After they’d dropped her mother off on Sycamore Avenue, Deidre asked if they could stop at the Shop and Save. They were getting out of the car when Nick got a call.
“I should take this,” he said, glancing up from his phone. “Do you mind if I just stay in the car?”
“No, of course not,” Deidre assured.
By the time she returned, he was still on the call. He hung up and got out of the car, but she’d already tossed the two light bags into the backseat.
“Is that all you got?” he asked as they got back in the sedan.
“It’s just dessert. I thought we might want something later,” she explained as she put on her seat belt. “What?” she asked when she saw his frown.
“I have to fly to San Francisco for a few days. There was a chemical fire at one of our pharmaceutical companies.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“One man has been hospitalized with significant burns, but he’s stable,” he said as he drove through the parking lot. “All the other employees were treated for minor injuries at the local emergency room and discharged. I’m thankful no one was killed. The fire was extensive though.
“I’m sorry about having to leave,” he told her when he pulled into the driveway a few minutes later and put the car into park. “I make it a habit to go and inspect our facilities immediately following accidents. I don’t like to hear things second- and thirdhand about something so crucial.”
She swallowed, struck by the way he kept saying “our.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” she assured him. “You’re absolutely right. Please—go and do whatever is necessary to make sure everyone there is safe.”
He glanced into the backseat. “Come on. I’ll help you with the bags.”
“No,” she insisted. “There are just a couple items. You have more important things to think about.”
He frowned. “You’re important.”
She smiled. “Well, I’m not going anywhere.”
He gave a quick bark of laughter. “Good,” he said. “Because I’ll be back to Harbor Town before you know it.” He leaned over and kissed her.
A minute later, she got out of the car with her bags in tow and waved as he backed out of the drive. She trudged up the squeaking, frozen front stairs to the dark cottage. Nick’s goodbye kisses were always delicious, but they only seemed to highlight the empty, heavy feeling that inevitably settled in her belly when he was gone.
Chapter Nine
Deidre spent the following morning at the Family Center helping Colleen paint a new playroom for clients’ children. It was the perfect opportunity for Colleen to pump Deidre about information in regard to her date with Nick and the outing with their mother. She’d forgotten to mention Addy’s comments about Brigit to Colleen. Colleen was just as stunned as Deidre had been to learn their mother had been horseback riding in secret all this time.
“Liam was right,” Colleen said as she rolled bright yellow paint onto the wall. “Mom has been eaten away by guilt all these years. She wanted to keep Lincoln and her love of horses and that part of her life...all of it separate from us.”
Deidre said nothing, just resumed doing some corner work with a brush. Unfortunately, the “all of it” that Brigit had kept separate from Deidre was half of her family.
That afternoon, she purchased a box of assorted cookies from Celino’s and drove it out to the McGraw Stables. Addy gave her a huge toothy grin and a hug for her gift. She sat with the friendly woman for a half hour at her kitchen table, sipping coffee and listening to Addy reminisce about her mother.
It struck Deidre how strange it was, the different faces an individual showed the people in their life. Addy found Brigit Kavanaugh to be an unfailingly kind, courageous, talented horsewoman, and a loyal friend. Derry had always respected his wife’s strength of character and her role as a mother. As an adult looking back in time, Deidre realized Derry had certainly found Brigit attractive...alluring. Her mother had a certain elusive quality about her, as though part of her would always remain a mystery. Lincoln, too, had been captivated by Brigit, idealizing her, putting her up on a pedestal, never entirely getting over his love for her.
As a child, Deidre had lived in the secure cocoon of her mother’s warmth and love, never doubting it would be there any more than she doubted air would enter her lungs on her next inhale. When she’d learned what Brigit had done, it’d been like having the breath knocked clean out of her.
“Your mama is a great lady,” Addy concluded fondly, drawing Deidre out of her reflections. “All that charity work she does, and she visits a lot of the older ladies in town, people in need, cheering them up, taking them to their doctor’s appointments and such. They don’t make them like your mother anymore.”
Deidre smiled and patted Addy’s weathered hand. “Thank you for talking with me about my mom.”
Addy’s expression softened. “You come out here anytime to talk about anything you like, you hear?”
Deidre returned to Cedar Cottage, feeling thoughtful. She wrapped Ch
ristmas presents and placed them under the tree, admiring the way the colored lights struck the festive paper.