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She remained quiet for a few minutes before her shoulders dropped, and I smiled.
‘On one condition; we put the house in your name. So that it’s your house and your money goes into it.’
‘I don’t need your house.’
‘But it’ll go to you one day anyway, and this way you won’t need to worry about inheritance tax. It’s the only way I’ll let you pay off the mortgage.’
She was so bloody stubborn.
‘Fine. But you stay there until we are both old and grey and wrinkled.’
‘And then you can always have it there as a backup.’
‘Mum, I don’t need a backup.’
‘I don’t need details. I just don’t want to worry about you.’
Mum liked to keep any discussion of what I did to a minimum. While she never tried to dissuade me or put me down about it, she didn’t want to talk about it either.
‘Can I ask you something about Dad?’
‘Of course you can, love.’
‘How did you know he was the one? When did you know?’
Mum’s smile was soft and sad as she met my eyes. ‘I knew from the first moment he held my hand.’
‘But how did you know?’
‘It wasn’t a concrete feeling. It was a wave, sometimes overwhelming and sometimes just lapping at my feet. No matter the size of the torrent, it always drew me to him. It was unavoidable. I needed to be near him, to hear his voice and feel his touch. It wasn’t a knowing as much as it was an unavoidable need to be with him.’
‘Oh, Mum,’ I said, sliding a hand over the table and gripping her fingers.
‘Have you met someone?’
I’d never been able to lie to my mum, and when she lifted a brow, I swore my ears even blushed.
‘You have! Who is he?’
‘It’s not like that. I met a guy and I feel that pull to him, but he doesn’t want a relationship.’ I left out the fact it was her niece’s fiancé.
‘If he’s right for you, he’ll be back. He won’t be able to resist it.’
God, however wrong it would be, I hoped she was right.
After donating another book to Muhammed and chatting through what he’d been up to since I’d been away, I headed for the lift, more than ready to take the rest of the day off. I was so ready to get back into the kitchen and whip up some treats, then scoff them in front of the TV as I caught up on some knitting. Life had been so crazy that I’d not done either of my chill activities in almost two weeks. I couldn’t wait.
As the elevator doors opened, I jumped back. A figure blocked my path. I breathed a sigh of relief when he turned around and it was only Tim from next door.
‘Oh, hey Tim,’ I said as I stepped around him.
‘Where have you been?’
‘Excuse me?’ Tim and I weren’t exactly on the level of neighbourly acquaintance where we questioned each other’s whereabouts.
‘I noticed you haven’t been around much for the past few days. I was worried.’
‘That’s... um... sweet of you. But I was just away visiting some friends.’
