Fiona dipped her hand into the bucket and tossed the last remaining bits of popcorn into her mouth. “I don’t know. I mean, it was good, I really enjoyed it, but I kind of liked the last one better.”
To be fair, her opinion was likely skewed by her mood. She’d been in a funk ever since she left the restaurant last night. It didn’t help that she hadn’t heard a peep from Joe. No texts, no phone calls, not even a knock at the door—a stark contrast to Dennis’s fire hose of harassment. Deep down, she’d hoped he’d make an effort to smooth things over between them. But actions spoke much louder than words, and his were deafening.
“Are you crazy?” Liz stared at her as though she were a few fries short of a Happy Meal. “Ryan Fitzhugh had his shirt off for most of the movie. That alone made this one better.”
The credits were interrupted by a short scene featuring the Deathslayer discovering a glowing blue object in the bowels of a cave, racing back to her horse, and charging toward the orange glow of a sunset.
“That’s it?” Liz said when the credits resumed.
“That must be the orb of Giftin.” Fiona picked up the popcorn bucket as she stood. “Gideon said something about needing it to complete the Scepter of Invincibility.”
“Oh yeah. I forgot about that.”
Fiona tossed the bucket and her drink cup into the trash can by the exit. She hadn’t planned to go anywhere today. Actually, all she’d wanted to do was huddle beneath the covers with Wanda and the television remote and have a good old-fashioned pity party. But then Liz had come over and insisted she get dressed and join the land of the living. She supposed she should thank Liz for that. Her heart still ached, but spending time with a friend had taken her focus off the pain. “You want to grab dinner? My treat.”
“Sure. What are you in the mood for?”
Before Fiona could answer, her phone vibrated to alert her of an incoming call. The number on the caller ID didn’t belong to anyone she knew, but whoever it was had called at least two other times today. More likely than not, it was a telemarketer who wanted to speak with her about her car’s extended warranty.
Only one way to find out. She swiped at the screen to answer the call. “Hello?”
“Hi, Fiona. It’s Helen Pinto, Joseph’s mother.”
The sound of that woman’s voice made her stomach drop down to her shoes. Her first impulse was to pretend it was a wrong number, end the call, and switch off her phone, but that was the coward’s way out. She was sick of hiding behind closed doors, voicemail, and fake boyfriends. For better or for worse, it was time for her to face her problems head-on.
Fiona drew a deep breath and summoned the voice she used when dealing with petulant children. “Mrs. Pinto, what a surprise. If you’ve called to insult me some more, I’m afraid I have neither the time nor the inclination to listen.”
Beside her, Liz’s eyes popped wide. She mouthed, “His mother?”
Fiona nodded, and then held up one finger to signal she needed a minute to finish the call.
Mrs. Pinto’s sigh filtered through the tiny speaker. “I suppose I deserve that. Actually, I called to…apologize.”
Okay, she hadn’t seen that one coming. “Excuse me?”
“I said I apologize. I was unnecessarily harsh with you, and that was wrong.”
Stunned, Fiona blinked a few times. She felt like she’d slipped into some sort of alternate dimension where up was down, black was white, and Mrs. Pinto was nice to her. Maybe the older woman had been visited by three spirits last night. “No offense, but what brought about this sudden change of heart?”
Another sigh. “My son made it clear, in no uncertain terms, how much you mean to him. And if I want him in my life, I have to respect his wishes.”
Had Joe really said that? Fiona’s heart skipped a beat. “What about Gina?”
“What I think about Gina is irrelevant.” Mrs. Pinto’s Jersey accent thickened. “I shouldn’t have treated you the way I did. It was wrong, and I’m sorry for treating you the way I did.”
A petty part of her wanted to hold a grudge, but she’d learned a long time ago that grudges were nothing but wasted energy. It didn’t matter that Mrs. Pinto was likely apologizing under duress. They both cared deeply about the same person, and that was enough for her to accept the offered olive branch. “Apology accepted. I know that couldn’t have been easy.”
“You have no idea.” Mrs. Pinto laughed, but the sound lacked humor. “Be kind to my son. He’s a good man; he means the world to me. I hope we can start over the next time we see each other.”
Considering how things ended last night, there might not be a next time, but she wasn’t about to share that information with his mother. Talk about awkward. So, instead, she just said, “I’d like that.”
One thing was for sure: she and Joe needed to have a serious conversation about the state of their relationship, and where things went from here. She liked Joe. A lot. More than liked, but she wasn’t ready to examine those feelings too closely until she knew exactly where they stood.
“Did you just make nice with that woman?” Liz asked, a degree of outrage in her voice, when Fiona ended the call.
“Yes, I did. She apologized and I accepted.” Fiona tucked her phone back into her purse. “Holding onto anger isn’t good for your health. Besides, it’s Christmas. Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men, and all that happy stuff, right?”
Liz made a noise that made it clear she would have handled things differently, most likely with a lot of creative insults and cursing. “You’re a better person than I am. I would have told that old bitty to take her apology and stuff it right—”
