally had no resources, no place to turn—so she came to me. I know it angered you that I helped her, but Sandra. . .” Praying Sandra would understand, that she’d accept the reality of the situation, Marlow asked softly, “How could I not?”
“Indeed.” Brisk now, she folded her hands on the table in a businesslike way. “Aston told me what he did. I think he was caught up in the moment and then he regretted it. He said . . .” She chewed her lips a moment. “He said he was afraid to believe the baby was our grandson. His heart was still shattered, he—we—are still hurting over our loss. I don’t think he was ready to take on more.”
“I’m glad he told you about it. He offered Pixie a lot of money, but she wants a real life, with friends.”
“Like you?”
Marlow nodded. “I care about her. Cort and I both do.”
“Then she must be a lovely young woman.” Sandra met her gaze. “I should have thanked you instead of shouting at you.” She shook her head. “I should have helped Pixie myself.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I swear I didn’t—but I should have found out.”
“You were, and still are, grieving.”
Pride kept Sandra’s head high. “I will always grieve. Dylan is lost to me forever. But you’re right that I have a grandson, and what a wonderful link that will be.”
Leaning closer with a smile, Marlow asked, “Isn’t he the cutest little guy ever?”
Huge tears welled in Sandra’s eyes, forcing her to blink fast and swallow hard. She pressed her hands to her heart, and her lips curved. “I thought he looked like Dylan. Aston noticed that, too, and now he has to apologize to Pixie.”
“It’d be nice if the animosity could be resolved.”
“He said he was trying to protect me, when I didn’t think he’d noticed how devastated I was. But then, I didn’t pay much attention to him, either. We were both a little lost, and in some ways, we’re closer now.”
Glad that the two of them were finding each other again, Marlow gently steered the conversation back to Andy. “He’s a big baby, isn’t he?”
“He is, but he wasn’t at all fussy. He smiled at me.”
Marlow didn’t remind her about the gas.
“Dylan was so fussy, but he had colic, you know. Weighed over eight pounds when he was born. And he cut teeth early.”
“Andy is cutting his first tooth now.”
Awed by that news, Sandra breathed, “Just like his father. I should warn Pixie that Dylan was slow to walk. The doctor assured me that was normal, and he certainly made up for it once he started. He was always on the go.”
Seeing all that enthusiasm made Marlow enthusiastic, too.
As she walked out of the restaurant with Sandra, Cort followed. She understood. He didn’t intrude, just stood in the doorway, there if she needed him.
Sandra turned at her car door. “You forgive me? Really?”
“Yes, of course.”
With only the briefest hesitation, Sandra embraced her. “Thank you, Marlow. I mean that. I hope we can visit more often.”
“If you call first, we can make time around my work schedule.”
“Yes, of course. And I hope, if you ever feel like visiting us, you’ll let us know.”
That wouldn’t happen, but Marlow nodded.
Sandra looked up, then nodded at Cort. “Goodbye, Mr. Easton.”
“Drive safely.”
As she left, Cort stepped out and wrapped his arms around Marlow from behind. “Always so bighearted. For your sake, I’m glad that’s resolved.”
“I am, too.” She leaned back against him. “Assuming you heard everything, will you update Pixie for me?”
“She’ll be . . . surprised.” He kissed her temple. “And maybe pleased.”
Marlow smiled. The fireflies were all around, twinkling on the hills behind the parking lot, flitting across the air. “I should get to work.”
Everything was okay now.
How could it not be in the town of Bramble? She’d found love, true friendship, family . . . and fireflies.