She opened her arms to Connie, then kissed her cheek. “You’ve been like a daughter around here for a long time now. I hope this son of mine makes that legal one of these days.” Then she took Connie’s hand in hers, gave it a reassuring squeeze. “If he gives you one bit of trouble, you come to me. He may be too big for me to throttle, but I have my ways of bringing him into line.”
Connie felt relief wash through her. Tears stung her eyes. This was far more support than she’d expected. “Thank you so much, Mrs. O’Brien. I’ll be sure to do that.”
“It’s to be Nell now,” his mother stated emphatically.
Thomas listened to the exchange and feigned a scowl. “You are not to be teaming up with my mother against me,” he told Connie indignantly.
She laughed. “I won’t,” she assured him. “As long as you don’t give me any reason to.”
Nell joined in her laughter, as did Megan and Jess, the tension in the room a thing of the past.
“You’ll definitely do, girl,” Nell said approvingly. “I knew you were a wonderful sister and a strong mother, but it seems you’re more than capable of taking on a man like my son.”
“She is,” Thomas confirmed, his gaze on her warm. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to go have the last laugh on Mick. He thought this wasn’t going to go half so well.”
Nell scowled. “You’re not going to start another one of those wars with your brother, are you?” she demanded.
“Nope, just a little gloating, I promise,” he told her, giving her a hug that lifted her off the floor. “Connie, you coming with me?”
“I think I’ll stay here,” she said, once again feeling at home in this kitchen with these women who’d always felt like family to her and now, just maybe, were going to be. At least if things with Thomas kept on progressing the way they seemed to be.
Something about the whole exchange between Connie, Thomas and her grandmother had made Jess yearn for the kind of approval that had just been doled out so readily to her friend. She knew it was crazy, but she suddenly wanted her mother’s blessing for her relationship with Will, something she’d never expected to yearn for. After all, she’d lived a lot of years without Megan’s approval. Ever since her mother’s return, she’d taken pride in keeping her at arm’s length most of the time. Why would she suddenly want to change that now?
As Nell took Connie under her wing and talked her through the ingredients in one of Thomas’s favorite dishes, Jess turned impulsively to Megan. “Could we talk?”
Since it was one of the few conversations between them that Jess had initiated, her mother looked surprised by the request.
“Of course we can. Let’s take a walk outside and enjoy this wonderful weather.” She turned to her mother-in-law. “Nell, can you spare us for a bit?”
“Sure. Connie’s here to help with anything I need, and the others will be here soon.”
After they’d left through the kitchen door and were walking across the lawn toward the bay, Jess nodded in the direction of the house. “Did you expect things to turn out that way?”
“Not really,” Megan admitted. “But Nell’s always been full of surprises.”
“She seems happy that I’ve been seeing more of Will lately,” Jess said, broaching the topic tentatively.
Megan smiled. “We all are. He’s good for you, I think. How about you? What do you think?”
“For a long time I thought it was really annoying that he could read me so well. I accused him of trying to analyze me all the time.”
“And now?”
“It’s actually kind of nice to be with a man who really gets me,” Jess admitted.
Megan nodded. “It is, isn’t it?”
“Is that how it is with you and Dad?”
Her mother chuckled. “Oh, sweetie, it’s taken us years to get to that place. We certainly weren’t in tune when you kids were younger. You know that’s the main reason I left, so believe me, I know exactly how important it is to be able to communicate with a spouse, to have them understand what makes you tick.”
“And Dad does that now?” Jess asked skeptically.
Her mother’s expression turned thoughtful. “He tries, and I can’t ask more than that. And I’ve learned to speak up, something I never did back then. I think we both learned a lot while I was gone. I think we matured, probably in ways we wouldn’t have if I’d just stuck it out and stayed miserable.”
She faced Jess, tucked a windblown curl behind her ear in a tender, motherly gesture that almost brought tears to Jess’s eyes. That mother’s touch was something she’d longed for so deeply as a child. More than once, she’d thought she’d never experience it again. Abby’s attempts to fill in, well-meant as they had been, had fallen short. Gram’s had come closer, but she still hadn’t been Megan.
“Why so introspective today?” Megan asked gently. “Are things moving along too quickly with Will?”
Jess surprised herself by nodding. “We’re together, physically,” she said. “And that’s great, but emotionally I feel like I’m still trying to catch up. He’s made it clear that he’s in love with me, and has been for years. I’m not sure what to do with that.”
Megan looked troubled. “You don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for. Is he pressuring you in some way?”
“No,” Jess admitted. “He’s being amazingly patient, but I feel guilty that I don’t trust my own emotions yet. I have all these new and totally unexpected feelings, and I don’t know how to handle them.”
“You’re scared,” Megan concluded. “Of what? Of being hurt? Being left?”
Jess nodded. “It’s not as if it hasn’t happened before,” she said, unable to keep a bitter note from her voice.
“Me,” Megan said. “Oh, sweetie, you have to know how deeply I
