Before she could analyze what her inner motivations might be, the door swung open. A slight woman with dark hair and delicate features appeared in the entryway. Declan held up the bag. “I brought cookies,” he said. “Your favorites.”
She smiled but it didn’t quite make it to her eyes. Zoe thought she saw a flash of disappointment cross the other woman’s features. Perhaps she’d hoped it was her husband visiting, not her son.
“Looks like you brought more than cookies,” she said, eyeing Zoe curiously before returning her attention to Declan. “About time you bring a woman around.”
Declan put his hand on Zoe’s back. “This is Zoe…” He paused as if he suddenly realized he didn’t know her last name.
Considering “Marks” had become headline news these days, she had no intention of filling in the blank spot he’d noted. Besides, she wasn’t here as his
girlfriend. They were having a sex thing, not a love connection. She wasn’t stupid enough to fall in love with a man like Declan. And she didn’t need more complications than necessary. It was bad enough she had on no makeup and basically looked like a bum. She didn’t need to be linked to a scandal too. Especially one her family continued to avoid being straight with her about. Both of her brothers and her father had dodged her at every turn and she’d had about all she could take. Mike had even stood her up for lunch the day before. Zoe had been so ticked she could have chewed nails.
That thought made her all the more determined to turn the conversation away from the name Marks. Zoe held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Accepting Zoe’s hand, her smile seemed to brighten and she stepped back and waved them in. “You two come in.”
Inwardly, Zoe let out a silent sigh of relief. Last name avoided, thank God. Zoe noted Declan’s mother’s attire. She looked almost too neat and together. As if she’d worked really hard at it. Simple black slacks and a white silk shell looked casual but somehow elegant at the same time. A closer inspection of Sharon’s eyes exposed puffiness. No doubt from crying. Her perfectly applied makeup had been meant to hide the emotional side effects of leaving her husband.
Zoe felt like an intruder. How could Sharon talk to her son and express her pain with a stranger present? She watched Declan’s mother turn and walk down a narrow hallway. Declan took her bakery bag and motioned for Zoe to enter the apartment. A few moments later, Zoe sat next to Declan on a leather couch. The room, decorated in rich browns and expensive art, had a masculine flare. Not at all the way Zoe would picture a home Sharon decorated.
Sharon sat her cookie on the long, marble coffee table and then settled on the edge of a wingback chair, looking like she might bolt at any moment. After an uncomfortable moment of silence, she waved a hand through the air, indicting the room. “It came furnished. Amazing what convenience money can buy.”
The words held a distinct bitterness and they hit a nerve for Zoe. “But it can’t buy happiness.” She kept her eyes on Sharon when she said the words but she felt Declan’s attention.
“A voice of experience?” Sharon asked.
Zoe didn’t want to talk about herself, but she’d opened the door for questions and she knew it. “Let’s just say I have been around. Money has a nasty way of taking control of life. It becomes the replacement for other things that have no price tag.”
Sharon stared at Zoe a moment and then turned her gaze on her son. “Smart woman. I hope you’ll let her influence you.”
“Money doesn’t control me, Mother. You know that.”
“Do I?” she asked, her voice quivering. “You work like a dog by your father’s side and for what, if not money?” She laughed. “I know. I know. It’s all about justice and the law. I’ve heard it all from your father. It’s why he didn’t come home until all hours of the night. It’s why he forgot anniversaries and birthdays and every special occasion I remember since he opened that firm.”
“I’m young. I’d hoped my hard work would let Dad retire and you two could enjoy life a little.”
“So if he retired tomorrow you’d be different?” “Mother—”
Sharon held up her hand in stop sign fashion. “Don’t explain. I don’t want to hear your reasons. I’ve heard thirty-seven years of excuses that played out like a well-plotted closing statement.”
Zoe didn’t know what to do. She felt like she was in the middle of something never meant for her ears. Instinct made her act. She pushed to her feet. “Listen,” she said. “I’m going to step into the hall and make a call.”
Sharon and Declan both stood. “No,” Sharon said. “I’m sorry. I really am. Please sit and talk to me. Declan hasn’t brought a woman to meet me since high school. I can’t believe I’m blowing it with emotional nonsense.”