Page 65 of Love Me Boldly

She was dressed in the same clothes she had on earlier. The only new addition was the apron she used to wear when she worked. Another question flared.

Here? She workedhere? Still?

“I shouldn’t even be surprised you’re here,” she finally said, scanning the restaurant. “You always were tenacious.”

There was a slight tease in her tone, which gave me hope she wasn’t going to kick me out.

“Can we talk?”

“Yes!” Jonah bounced on his toes. “Mommy, I told Coach he could have dinner with me. He said he loves Aunty Care’s onion strings.”

“Rings,” Holly corrected. “They’re rings.”

“They’re so tiny like my shoestrings, though. And delicious.” He grinned up at all of us.

“How about you help me go make them, then?” Caroline said and held out her hand. “Let’s give your mom a chance to get caught up with her friend.”

“But…”

“No buts, Jonah,” Holly said. She smiled down at him, but her tone was firm. “Go with Caroline. We’ll eat later.”

She was amom. How had this happened?

“Fine,” he muttered and slinked back through the kitchen. The door swung slowly back and forth behind him.

Caroline tossed me a small smile over her shoulder. “You look good, Graham. Hope you’re well.”

“I am, ma’am. Thank you.”

At least Iwas. Before today. Before everything went ass over teakettle, like my grandmother used to say when describing how everything fell apart.

“We can go sit,” Holly said. She moved toward a table piled with crayons and markers and books, and I imagined it was Jonah’s table when he had to be here.

I followed her to the table and shoved some of the books to the side when she sat down on one side, staying at the edge. She was ready to jump and bolt, and I couldn’t blame her.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” I admitted, and it probably wasn’t the best first thing to say.

She shrugged one shoulder. “I didn’t expect to see you at Jonah’s camp.”

“Touché. So…hockey, huh?”

A pink glow rose on her cheeks, and she looked out the window toward the parking lot. “He likes it, and I want him to have the things he likes.”

There was a soft smile curling her lips, and my chest squeezed.

In my youth and stupidity and thinking I could crack through her walls with patience and time, I’d dreamed of being the one to give her that.

We were older now, though, and I’d spent the last few hours trying to figure out what to say to her. Hell, I’d spent the last six years thinking about it.

Which was probably why I broke the silence and blurted, “I understand, you know, why you left. You were right back then. Sophie, Piper, our families…” I shook my head and shrugged. It was so easy to see why she assumed the mountains between us back then were insurmountable. They weren’t, not really. But from her perspective, I could see why she thought it. “That would have made things really difficult.”

Holly’s lips pressed together, and her shoulders heaved as she sucked in a breath. “I always felt bad for letting you know so cruelly. I could have found a better way.”

“Well, your dad calling from prison wasn’t the best time, but I get it. We were young, and you did what you thought was best.”

She reached for a set of rolled up silverware, removed the paper wrap, and unfolded the napkin.

“So, you’re here now? You stayed.”

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