up to you.”
“Honey, your dad and I would go to hell and back for you. You know that because you would go to hell and back for that sleeping baby inside.”
She wasn’t wrong. Still, I had the resources to make my parents lives’ easier. “Brad and I couldn’t spend our money in five lifetimes. What good is it if I can’t help the people I love?”
“Just take care of that baby. That’s all you need to do for your dad and me.”
“But—”
“Stop it.” My mother touched my cheek. “You’re a good girl to suggest it and to want to do it. But parents take care of their children, not the other way around.”
I didn’t agree. Children often took care of elderly parents. Of course, my parents were far from elderly, but I wouldn’t push the issue. My mom knew that if she ever needed anything, she could come to me.
“I decided to take Puppy home to the ranch.”
My mother smiled. “To be frank, I was surprised you didn’t take him to college.”
“I guess I wanted to pretend I was more grown up than I actually was.”
“Oh, honey, there’s no harm in having a sacred relic from your childhood to give you comfort. Why do you think I keep Nana’s old ratty afghan around?”
Nana was my great-grandmother, Mom’s grandmother. The afghan—crocheted in browns and greens that resembled vomit—had been the only thing my mother wanted when my great-grandmother died.
“Whenever I was sick and had to stay at my grandmother’s home while my parents went to work,” Mom said, “she wrapped me in that afghan, fed me chicken soup, and told me stories.”
“How did I not know this?”
“I guess I never told you. Since no one else wanted that old afghan, I didn’t have to give any reason why I wanted it. Not many kids had parents who both worked back then. Luckily, my grandmother was around to take care of me when my parents couldn’t.”
That old puke-colored afghan suddenly became beautiful in my mind. Almost as beautiful as my tattered old stuffed puppy. “Mom, someday I think I’d like to have that afghan.”
“You’ll get everything, Daphne. You’re my only child.”
I was. This conversation became uncomfortable quickly. I’d come way too close to losing my mother recently, and I didn’t want to contemplate the day when she would be gone. Best to change the subject.
“So…when will the greenhouse be finished?”
“I was hoping by the holidays, but that probably won’t happen.”
“Has Dad hired a contractor?”
“No. He thinks he’s going to do it himself on weekends.”
“Then you might be waiting awhile.” I couldn’t help laughing. My father wasn’t exactly a handyman.
“He’s determined,” she said.
I forced myself not to grin. I had just come up with the best Christmas present for my mom.
Chapter Eleven
Brad
“I know,” I said. “You made it very clear that Lucy is your priority now. I get that.”
He cleared his throat. “Yes, Lucy.”
Something in his tone made me pause. I believed he loved his wife and wanted to take care of her, but I got the distinct impression his comment had meant more than that.
“Anyone else, Jonathan? Anyone else you need to protect?”
He cleared his throat again, longer this time. Sounded like he had a glob of phlegm caught in there.
“There’s Larry.”
Of course. Larry was his son, but he was a grown man in law school and engaged to be married. Why did Larry need protection?
“Is Larry in some kind of trouble?” I asked.
“Why would you think that?”
“Because Larry is my age. He’s in law school and will make a good living.” He was already making a damned good living, but I didn’t say that. Did Jonathan even know his son was a millionaire?
“He’s still my child.”
“He is, but so is Daphne, and you made it quite clear to me that Daphne was my responsibility now.”
“It’s a different situation altogether,” he said. “You have unlimited resources to care for Daphne. All her needs will be met. All your son’s needs will be met. Larry doesn’t have those kinds of resources.”
Maybe not the kind I had, but Larry had resources. Clearly, his father didn’t know about Larry’s Future Lawmakers dealings.
“What needs does Larry have, then?”
“Larry is… Let’s just say he’s been in therapy.”
“I believe Daphne mentioned that, but only in passing.”
“Daphne doesn’t know Larry very well.”
“Why is that, Jonathan? I’ve always wondered.”
“A lot of reasons. The biggest one is that things did not end well between Larry’s mother and me.”
“Did you pay for his prep school and his college?”
“I paid my regular child