“Yeah,” Brian confirmed, his lips folding in on each other. “Mitch says they’re thinking about IVF.”
Tessa nodded in understanding.
“Nikki, on the other hand.” He blew out a heavy breath and shook his head. “I just don’t know what to do with her.”
“Just give it time. I believe she’ll come around,” she encouraged.
“Oh, I’m trying, believe me.” He chuckled humorlessly.
Tessa ran her palm up and down his arm comfortingly, and Brian gave her a grateful smile.
“All right, time to eat.”
The two separated and joined the others by the table. After grace, they started sharing the food.
“This was a really good pie.” Charles sighed in contentment as he patted his stomach.
Kerry smiled triumphantly. “Of course, it was. I made it.”
“With Mom’s recipe,” he countered.
“At least I can cook,” she jeered.
Tessa looked at the end of the table to see her mother watching their exchange with a mixture of pride and something else. Her lips turned up in a smile, but there was something of heartbreak in that smile. Her throat became achingly thick. She opened her mouth to speak.
“Your mother and I have something to tell you.”
The siblings’ eyes turned to their dad, who was looking at his wife. Tessa turned her gaze back to her mother and noticed her subtle head nod.
Luke rose from his seat and went to stand beside Maria, who was already standing. He towered over her by at least a foot, looking like a giant compared to her petite frame, but Tessa knew that when it came to her mother, her father was a gentle giant who would do anything to protect her.
She, like the others, waited with bated breaths for whatever their parents were about to reveal.
“We’ve decided to go on a month-long cruise in November.”
Tessa released the breath she had been holding in relief that it wasn’t anything like she had been imagining, but her father’s next sentence completely floored her.
“We’re doing this to create new memories because Maria was diagnosed with dementia.”
ChapterThirteen
Diane
Diane was in high spirits. For the first time in a while, she didn’t dread getting out of bed. After sliding into her bathroom, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. The expectant woman staring back at her gave her hope.
“Okay. Today is a good day. You will have a good day. Nothing will prevent that.” She amped herself up. Her lips turned up in a bright smile, and her eyes twinkled with confidence. She turned and stepped into the shower, allowing the water to rejuvenate her even more.
After throwing on some comfortable gray slacks and a black polo blouse, she put her hair in a messy bun and padded barefoot to the small kitchenette in her apartment.
She put on the coffee pot and made herself a PB&J sandwich, and sliced up a banana, an apple, and some strawberries in a bowl before drizzling honey over them. When the coffee timer went off, she poured herself a cup of the aromatic black beverage and added a scoop of sugar. She took her meal to the small coffee table in the corner of the room and sat on the sofa before it to enjoy her meal. It had been some time since she’d had any real motivation or an appetite to make herself breakfast. But she was still high on whatever invisible positive force was driving her. She made an effort to enjoy the simple yet delectable, sweet but nutritious meal she had prepared. She especially relished the thick, bitter coffee with a tinge of sweetness she sipped on.
When she finished, she washed up and headed for the door. Slipping into her clogs, she retrieved her car keys from the console table by the front door and exited and got into her car. She drove down her street before turning onto SE 4th Avenue and onto SE Ely Street before heading along SE Pioneer Way. She pulled into her parking space before the bistro a few minutes later.
There was nothing she was prouder of than Java Bistro. It was the one thing she had done to honor her father, and she would do anything to keep it open. It was proof that her father’s belief in her dreams was valid. After a few more minutes of admiring the building’s exterior and envisioning its expansion, she got out of the car and walked to the entrance.
The moment she turned the key in the lock, she could sense that something was wrong. She couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was that gave her that feeling of uneasiness, but when she stepped into the kitchen at the back, her Crocs squelched as she started to make her way to the cupboard.
Her head sloped downward. “Oh no!” she exclaimed with dread at the sight of the water on the floor. She bent to look under the sink, and sure enough, tiny droplets fell in a carefully coordinated pattern to splash on the tiled floor. “This can’t be happening.” Heaving, she got to her feet and went to the storage closet for the mop and bucket to dry up the water. After a good ten minutes of mopping up, the floor was semi-dry. She placed a small pan under the sink, hoping to stem the flow.
