Part 21 (1/2)
”You're a very generous and giving woman, Mom. If you could get past this - you would.”
”I need to get on with my life. I've been in a holding pattern for years - like I was in suspended animation. I've had enough!” She sat up and wiped her eyes with a napkin, then shook her head to clear it and said, ”Goodness! Life is so much more painful without a hearty dose of alcohol!”
She got up and went to the refrigerator and poured herself a gla.s.s of orange juice. Jamie didn't ask the question - she just c.o.c.ked her head and waited to see if her mother wished to talk about it further.
”My therapist seems to have the notion that I drink to escape my feelings,” she said lightly, sitting back down and gazing at her daughter with an unreadable expression on her face.
Again, Jamie didn't reply, she just raised an eyebrow and Catherine continued. ”I've decided to limit myself to one drink a day - just to prove her wrong, of course,” she chuckled. Glancing at her watch she said, ”It's probably a little early for my daily quota now, isn't it?”
Leaning in for another hug, Jamie merely said, ”You're a very brave woman, Mom. I admire how you're handling all of this. I know it's really tough for you.”
”Thank you, sweetheart,” she whispered. ”I'm doing my best. Sometimes I don't think I can get through it, and then I remind myself that my daughter deserves a sober mom.”
”I have a great mom,” Jamie murmured, kissing her mother's cheeks gently and leaning in for another hug.
When Ryan came back, they were still at the breakfast table, and she stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips. ”Have you two moved?” she asked, a scowl on her handsome face.
”Nope. We decided to be in place for lunch. Hungry?”
”Gee... when have I ever said no to that question?” Ryan grinned. ”I'll make lunch,” she offered.
As if she had the room bugged, Marta appeared and guided Ryan to a chair. ”I will make anything you desire, Ryan. It is my pleasure.”
Ryan cast a glance at her mother-in-law and asked, ”Can Marta go home with us?”
”No way, Ryan. Marta and I are a package deal.”
”Oh, I'd be happy to have you come too, Catherine. I'll give you my room.” She had a big smile on her face, and Catherine knew that at some level the young woman was entirely serious.
”I think we'll keep the Peninsula branch of the family right where it is, Ryan. We need the s.p.a.ce for parties!”
”Speaking of parties, you'll come spend Christmas with us, won't you, Mom?” Jamie asked. ”We'll all get together on Christmas Eve for dinner, and then go to midnight Ma.s.s.”
”You sound like an old hand at this,” Catherine said with a smile.
She blushed a little as she admitted, ”This will be my second Christmas Eve with the O'Flahertys.”
”It will?” Catherine asked with a puzzled look on her face. ”I distinctly remember you going to Ma.s.s at your grandfather's.”
”I snuck out of Jack's apartment to go,” she revealed. ”I told him I had to go to Berkeley to pick up something, and then I met him at church. I was at Ryan's from late afternoon until eleven!”
”My, what a secret life you've led,” the elder Evans said fondly.
”I also snuck out of the firm's New Year's party to go find Ryan at her party,” she said rather happily.
”And neither of you knew that you were attracted to each other?” Catherine asked in amazement. ”I don't ever remember sneaking out of the house to go see my girlfriends, Jamie,” she teased.
Ryan smiled at her mother-in-law. ”I was totally attracted to Jamie by that time,” she confessed, ”but I convinced myself it was a wasted effort.” She smiled at her partner and said, ”I think she had a pretty good idea that she had feelings for me too by that point. I got a ma.s.sive vibe from you at the New Year's party,” Ryan fondly admitted. ”It seemed really important to you to give me a New Year's kiss.”
”Mmm, I still remember how my lips tingled when I kissed you,” Jamie said with a dreamy expression on her face. She sighed heavily, tossing her head to clear it. ”So, what's the verdict, Mom? Will you come?”
Turning to Catherine, Ryan commented, ”You may as well agree to come have Christmas with us, Catherine. She always gets her way.”
”That she does,” Catherine agreed fondly. ”All right, I'll come. But would you come home with me after church and spend the night? I hate to seem so needy, but the thought of waking up on Christmas morning to an empty house is a little more than I can bear right now.”
”We'd be happy to, wouldn't we, honey?” Jamie said immediately.
”We would love to, Catherine,” Ryan agreed with a sweet smile as she reached over and squeezed her hand. Turning to Jamie, Ryan asked, ”Do you want to spend some time with your father too? I know this is going to be hard for all of you to get through.”
”Oh G.o.d,” Jamie muttered as she closed her eyes tightly. ”I... guess I...”
”It's all right, Jamie,” Catherine said. ”I want you to spend time with him. He's going to be very lonely this year, too.”
”I will, Mom, and I really appreciate that you still feel some empathy for him.”
”I love him, Jamie,” she said softly, tears forming in her eyes once again. ”I will always love him. I just can't be married to him.”
After lunch the threesome sat out by the pool, trying to soak up the watery rays of the thin sun. Jamie turned to her partner and said, ”When you were gone, Mom asked what we had planned for New Year's, and I realized that we haven't discussed it.”
Chuckling mildly, Ryan agreed. ”We've had so much going on that it just didn't seem like it was that close.”
”If you'd like to do something special, Mom had a brilliant suggestion.”
”Really, what is it, Catherine?”
”Well, I told Jamie that I knew about Mia and her newfound interest in Jordan,” she said.
”Oh, do you now?” Ryan teased. ”How did you figure that mystery out?”
”It wasn't hard,” she admitted. ”I saw them dancing together at your father's wedding, but I didn't give much thought to it at the time. I know girls your age are often very affectionate with each other. But I was at your house after I took Jennie to Sacred Heart, and they came in. They were quite... affectionate, as well as very distracted, and they didn't see me, but they were a lot friendlier than I can remember being when I was that age!”
”Oh, they're friendly all right,” Ryan admitted with a chuckle. ”But how does that relate to New Year's?”
”I told Mom how upset Mia is to have Jordan gone, and she suggested we all go somewhere together for New Year's. Since you'll be in North Carolina on the 30th, it makes sense to go somewhere on the east coast, and she suggested the Bahamas.”
”Wow,” Ryan said slowly. ”That would be nice...”
”Warm water, sun, sand...” Jamie said.
Ryan's lips curled into a big grin as her eyes blinked slowly. ”Mmm, I do love the water.”
”Crystal clear water that actually looks aqua against the pink sand,” Catherine supplied.
”Mmm.” The dark haired woman submerged herself in the thought for a moment before her eyes opened wide and she said, ”Pink?”
”Pink,” Catherine stated confidently. ”My favorite place in the Bahamas most definitely has pink sand. Have you ever been to the Caribbean?”
”I've been to beaches from Los Angeles to Point Reyes in the U.S., and I've ranged as far as DingleBeach in Ireland, but that's it.”
”Then you are most definitely in for a treat,” Catherine promised.