Page 79 of A Dream for Daphne

He wanted to ask his mother if she needed help, but the dirty look she gave him over his hesitation when she went to climb in told him to keep his mouth shut.

“There were days I wish you were another way,” his mother said. “But you’ve always been a happy kid and that is all a mother could ever ask for.”

He snorted. “Not always so happy.”

“Don’t think of Ella,” his mother said sternly. “She wasn’t right for you. I know you imagined a life with her.”

“It was hard not to,” he said. “She made me believe even when in the back of my mind I knew it wouldn’t work out. Then I see her out with her new guy and the smile on her face is the one I always wanted to give her.”

His mother turned sharply. “Don’t hold onto other memories. I thought you were feeling that way with Daphne.”

“I am,” he said. “I guess that is where I’m going with this. I see Daphne and she understands me more than Ella ever did. She’s my type of woman. My type of person in general.”

“That is important,” his mother said. “That you can get along on a personal level. That she can be your friend along with your lover.”

“She’s a friend,” he said. “We have such a good time together. She is more than I ever thought I’d have in a partner.”

His mother got a soft smile on her face. “Have you told her you love her yet?”

“No,” he said. “It’s hard to say the words.”

“Not so hard if you mean them,” his mother said. “Do you think she doesn’t feel the same way?”

He thought of the conversations he’d had with Daphne in the past. “I don’t know and that bothers me more than I think.”

“I think you do know,” his mother said. “But you’re scared.”

“Shit yeah,” he said. “I’d be an idiot to not be with what I’ve been through.”

“Stop trying to be a martyr,” his mother said, laughing. “Abe, you’re not the first guy that a woman they loved decided she wanted something different.”

“Ella wanted somethingbetter.”

“In your eyes, it’s better. It’s not. It’s different. You’re putting words on it that don’t need to be there and spending way too much time focusing on it. Why?”

“I ran into her a few times this summer.”

“Oh really?” his mother asked. “This is getting interesting. Why am I only hearing about this now?”

He shrugged. He shouldn’t have brought it up and now had to use his words wisely.

He was not sure he ever did that before. Used his words wisely.

Most times they spewed like water out of an open fire hydrant.

It was as his mother said—he was always the funny one.

“I don’t normally talk to you about these things,” he said. “It’s not even a dude conversation.”

“But you are now. So tell me on the drive. It’s our form of entertainment and I can knock your head back in the right direction.”

“I think it’s in the right direction,” he argued.

“No, Abe. It’s not. Not if you are saying the things you are. So let me get to work,” his mother said, rubbing her hands together, then stretching them out interlaced to crack her knuckles.

He sighed. “I get my personality from you. You know that, right?”

“Thanks for the compliment. I’m going to take it as I’m always a happy person too.”

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