When I’m done with the whole story, she stares at me as if I’ve grown horns on my forehead.
“I always knew you were not right in the head, and this proves it. But something good has come out of it.”
“Kindly do tell.”
“You reconnected with the love of your life,” Adeline says happily.
“Didn’t you just hear what I said? Thomas and I are not involved romantically. To be honest, we scratch each other’s itches, but that’s about it.”
Adeline covers her ears with her hands, making me laugh. “No details, please.”
“There will be no grand proposal here. We just want to co-parent and raise our baby.”
“You two love each other. Even a blind person can see that.” Adeline takes my hand. “I’m really sorry that you felt you couldn’t tell me all that so I could be there for you. I guess I haven’t been the most approachable big sister.”
“No, you haven’t,” I tell her, and she makes a face at me.
***
I’m in my car on Wortham Street, motivating myself to get out and walk up to the bar that’s clearly under renovation. In a moment of cowardice, I wish I’d taken up Thomas’s offer to come with me.
There’s nothing as difficult as treating someone with disdain and suspicion and then trying to be friendly. It feels like trying to put spilled milk back into the cup. I’m a step away from changing my mind when I remind myself why I’m doing this. It’s to give all of us peace of mind. As Thomas said, maybe if we know what kind of person he is, we won’t be so suspicious of him. I grab my purse and get out of the car.
It is not much to look at from the outside, and when I push the door and step in, it’s not any better. It looks like a bomb has gone off. There’s a lot of work to be done, and I can’t help wondering whether it’s my mother’s money that is funding all this.
“Hi, what a nice surprise,” Ian says, emerging from the shadows.
“Hi,” I say, relieved that his tone is friendly considering that Adeline and I have made our feelings very clear regarding his affair with our mother.
“Would you like a tour?” he asks, and I nod.
He talks to me the way you would a friend, and soon, my tension eases. There are builders everywhere, and we end the tour at the back garden, which is ready. It’s a lovely addition with a nice green lawn and tables covered by sky blue umbrellas.
“This is really nice,” I tell Ian as I sink into a wooden chair. “I can see myself here sipping a glass of chardonnay on a hot summer evening.”
He chuckles. “That’s the aura we want to create. Excuse me for a moment.”
The sun is warm against my skin, and I kick off my shoes and let the grass tickle my feet. Heaven.
“Here you go,” Ian says as he returns with a box of orange juice and two glasses. He serves us and sits down opposite me.
“I’m glad you came to see for yourself what we are doing here.”
I sip my juice and almost sigh as the cold drink goes down my throat. “We don’t know each other very well, do we?”
“No, we don’t,” he says. “I think that I know more about you, though. Your mother talks about you kids a lot.”
I smile, hoping that my silence encourages him to continue.
“Just to be clear, I’m not offended that you’re curious about me. Were our roles reversed, I would be too.”
He’s smooth I have to admit.
“So, where do I start? Ah, the obvious one. My age. I turned fifty this year. I don’t have kids or a wife or ex-wife, though I was married for a very brief time when I was twenty-five.”
“What happened?”
“She died in childbirth, and my boy survived for an hour, and then he joined his mother.” His voice sounds so sad, and he has a faraway look on his face.
“Oh no. I’m so sorry.”
“It was a long time ago,” he says.
“How come you didn’t marry again?” I ask and immediately realize that the question is too personal for people who are relative strangers. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that.”
“It’s okay and a fair question to ask after what I told you,” Ian says. “She was the love of my life, and I was heartbroken for a very long time. After that, I just never met anyone I really connected with until I met your mother.”
I have tears in my eyes. Ian is either a very good actor or he really does have feelings for my mother and is not out to use her. Only time will tell.
***
In the evening as I’m relaxing reading a book, my mother calls me.
“I just want to say thank you for spending some time with Ian and going to see the bar. I appreciate it.” She sounds teary, and in that instant, it dawns on me how lonely it must have been for her since Dad passed on all those years ago.