The Snow Leopard's Heart (Glacier Leopards 4)

“Then we should do that,” Joel said softly. “I haven’t been a very good brother to Zach lately, anyway. I should step it up a little. Maybe start helping him out with that deck. Get to know Teri a little better. She wishes we could be better friends, you know? But I never could before.”

“I understand,” Nina said. She cleared her throat. “But even if we spent the evening with them sometimes...then we could go back to the cabin when it was all done. So it’d be fun for a while, but not—overwhelming.”

They smiled at each other for a long moment, caught in a moment of understanding each other perfectly. But then they were interrupted by a shout echoing across the diner. "Nina!"

Nina twisted in her seat, startled. Then she froze, utterly shocked.

Standing at the hostess' stand, staring over at her, were her mother and father. Here at Oliver’s. What?

"Nina!" Her mother came running over. "It's really you! It is you!"

Joel, sitting on the outside, looked from her mother to her. "Nina? What's up?" He frowned at her expression. "Is everything okay?"

Her mother had paused by the table, and was staring at her. She looked so different to how she'd been seven years ago when Nina had left. Her face was more lined, her hair cut short, her clothes darker than the colorful outfits Nina remembered her always wearing. She looked older, and sadder.

"Nina?" she whispered.

"Um," Nina said. "Can I...get out?"

Joel shifted immediately, standing up from the booth and allowing Nina to slide out and get up herself. Her mom immediately folded Nina into her arms, hugging her tight.

She smelled just the same. Nina inhaled, overwhelmed by the flood of memories the scent evoked.

"My baby," her mother was whispering. "My precious baby. All alone for so long. I couldn't believe it when we got that letter. I had no idea it was you when I opened it. But it had a return address! I left right away, got on a plane and came here. I've missed you so much. I love you, baby, and I'm so sorry."

Her mother sounded choked with emotion, almost sobbing the words. Tears had risen to Nina's eyes also, and slowly, she brought her arms up to come around her mother and hug her back. "Hi, Mom," she whispered.

Her mom pulled back and looked her in the eye. "Nina," she said. "I stood by your father all those years ago, and let him tell you to leave, and I have regretted it ever sense. I’m so sorry. I just want my daughter back. I want you in my life, and I want to know you again."

The tears spilled out of Nina's eyes and down her cheeks.

Then a large form moved into view. Her dad.

"Mavis," said her dad, "let's take this more slowly. Figure out the situation before we commit to anything, all right? Remember, we talked about this on the plane."

Slowly, Nina pulled back from her mom and turned to face her dad. "What do you mean?"

"How about we take this outside," her father said. "See, everyone's watching."

Everyone was watching. And this was her job, after all. She didn't need to be coming in here and making a scene on her night off. Thank God Ethel wasn't here right now.

"That's a good idea," Nina said. She felt shaky and strange, and she reached instinctively for Joel. He put his arm around her instantly, and Nina felt as though a sudden well of strength had come over her.

"Are you okay?" Joel asked her. He was watching her parents suspiciously, she realized suddenly—feeling protective of her.

His presence dispelled some of the anxiety she was feeling. She had a sinking feeling that she knew why her father was hesitating.

But she had Joel with her, so she could weather anything. Especially something she’d gone through once before already, when she was so much younger and alone. She nodded. "Let's step outside. We can talk out there."

It was a warm night, and they gathered in the parking lot, out of the way of the restaurant's windows.

Nina’s mother hugged her again once they were outside, but Nina backed away a few steps and she let go.

Nina wanted her mother to take her in her arms again, say that she was sorry and that everything was okay. She’d been wanting that for seven years now, even if she’d pushed the desire so far down that she hardly ever thought of it before.

But she was an adult now, and there were other things she wanted. And she knew the look on her father’s face. She’d seen it back when she was sixteen.

“Dad,” she said steadily, “why don’t you say what you were about to say back in the restaurant.”