Page 13 of Beckon

Tami caught her mom’s stare as she popped a piece of garlic bread in her mouth. “What?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you.”

Her mom was grinning like a loon.

“What about me?”

“You really don’t realize it, do you?”

Her blank stare must’ve been answer enough.

“That jacket. That dirty jacket in your house. With food on it. Hanging in the bathroom. Your son wearing it. You just talked with food in your mouth, and you didn’t follow Chester to the bathroom door and double-check the front and back door locks. I could go on and mention a long list of other things, but I think you get the picture.”

She did.

Since Reese died, she’d controlled her environment with renewed vigor. More so than ever before. She micromanaged everything she could.Control. She’d felt so out of control she took it where she could, but her mom was right. She was evolving and getting better.

Tami had noticed things lessening over the years. The anxiety of not controlling things didn’t bite at her as vigorously as it seemed to always do. She knew it would never completely stop chomping in her direction, but anything less than total obsession was better.

Even more little things she noticed since meeting the drunk stranger. Maybe because she allowed herself to be attracted to him. Maybe because she wanted to help him, maybe just because she wanted to know his story, either way, she was talking to herself in her head and no sound came from her mouth. Yes, her lips were moving, but it was silent.

“I feel I can tell Harold yes to the cruise without guilt, thanks to you.”

Her mother’s words caused a moment of panic, but her guilt quickly evened her out. Her mother shouldn’t have to concern herself with an adult child’s feelings when deciding things like that. At her age, she should be free to come and go as she pleases.

“I’ll get Gabby to sit with Chester or take some time off while you’re gone. Go, enjoy your new man, Mom. And don’t get a single gray hair worrying about us.”

Tami busied herself with clearing the table and washing the dishes. Her mom watched her with an eagle-eyed gaze. It was slightly unnerving.

“Tamitha, how would you feel if I told you I wasn’t just saying yes to a cruise with Harold, but to it being a honeymoon cruise?”

“But a honeymoon is for…” Her words trailed off as her mother’s words sank in. Her first instinct was to ask what about her and Chester. But this wasn’t about her or even Chester. This was about a woman who’d given up her entire existence for Tami. Raising a child who was quirky was hard but then to hold that adult together after loss was more than anyone should have to do. Tami swallowed her worries for when she was alone and could obsess, placed the dish she held back in the sink, and went to her mother.

When her mother stood with worry on her face, Tami hug her with a ferocity she felt to her bones. “I would feel like my heart was bursting with happiness for you.”

Her mother relaxed in her arms. “I’d also say I better be your maid of honor or no dice.”

“Of course, honey. I wouldn’t say yes any other way.”

Tami held her mother for a few minutes longer before ending the embrace. “Well, we better make the most of the time we have, because I’m assuming Harold doesn’t plan to move in here. Let’s schedule some memory-making days. Big ones.”

Her mother agreed and Tami kept the smile on her face. She really was happy for her mother, but a little panicked over the changes that meant for her and Chester. She would concern herself with all that later, for now, she was ready to make one of those memories before heading off to work.

A pajama-clad Chester came sliding into the room and declared himself clean as a whistle.

“Okay then…” She dried her hands. “How about you and Grandma pick a board game while I pop some corn and we have a mini–game night before I head off to work?”

Chester cheered and her mom gave her a smile while happy tears clung to her lashes.

Tami watched the two people who meant the world to her scramble out of the kitchen, cheerfully arguing over the best game to play with their limited time.

“My life is full and will only get fuller. I’m not losing a mom but gaining a Harold.”

She really hoped Harold loved her mother the way she obviously did him.

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