Page 47 of A Simple Regret

“He’s napping. Right now, the salon isn’t open on Mondays, so moving forward, I’ll keep him home with me. Otherwise, he’ll go to daycare at Little Learners.”

She smiles. “Ellen’s a true gem, isn’t she?”

“She is. I was so excited to hear she’s still running it.”

“I don’t think Ellen will ever retire,” she replies with a chuckle. “I see your dad every now and again. He’s excited to have you back in town.”

I glance down at my hands. “He is.” I swallow hard. “I wish we hadn’t lost so much time.”

She reaches over and places her hand on top of mine. “You’re here now. You can’t change the past, so focus on today.”

It feels like her words aren’t just about my dad but perhaps directed toward her son too.

“I’m trying,” I reply softly.

“How’s your mom?” she asks, and once again, I look down.

“Umm, she’s okay.” Feeling her eyes on me, I meet her gaze, and add, “I haven’t talked to her much since I moved here.”

Linda doesn’t reply, just sits there and waits with a listening ear, and for the first time, I want to purge all the crap with my mom. Dad knows a little, but I intentionally only shared a few highlights that truly pertained to him and what happened, both more than seven years ago and over the last few months. Why? Because he was owed a huge apology for my part in our strained relationship. Not to mention, I didn’t want to be like my mom, openly complaining about the other parent all the time, as if that’s appropriate.

I exhale. “She was upset when she found out I had been communicating with Dad. She didn’t want that, and I just couldn’t understand why. She felt everything that was wrong between her and Dad’s marriage was supposed to continue driving a wedge between my relationship with him. He was a really good dad, and I’m embarrassed to admit I let her project her feelings for him onto me for too long.”

Again, she reaches over and squeezes my hand. “You were a child, Maren. Give yourself some grace. You’re making up for it now and moving forward.”

I nod and sniffle, not realizing I had a few tears slip from my eyes.

“Mommy!”

I turn toward the hallway just as Theo comes running out from his bedroom.

“I wakedid up,” he announces, running over to where I sit and leaning into me. “Who dat?”

“This is my friend, Mrs. Miller.”

Our guest grins widely. “You can call me Linda.”

“Hi, Winda. I gots to potty.”

Linda chuckles, while I quickly stand up to escort Theo to the bathroom. “Let’s go.”

He does his thing quickly, because he’s anxious to get back out to the living room and find out more about our guest. “Weady,” he tells me after washing his hands and jumping down from the stool I keep in front of the sink.

“Hi, Miss Winda,” he says, running back to where she sits. “You wike Bwuey?”

“I love it,” she confirms with a wink sent toward me.

“Mommy, we watch Bwuey?”

“Yes, that’s fine. Miss Linda and I might go in the kitchen so we can chat a little though.”

“’Kay,” he agrees, moving to his small chair.

I get him settled with an episode of Bluey and wave to Linda. “Join me in the kitchen?”

She follows me and takes a seat at the small kitchenette table. “He’s a doll.”

I can’t help but smile. “He’s a great boy. We’ve learned a lot together,” I tell her, pulling a pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge, as well as the jug of apple juice.