Page 81 of Unburdening His Heart

I’ve always admired it, but sometimes I resented it, too. It’s hard to go anywhere and have her focused on just us. She was always the mom with too many friends to count. The coolest mom on the block, and the one everyone wanted to be around.

Sometimes it was exhausting. I don’t know how she does it. Dad has always been content to stand back and let her do her thing. Happy that she was happy.

He would always say, “Doodle bug, being there for everyone fills her up. Someday, you’ll find something that fills you up, too. Then you’ll understand.”

As an eight-year-old little girl who just wanted her mom to pay attention to her, it was a hard concept to understand or come to grips with. I craved her attention, and most of the time, it felt like I didn’t get enough.

My mother is a wonderful mom. She always has been, but it took me time to come to understand that I would always have to share her. She would always be important to so many people, including me.

Now that I’m older, I finally understand what my dad was trying to tell me. Baking, feeding people, watching people laugh as they eat my pastries or cakes fills me up.

Filling other people up fulfills my mom.

My smile widens when I see Andrea embracing my mom. I catch her eye right over my mom’s back as she mouths, “Wow,” her eyes are big and almost dopey.

I laugh, knowing exactly how she feels. It’s so hard to resist mom’s charisma. Margaret Reed has never not welcomed anyone and everyone she’s ever met with the biggest, warmest hug you could ever imagine. She’s pretty damn hard to resist.

I giggle again, thinking about what it will be like when they finally meet Andrew. I can picture his face now when she wraps him up in one of her famous hugs.

Big man isn’t going to know what to do with her, and that makes me laugh harder. Now I can’t wait for them to meet. To hell with my hesitation from earlier. His shocked face would make it all so worth it to spill the beans.

“What are you over here laughing about, doodle bug?” My chest warms at the use of his nickname for me. He’s the only one who calls me that.

Dad wraps one arm around me, pulling me to his side, and I embrace him back.

“I’ll tell you later.” I leave it at that because I’ll tell them about Andrew sooner rather than later.

“Tom and Margaret! I didn’t know you two were coming into town!” Irene calls as she walks out from the café office, joining the impromptu party.

My dad turns. “Irene, my lady! How are you?”

Mom finally releases Andrea to make her way over to Irene. Andrea comes up beside me as Irene and my parents say their hellos.

“Is she for freaking real, Charlie?” Andrea says with a look of awe on her face, and I laugh as I nod.

“Andrea, meet my parents, Margaret and Thomas Reed.”

We both giggle when we look over to see Mom hugging a very uncomfortable Irene, but Irene knows the drill. She really likes my mom; she just isn’t big on the hugging part. No one can stop a Margaret hug. Not even Irene. You can see it coming from a mile away, and the best course of action is to go with it. Embrace the love.

“Wow,” Andrea whispers, enamored like everyone is when they first meet her.

Mom finally releases her and claps her hands together. “All of us should have dinner together tonight! I want to catch up with everyone and get to know Charlie’s best friend.” A warm smile spreads on her face as she looks at Andrea.

I smile, too. “Yes, everyone can come over to my place. I’ll cook.” Irene and Andrea nod their agreement.

“Can I call and invite Addy, Nathan, and Sofia?” Andrea asks.

“Of course. Mom and Dad would love to meet them.” I feel a brief pang of disappointment that Andrew can’t be here, but I quickly cover it with another smile.

My mom comes over to give me another peck on the cheek before pulling back. “We’ll see you later, dear. Dad and I are going to explore town a bit more until you get off.”

I nod. I still have a few hours before I’m off. Before they can leave, I hurry over to the display case and grab two of our most popular pastries and bag them.

“Here, something for the road,” I say as I hand them off and wave goodbye.

They head out, and I spend the rest of my shift telling Andrea all kinds of stories from my childhood. It makes her even more excited to get to know them. I think part of her fascination is they’re the opposite of her parents. From what I’ve heard, her parents are stuffy, uptight, and, quite frankly, mean.

I shiver to think about what it must have been like for all three of them to grow up like that. It’s a mystery how all three of them turned out to be warm, loving people. Even Andrew is once you get past his gruffy exterior.

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