“I do, but it still scared me. I was afraid you were taking on too much, and I was worried…”
“I’d fail.”
Mom shook her head, then shrugged. “Maybe at the beginning. But I’ve seen how hard you and Ethan are working, and I’m impressed by everything you’ve set in motion. Your bakery is going to be wonderful.”
Chelsea smiled, blinking rapidly so that she didn’t cry. This was the most peaceful conversation she and her mother had had in months. “Thank you.”
Mom cleared her throat as she bent to put a pod in the dishwasher before starting it. “And then Preston showed up.”
Dammit. She should have known the peace couldn’t last.
Chelsea would die on the Preston hill. He’d been nothing but amazing since day one, and if her mother criticized him, she would seriously lose her shit.
“When you came home and said you’d found Lennon’s father, and he was a professional hockey player, all the anxiety I’d been feeling for a year was amplified. I was terrified that he’d take Lennon from you.”
“He would never—” Chelsea started.
“I know he wouldn’t.”
Wait. What?
“There’s nothing worse than seeing your daughter crushed by a broken heart. I was so scared you’d be hurt again, but the more I get to know Preston, the more I can see that he won’t. He’s a good man, Chelsea, and a good father. I understand why you’re in love with him.”
Chelsea hadn’t said that she loved him. At least not aloud, even though she knew she did. “We’re not really a couple.”
Mom frowned.
“I sleep in the guest room,” she confessed, shocked to the core that she was confiding in her mother. “I told him we should keep things between us platonic.”
“Why? It’s obvious you’re both crazy about each other.”
“I’m worried if things fail, it will hurt Lennon.”
Mom’s shoulders drooped. “I made you feel that way, didn’t I?”
Chelsea shook her head, then lifted one shoulder, because while her mom had planted the seeds of fear, Chelsea had watered them until they took root.
“Are you sure you’re holding back because of Lennon?” Mom was reading her like a book today.
“I’m afraid of getting hurt again too. When Rick didn’t show up at the wedding, I was devastated, and it took me a long time to pull myself back together. If Preston broke things off, it would be so much worse, and I don’t think I’d ever recover.”
Mom wiped her hands on the tea towel, crossing the room to her. Placing her arm around Chelsea’s shoulders, she gave her a comforting squeeze. “Of course you would. Because you’re one of the strongest women I’ve ever known. Sweetheart, love always comes with risks, but the rewards make them worth it. Preston loves you and Lennon, and I think the three of you will make a wonderful family. Stop letting your fear hold you back.”
It was the exact same thing she’d just decided for herself. Hearing her mother say the same lifted the weight that had been crushing her since she found out she was pregnant.
Chelsea didn’t bother stemming the tears, letting them flow down her cheeks as her mom embraced her, softly swaying with her in that way moms did. Chelsea did the same thing whenever she was trying to comfort Lennon.
It took a few minutes, but Chelsea finally managed to pull herself together. Once she did, she and Mom worked together to finish all the chores she’d let slide. Then Mom hung out for a little while, cuddling Lennon.
“Well, I’ll get out of your hair now,” Mom said, handing Lennon back to her. “I still have those errands to run.”
“Thanks for all your help, Mom,” Chelsea said. “And for the advice. I needed to hear it.”
“No. You need to take it,” her mom replied sternly, because Ellen Murphy always thought she knew best.
Of course, in this case, she was right.
Chapter Fourteen
