Barbara Delinsky Quote

Work vehicles and a lone motorcycle, her SUV had the road to itself, which meant she would get there faster. Indeed, the familiarity of turning onto Caroline’s street was a lifeline. Once she parked in front of the mint-over-teal Victorian, she put Tad on her hip and hurried up the walk. The squeak of the screen was actually reassuring. And the smell of time when she stepped inside? Heaven. Mom? Caroline ran barefoot from the kitchen, stopped short, and put a hand to her heart. Mother and child, she breathed and slowly approached. Her hair was a wavy mess, and her face blushed in a way that made her look forty, but her eyes, moist now, held adoration. Wrapping a firm arm around Jamie, she said by her ear, We will not mention the show. It has no place in this house with us right now, okay? Jamie hadn’t even thought about the show, and certainly couldn’t think of it with Caroline’s soft, woodsy scent soothing her nerves and giving her strength. Mom, she began, drawing back, but Caroline was studying Tad. Oh my. A real little boy. Hey, she said softly and touched his hair. Jamie felt the warmth of the touch, but Tad just stared without blinking. I think I know you. Aren’t you Theodore MacAfee the Second? Those very big eyes were somber as he shook his head. Who, then? Taddy, came the baby voice. The Taddy who likes cats? Caroline asked, to which he started looking around the floor, or the Taddy who likes pancakes? Pancakes, please, Jamie inserted. I promised him we’d eat here. Mom— She broke off when Master meowed. Setting Tad on the floor, she waited only until he had run after the cat before turning back to her mother and holding out her left hand. Caroline frowned. You’re shaking. She had steadied the hand with her own before she finally focused on that bare ring finger. Wide eyes flew to Jamie’s. In that instant, with this first oh-so-important disclosure, it was real. Jamie could barely breathe. I returned it. Brad and I split. What happened? Caroline whispered, but quickly caught herself. Cupping Jamie’s face, she said, First things first. I don’t have a booster seat for Tad. He’ll kneel on a chair. He looks like Dad. Do you hate him for that? Tad was on his haunches on the other side of the room, waiting for Master to come out from under the spindle legs of a lamp stand. I should, Caroline confessed, but how to hate a child? He may have Roy’s coloring, but he’ll take on your expressions, and soon enough he’ll look like himself. Besides, she gave a gritty smirk, it’s not like your father gets the last laugh. If he thought I was a withered-up old hag— He didn’t. Yes, he did. Isn’t that what booting me off Gut It! was about? You said we weren’t talking about that, Jamie begged, knowing that despite this nascent reconciliation, Gut It! remained a huge issue. Not talking about it wouldn’t make it go away, but she didn’t want the intrusion of it now. Caroline seemed to agree. She spoke more calmly. Your father’s opinion of me went way back to our marriage, so this, today, here, now, is satisfying for me. How happy do you think he is looking down from heaven to see his son at my house, chasing my cat and about to eat my grandmother’s pancakes, cooked by me in my kitchen and served on a table I made? The part of Jamie that resented Roy for what he had made Caroline suffer shared her mother’s satisfaction. She might have said that, if Caroline hadn’t gone from bold to unsure in a breath. I’m not equipped yet, baby. Does Tad need a bottle for his water? No. He’s done with bottles. Just a little water in a cup will do, since I forgot the sippy. In her rush to get out of the house, she had also left Moose, which meant she would have to go back for him before dropping Tad off, which meant she would be late for her first appointment, which she couldn’t reschedule because she had back-to-backs all day, which meant she would have to postpone to another day, which