had ultimately gone with the one that felt right to him. The children had grown much closer to Susan in her remaining months than he would have imagined possible. While that may have magnified their grief at her loss, he wouldn’t have deprived her or the children of the opportunity to share those last weeks.
Beside him, Samantha shifted on the bench. The scent he was coming to associate with her floated on the breeze toward him, strawberries and clotted cream with lemon biscuits.
His mouth watered.
“It sounds to me as if you did everything right.”
“I don’t know about that. I just did my best. There’s no right or wrong in a complicated situation like ours.”
“Other than leaving your husband and children for a Spanish flamenco musician. I would say that definitely falls under the wrong column.”
He had to smile at her tart tone. “I can agree with you on that point. But forgiveness can be powerful, too. I’m not sure we could ever heal all those wounds, even if she hadn’t become so ill, but at least I no longer hated Susan for walking out. I accepted my part in not being the husband she needed. In the end, I mostly felt...sorry for her.”
“I owe you an apology,” she said after a long moment.
“Why is that?” he asked, startled.
“I’ve been gearing up to lecture you on your parenting skills. But I have a feeling perhaps I don’t know the full story.”
“Oh, trust me. You could probably lecture me night and day about my parenting skills. What did I do this time?”
“Probably nothing. The other day, Amelia told me you didn’t want them to talk about their mother, that you told them it was time to move on. I was prepared to think you were an unfeeling jerk, if you want the truth. Children need time and space to grieve. They might seem as if they’re handling things fine, but often there can be far more going on inside than they will ever share.”
He didn’t want her to think poorly of him. He wanted her to keep looking at him with that admiration in her eyes that seemed as genuine as the moonlight.
He also wanted to know why she spoke with such firm knowledge. She said her father had died young. Had she been discouraged from talking about him?
“I make plenty of mistakes where the children are concerned, but I promise, I’ve never told them not to discuss their mother. They went to grief counseling from the time she was put on hospice until only a few months ago. I try to talk to them about their memories of her as often as possible without making the topic oppressive for them.”
“Why would she say they weren’t supposed to talk about her?”
He frowned. “I have no idea. Maybe she misunderstood something I said. Thank you for telling me. I’ll try to make it clear to both of them that it’s healthy to talk about her, that it’s okay to feel sad and miss her.”
She shifted on the bench beside him. “You’re welcome. I was all ready to yell at you the next time I saw you. I feel a little let down now.”
He laughed, which seemed to surprise both of them. “Go ahead. I probably deserve it for something else I’ve done wrong.”
“I would guess you’re an excellent father,” she said after a moment. “Only a loving parent and an honorable man would be concerned enough about his children’s mother that he would be willing to care for her as she was dying, even after they were divorced. It couldn’t have been easy.”
He didn’t know quite how to respond to that. He was only aware of a soft, seductive warmth flickering to life inside him. “Thank you,” he said gruffly. “You’re right. It wasn’t easy. But I don’t regret it, despite what my family and friends might have thought.”
They lapsed into silence again, but it was far more comfortable this time. He could feel some of the tension ease from his shoulders.
How did he find her presence so relaxing, especially with this attraction he couldn’t seem to fight?
“Tell me more about your research project. What led you to salmon, of all things?”
He seized on the topic, grateful to have another reason to stay with her for a few more moments. “I’ve always found them fascinating. The word salmon is believed to derive from the Latin word salmo or to leap. They fight against rapids and strong currents, work their way past snags in