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Thinking back, she couldn’t remember the last time she sat through a family gathering without a knot of dread weighing heavy in her stomach. By the end of the get-together, she and her mother would normally have exchanged tense words which weren’t heated enough to qualify as an argument but weren’t pleasant enough to constitute friendly conversation.
In fact, at this point, Gennessey would have been reminded of her family’s disappointment in her enough to make her wish the gathering would end sooner rather than later.
Today was different. Sure, she had BB at her side as her boyfriend, and this time it wasn’t pretend as it had been when the weekend started. He did fit in well with the others. He and her father swapped stories of fishing, hunting and other outdoorsy activities. He teased her mother into grinning and giggling like a young girl. He ribbed her brothers as though they were his own.
And he stayed close to her side. Even if she couldn’t already sense his presence near her, he made it known by dropping an arm over her shoulders, resting a hand at her back or holding her hand loosely in his warm grip.
He may have played a role in her enjoying the brunch, but she’d realized he wasn’t the sole reason. The main reason was her family was treating her with respect. They asked about her life without casting judgment or offering unwelcome advice.
After halfway through the meal, she relaxed. She allowed herself to join in the conversation and to laugh at the silly jokes and to chime in with her own embarrassing family stories which always seemed to be repeated at gatherings like this.
When her mother stood to clear the table, Gennessey stood to help, almost sorry to see the brunch coming to an end. When BB started to help, her father and brothers rose to do the same. As a family, they cleared the table, loaded the dishwasher, and stored the leftovers in the refrigerator.
Carolyn shooed the men out of the room, saying she and Gennessey would bring coffee and cookies to the living room and join them. Gennessey tried not to show her surprise. Carolyn never wanted help in her kitchen, especially from her daughter whom she said was useless in the kitchen even if the task was as simple as boiling water.
Gennessey felt the familiar tension settle between her shoulder blades, and she filled a tray with the breakfast cookies as though on autopilot, silently waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop.
Her mother placed a coffee carafe on a tray. “I’m sorry.”
Gennessey’s head snapped up. Her eyes studied her mother as though she was a stranger. But there was no denying Carolyn Croft was her mother. The family resemblance was too strong. From the dark curly hair — though Carolyn’s held more touches of gray than her daughter’s — to the blue eyes, to the stubborn set to their jaw, to the mouth that could frown as easily as it smiled.
But in all her life, Gennessey couldn’t recall a time her mother apologized for anything and couldn’t believe she was hearing them now.
Carolyn didn’t give her daughter a chance to respond. “I never understood. I thought when you joined the military, you were rebelling and you would eventually come home regretting what you had done. Then when you worked for the government, I thought you were a thrill seeker. I couldn’t bring myself to support a career that would only get you killed. I felt sure with this job in security, you would be bored and realize you wanted to be home and join one of the family businesses. I suppose when you didn’t, I started to get frustrated and even angry. I couldn’t allow myself to realize I didn’t know the person you’d become as well as I thought I did.”
Gennessey finally found her voice. “Mom—”
Carolyn held up a hand to stop her. “Let me finish. You may not have the life I would have picked for you, but your life matters. It prepared you to be here for your family when we needed you in a way none of us could have handled without you. I was wrong for trying to change who you are and for not acknowledging how proud I am of the woman you’ve turned out to be. I’m aware my behavior is the reason you don’t visit often, and I can’t promise to change it completely overnight. But I’ll try, and I hope it’s enough for you to forgive me.”
Gennessey exhaled a shaky breath. “Whoa, Mom. It’s a lot to take in. Of course, I’ll always forgive you because I love you, but what made you decide to tell me all of this?”
“Well, it was a lot of little things. When you brought BB and pretended he was your boyfriend—”
Gennessey’s jaw dropped. “Wait, what? You knew that? Did Cohen squeal on me? It was his idea.”
Carolyn smiled. “No one had to tell me. I just knew when you first arrived, there was no spark in your eye. You had that spark in eleventh grade when Jimmy Casey asked you to the prom. And when you came home talking about Mr. Needham’s stories of the service. Or when Cohen had his first art show. Whenever you’re happy, it’s there. It wasn’t there when you introduced him, but something’s changed between you two, hasn’t it? Because the spark is there now.”
Gennessey felt her cheeks flush, and she lowered her eyes, hating the sheepish smile curving her lips. “I don’t know about a spark, but yes, things are different. It’s still new, so I don’t know where this is heading or if it’ll last.”
Carolyn covered her daughter’s hand with one of hers. “To me, that’s the exciting part of a new relationship. Not knowing what the future holds, only knowing what you feel in the here and now. Enjoy this time. Don’t allow yourself to worry over what hasn’t happened.”
Gennessey shifted her weight on her feet. “BB is the reason for the apology?”
“No, honey, he’s the reason I started to see how my behavior affected our relationship. But at the wedding, when the rest of us were scared and panicking because we didn’t know what to do, you went into action. The doctor said if you and BB hadn’t applied first aid as quickly as you did, Cohen’s condition would have been much more serious. Then how you found Autumn and safely rescued her, well, it was nothing short of amazing.”
She raised her eyes. “Thank you. I’m just sorry things didn’t work out for Autumn and Cohen.”
Carolyn’s smile was sad, and she nodded her head in understanding just how her daughter felt. “Me too, sweetheart. But who knows? Life has a way of working out, and they may just end up back together at some point.”
Carolyn gave her head a swift shake as if to bring her focus back to the task at hand. “Well, now, we should get this into those boys of ours before they come looking for us. I don’t need them in here upsetting my kitchen.”
Gennessey laughed and picked up the serving tray, her heart feeling full and lighter at the same time — a feeling she could become addicted to easily.
“Lead the way, Mom.”
Not too much later, after saying their goodbys to her parents and brothers and then to Cohen after a quick stop at the hospital, BB and Gennessey climbed into his truck to head back to Grayson Cove. He drove with one hand while the other rested on the console between them, holding lightly to her hand.
Country music filtered from the speakers at a low decibel, providing background noise to fill the comfortable silence. Gennessey tapped her foot to the rhythm of the fast-paced song as she stared out the window at the scenery of her hometown passing by in a blur.
