Chapter 14 #3
“Hush. I get plenty of rest. Clearly, something is wrong, and I’d like to think you feel comfortable enough to talk to me the way you would a girlfriend.”
Janey was dismayed to see more tears cascading down Carolina’s pretty face. “I do. Of course I do. The day Joe married you, I got the daughter I’ve always wanted.”
“Now you’re going to make me cry, too.” Janey put the mugs on the table and lowered herself into one of the chairs, which wasn’t as easy as it sounded. When she was settled, she leveled a steady gaze at her mother-in-law. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”
“I… God, I don’t know where to start.”
Carolina’s distress was truly alarming. “Start at the beginning.”
“There’s… Ah, well, there’s a man.”
Janey stared at her, astounded. “Really? Who?”
“It’s the ‘who’ that’s the problem.”
“Is it someone I know?”
Carolina bit her lip and nodded.
All at once, Janey realized that whatever she was about to hear was going to be big—really, really big. Her belly took a queasy roll, like it did on the ferry when the seas were particularly choppy. “Who?”
Carolina hesitated for a long, long moment. “Seamus.”
Janey gasped. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open. “Holy shit.”
“I know what you’re thinking.” Carolina dropped her head into her hands. “I’ve thought all the same things myself. That’s why I told him it couldn’t happen.”
Janey’s brain literally whirled as she tried to process Carolina’s words.
“You’re shocked, I know. And probably disgusted. I wouldn’t blame you—”
“No, no.” Janey snapped out of the stupor and reached for Carolina’s hand. “I’m not disgusted. I’m surprised, that’s all.” And she couldn’t help but wonder what Joe would have to say about it. That thought made her stomach ache for real. “Is this why he’s leaving?”
Carolina nodded and wiped away more tears. “I told him last fall when, you know, we…got together…that it couldn’t happen. And now… Now he’s decided he can’t stay here if we aren’t together.”
“Why did you tell him it couldn’t happen?”
Carolina stared at her, agog. “Why do you think?”
“Because of Joe.”
“Yes, because of Joe and the age difference and because he deserves to have children and a family of his own, not to mention the people who won’t get what the heck I’m doing romantically involved with a man only two years older than my son.”
“But do you care for him? For Seamus?”
Carolina covered her mouth to muffle a sob as she nodded.
Janey’s heart went out to her. “Come here.” She reached for Carolina and did her best to hug her with the big belly getting in the way, as usual. “You have to talk to Joe. He loves you so much. He’d want you to be happy.”
“He’ll never understand this.”
“Maybe not at first, but he’ll come around.”
“I told Seamus I’d talk to him, but…”
“Is that where you were just now?”
“Yes.” Carolina straightened and wiped her face on the sleeve of her shirt. “I had to know if he was leaving because of me, so I went to see him. Other than a few minutes when I was waiting to meet your boat the other day, I haven’t seen him in months. But I’ve thought about him. Every day.”
“What happened when you saw him?”
“Just like last fall. It was…explosive.”
Janey fanned herself. “I wish I was a smoker.”
For the first time since the conversation began, a hint of a smile tugged at Carolina’s lips.
“If it would help,” Janey said, “I’ll be there when you talk to Joe.”
“Oh, would you, Janey? That would help so much.”
“Of course I will. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that I broke up with my fiancé of thirteen years and took up with your son the same night. I know what it’s like to worry about what people will say.”
“Yes, you do, don’t you?”
Janey nodded. “And here’s how I think it’ll go—people, and Joe in particular—will be wound up about it for a while. And then something else will happen to change the conversation, and they’ll forget all about you and your scandal.”
Carolina winced at the word scandal.
“Sorry. Poor word choice.”
“I’ve never been part of a scandal before.”
“Maybe it’s time, huh? You’ve been alone for so long. I know Joe would be thrilled to see you happy again, and so would I. He’d never admit it, especially not to you, but he worries about you.”
“I wish he wouldn’t.”
Janey shrugged. “You know how he is.”
“I do, and that’s why I’m so afraid to tell him.”
“I’ll be honest with you, Carolina. I’m not sure, exactly, how he’ll take this.
He’s put a lot of trust in Seamus to run the business in his absence, so he’s apt to be quite upset at first. But once he has time to get his head around it, he’ll be glad you have someone new in your life, especially someone like Seamus. ”
“Why do you say that? Especially someone like Seamus?”
“He’s wonderful,” Janey said. “What’s not to love about him and that brogue?” She fanned herself dramatically. “Not to mention he’s crazy handsome.”
“I’ve noticed that—and the brogue.”
Janey giggled at the besotted expression on her mother-in-law’s face. “Joe thinks the world of him.”
“As an employee. As his mother’s boyfriend or whatever he’d be? Will he think the world of him then?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”