Emma noticed the silverware on the next table had been cleared away and the waiters seemed to know instinctively to leave the three of them alone. She felt exasperated as she stared at the protection Cain was never without. “Did they have to come along too?” The fact that they were now a part of her son’s life made her both sad and angry because maybe she was too late. She had helped cast the fate of the next Casey leader, and this would be the only life her son would know.
“Mom, are you ready?” asked Hayden, standing up.
“Where are you going?” Emma jumped up in a panic.
“Lady, you don’t have to like us. We didn’t ask you to. Nobody even asked you to come here after all this time, so you can take your opinions and go back north with them. We’ve actually been fine without you all this time. What makes you think you can come back and insult my mother like it’s acceptable behavior? You coming, Mom?” By the time Hayden had finished, his grip on the back of the chair was so tight his knuckles were white.
“It’s your show, kid. Whatever you want.” Cain stood up and buttoned her black jacket, obviously waiting for Hayden to walk out, if that was what he really wanted to do.
“I’m sorry. Please don’t go yet. I just wanted to see you and get to know you again. Cain, please.” Emma turned to her ex-lover, hating the despair that she knew painted her face and hoping Cain could put away some of her anger and help her.
“How about this, Hayden?” Cain suggested. “I go over and keep the help company for a while, and you and Emma have some iced tea or something. After that, if you’re ready to go, we’ll go.”
“I thought you said it’s my decision.”
“You want to leave now, kid, no one’s going to stop you, least of all me. But remember what we talked about. Listen to what the pitch is before you walk away.”
“Yeah, I know. If not you spend your life asking ‘what if.’ Can I talk to you a minute before I order a Coke?”
Emma stood motionless as Cain bent down and listened to whatever grievances Hayden was putting in her ear, wanting to kiss her ex for talking him out of leaving. Along with missing how Cain made her feel physically, she missed the feeling of safety she brought into her life. Cain had fixed almost all of their problems, no matter what she’d had to do.
Hayden squared his shoulders at her answer before turning back to her. Cain headed to the bar instead of the table of bodyguards, took a seat on one of the wrought-iron stools, and kissed the brunette who had called her over.
“You don’t have the right to look so jealous,” said Hayden.
“I’m not jealous, Hayden. I came to see you, not Cain.”
“Then stop staring at her.”
Emma sighed at his hostility, but she had prepared herself for it. She had no doubt Cain had used the four years she’d been absent to twist Hayden’s mind against her.
“How’s school this year? You just started back. Is it fun?” Emma unfurled her napkin and placed it on her lap.
“Fine and yes.”
“Do you have a lot of friends?”
“Yes.”
She could tell the one-word answers were not going to change, no matter how many questions she asked. In a moment of weakness, she slipped into silence, not wanting to fuel his frustration with her.
By the end of the evening, it turned out that their first exchange when Hayden threatened to leave was the easiest part of the night. Hayden had inherited the Casey temper as well as looks, and if Emma was hoping for an open-arm welcome, it wasn’t going to happen over her plate of perfectly cooked fish. A few tables over, the talk wasn’t as stilted, and Cain was having a pleasant time while she kept an eye on her son.
“Thank you for coming tonight, Hayden, and I hope we’ll get to a place where you can let me in a little bit. Could you get Cain to join us again so we can talk before you go?”
Hayden walked to the table Cain shared with the woman she’d met at the bar. Not too worried about keeping Emma waiting, he joined them for bread pudding with whiskey cream sauce before finally dragging Cain back to Emma’s table. He reasoned his birth mother had kept him waiting for four years so it was only fair.
“Thanks for bringing him tonight. I don’t need an answer now, but I’d like to know if you’d let him come meet my parents in Wisconsin. That’s all I ask. After that I’ll go away forever if you want me to.” Cain couldn’t see it, but Emma had twisted the linen napkin on her lap into a knot while she was asking.
“Hayden, would you join Constance for a moment, please?”
The boy got up without question, knowing Cain didn’t want him to hear whatever she was about to tell Emma.
“You want coffee?” he asked Cain before he walked away.
“No, son, we’ll be leaving in a minute, but thank you.” Cain watched as he sat with the pretty brunette she had dined with, not glancing in her direction again. “You came to see me alone this afternoon, and you just bring this topic up now? Did all that fresh air and open spaces you left us for make you forget who you’re dealing with?”
“Are you kidding? It took me a year to build up enough courage to come here, Cain. Forget who and what you are? Not even if I tried hypnosis. I just want my mother and father to meet their grandson.”
“I’ve met your parents, Emma. Hell, I listened to you complain about them for years. What would make them want to meet the child you had with me?”
“Because he’s half mine, which means he’s a part of them as well. A week, Cain. Surely you could see to giving me that. I can look at him and see he’s more than a certified card-carrying Casey, but don’t forget he has other family as well, and it’s time he met them.”
