She nodded. “I’ll have dinner ready. As good as the hospital food is, it will be nice to eat something that doesn’t come from the cafeteria for a change.”
“I’ll second that.” He leaned over to give her a light goodbye kiss, then paused for another, slightly longer one. “It’s good to have you home. I’ve missed you.”
She swallowed. “I’ve missed you, too,” she murmured.
She doubted he knew she was talking about missing him for much longer than the last few days. But maybe things would be better now, she thought with a flicker of wary optimism.
Just maybe…
Jackson hadn’t been gone for an hour before Donna showed up at the front door. Laurel let her in with the usual reserved courtesy. “Tyler’s lying down for a little while. He got overexcited about coming home and used up his strength. I don’t expect him to sleep long, though. Can I get you some coffee while we wait for him to wake up?”
“Do you have any decaf?”
“Just made a fresh pot. I was going to have a cup with a slice of chocolate cake my neighbor brought over a few minutes ago.”
“That was nice of her. Was it Mrs. Pelotti?”
“Yes.”
Donna nodded. “Beverly was always fond of her. They shared coffee together often during Tyler’s nap-time.”
It took some effort, but Laurel kept her smile firmly in place. “Yes, so I’ve heard.”
Donna declined any cake, and she barely touched her coffee while Laurel ate her own cake and tried to think of things to say. Laurel had the feeling there was something her mother-in-law wanted to bring up but was hesitant to do so. She decided to keep talking about inconsequential matters and let Donna take her own time in directing the conversation elsewhere.
When Donna did finally speak, her question caught Laurel off-guard. “Am I right in thinking that you and Jackson have been getting along better lately?”
Laurel lifted her eyebrows. “I beg your pardon?”
“You think I’m prying into your marriage.” Donna seemed to have been prepared for that possibility. “It just seems to me that the two of you have grown a bit closer during Tyler’s ordeal.”
“It’s been my observation that parents either grow closer or completely fall apart during a child’s illness,” Laurel said with a slight shrug. “Jackson and I chose to cope with the stress together. As a team,” she added, quoting him.
“You seemed to let him take care of you more while you were pretty much trapped at the hospital during the past week. He needs to feel that he’s taking care of his family, you know. Most men see themselves as protectors and providers, and when that role is taken away from them, they become insecure.”
“Haven’t we already had this conversation? If you’re going to try to pressure me again into quitting my job so Jackson can be secure in his ‘manly’ role, then—”
“I’m not trying to pressure you into anything,” Donna interrupted impatiently. “I just wanted to tell you that I hope you and he are working out your problems. A wife is her husband’s safe refuge when he runs into hard times. She makes herself available when he needs to feel loved and reassured. And before you ask, no, he doesn’t talk to me about any problems between the two of you. I just know him so well that I can sense when he isn’t entirely happy.”
She made it clear enough that she thought she knew her son of thirty-plus years better than his wife of four years did. And probably that was true, in some ways, Laurel thought. But Donna didn’t know her very well at all. Laurel wanted to believe that was as much Donna’s fault as it was her own.
They weren’t the only mother- and daughter-in-law who felt the need to compete for their son and husband’s love and attention, she was certain. She’d read enough magazine articles dealing with that subject. But none of those articles had seemed to quite address Donna’s hot and cold attitude, or Laurel’s feeling that Donna always seemed to know something that no one else did.
Maybe Laurel and Jackson had grown a bit closer during Tyler’s illness, but the same couldn’t be said about Laurel and Donna. In fact, Laurel felt more tense around her mother-in-law now than she ever had before. Knowing how close Jackson was to his parents, she didn’t think it boded well for the marriage that her relationship with his mother was falling apart. How could they truly be a team if they were so often on opposing sides?
As she had predicted, Tyler’s nap didn’t last long. He came into the kitchen with the color returned to his face and a renewed spring to his step, his eyes lighting up when he saw the chocolate cake and his grandmother, in that order.
There was no further opportunity for Laurel and Donna to talk privately, and Laurel was glad. They never seemed to accomplish much with their candid discussions.
It was only much later that she thought of Donna’s words and wondered if there had been a warning for her in them. Was Donna expecting Jackson to face something that would leave him needing the support of a loving wife? Something that had nothing to do with Tyler’s illness?
Was Donna finally going to talk to Jackson about whatever she had been hiding from him?
Eleven
Having been summoned by his mother, Jackson stopped by his parents’ house after leaving the job site Saturday afternoon. He called Laurel to let her know where he would be, and something in her voice when she replied warned him to brace himself. Either she knew something or, like Jackson, she was guessing that Donna was ready to talk—and that it wasn’t going to be a casual conversation.
“Tyler and I are fine,” she’d told him as they concluded the call. “You spend all the time you need with your parents. I— Well, I think something’s wrong with your mother.”