Chapter 28
28
Tracey rounded the corner in the grocery store on a mission to get eggs. For reasons yet unknown to her, no eggs had been included in the delivery to the inn that morning. They needed at least four dozen for Shirley to make the casserole needed for the morning-after brunch for the wedding happening at the inn that night. She would arm-wrestle anyone in the dairy section who dared to try and stop her from getting eggs.
Though she hoped she wouldn’t have to. She was just determined not to have anything go wrong for this wedding. She needed everything to be perfect. She also wasn’t going to think about how she spent a lot more of her time focusing on the minutiae at the inn instead of thinking about the hole left in her life after walking away from Brian.
She didn’t regret her decision. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that she didn’t want anything to do with the drama he was dealing with, but that didn’t stop her from missing him. She’d never thought she would ever be back in this place. Falling hard for a guy again. But there she was, intent on having a cage match over eggs to stop herself from calling him.
A woman was in Tracey’s way when she reached the egg display. She slowly took out a carton, opened it, and checked the contents before putting it back and picking up another carton. Tracey stepped forward to stand next to the woman when recognition hit.
“Mrs. Nelson?”
Brian’s mom turned away from her egg inspection and focused on Tracey. She smiled broadly. “Tracey! How are you doing?”
“I’m good. Gotta get some eggs for brunch at the inn tomorrow.”
Mrs. Nelson cringed and pointed to the eggs. “Well, you’ll have a hard time finding some good ones. Every carton I’ve checked has cracked eggs in it.”
Tracey frowned. “Really?”
“Yeah, I’ve been searching for some good ones. Gotta make a quiche.”
“Sounds good.”
They stood there for a few awkward seconds. Tracey hadn’t had a lot of interaction with Brian’s mom. Mrs. Nelson was the complete opposite of Tracey’s mom. Heavily involved in the church, nice to everyone she met and apparently still faithful to her husband who’d died years ago. Knowing the Peachtree Cove rumor mill, she doubted Mrs. Nelson was unaware of Tracey and Brian seeing each other. She wasn’t sure if the woman was happy or upset about that.
“So how have you been?” Mrs. Nelson asked finally.
“I’ve been good.”
She nodded. “Good, good. Have you talked to Brian any?”
Tracey shook her head. “No, I haven’t talked to him recently.”
Her lips pressed together in a sad smile, and she nodded. “You know, I think he misses you.”
Tracey blinked. “Ma’am?”
“He misses you. He was happy when you two were spending time together. I hadn’t seen him that happy in a while. Not even when he was married.”
“Oh… I didn’t know…” Tracey didn’t know what to say. She missed Brian, too, but never would have expected his mom to bring up how much he missed her.
Mrs. Nelson nodded. “He talked about you. I noticed he would bring up your name a lot. At first I was worried. You’ve been through a lot, and I know Brian can be… Well, he wasn’t big on commitment. But when he was with you, he seemed happy. I started to hope that you two would work things out.” She put a carton of eggs in her buggy. “I don’t try to get into Brian’s business, but I’ll admit I’ve had an influence on him. I like to help people when I can, and when I help people he feels the need to help them, too. But even when he’s helping, he still knows his own mind. And, Tracey, Brian’s mind is on you.”
Tracey was once again struck speechless. The conversation had gone completely differently from how she might have imagined. A part of her expected Mrs. Nelson to want Brian to stay far away from her. She’d even wondered if that was the reason why she’d let his ex-wife and her kid move in with her—because she’d rather see her with Brian than Tracey.
“He’s on my mind, too,” Tracey admitted. “But he’s got a lot going on.”
“He does. But we’re getting that worked out. I can’t tell you what to do. I won’t ask you to wait for him to get this mess sorted out. But I do want you to know that he’s thinking about you. That’s all.”
After staying away from Brian, refusing to call or talk to him about anything other than work, this little bit of information eased her tattered nerves. He wasn’t spending time falling back in love with Renee. He really was trying to find a way to fix the situation.
“Thank you for that,” Tracey said.
Mrs. Nelson patted Tracey’s arm. “Good. Now, go on and check the eggs. Maybe you’ll find some that aren’t cracked that can work for you.”
“I hope so.”
***
Tracey put the bag of eggs on the counter when her cell phone rang. She saw her mom’s number on the screen. “Mom, what’s up?”
“It’s your dad.”
Rolling her eyes, Tracey took the eggs out of the bag. “Mom, I don’t want to get in whatever you and Dad have going on.”
“He’s in the hospital.”
Tracey dropped the carton of eggs on the floor. “He’s what?”
“I’m at the emergency room now. I just called your brother, and now I’m calling you.”
Tracey hadn’t talked to her dad since he’d shown his ass at her place. She was still angry with him, but she didn’t want him to get hurt. “Is he okay?”
“I don’t know. He was screaming and bent over on the floor like he was about to die. I just called 9-1-1.” Her mom’s voice wobbled. “Tracey, can you get down here?”
“Yes, I’m on my way.”