little time apart. ‘I’ll keep him busy. Don’t worry,’ said Shelby. ‘He’ll be fine.’
‘I hope so,’ said Chloe.
‘Aren’t you excited about the cruise?’ Shelby asked.
‘It will be good to get away for a while,’ Chloe admitted.
‘No going to work or making beds or meals for a week,’ said Shelby.
‘I could use a break,’ Chloe admitted with a sigh. ‘Not from Jeremy but . . . We never have time alone. Rob and I. I think we need that.’
‘You should call me more often. You know I’m happy to watch Jeremy.’
‘I know how demanding your job is,’ Chloe said, sounding vaguely rueful.
‘Didn’t you tell me that Molly was old enough to babysit these days?’
Chloe shrugged. ‘She’s only thirteen. I have to go pick her up, and take her home to their big mansion and make small talk with Lianna. Not exactly pleasant.’
‘I suppose not,’ said Shelby.
‘And now Lianna is pregnant. And, of course, she has to go to Dr Cliburn,’ Chloe said, referring to the ob-gyn for whom she worked. ‘So I have to see her there too. I just hope she doesn’t decide to run off with him now`.’
‘Come on now,’ Shelby chided her with a smile.
‘Well, I wouldn’t put it past her,’ said Chloe. ‘Men never see through her. They all think she’s so . . . perfect. Even after what she did to Rob – leaving him for Dr Janssen – he won’t allow any criticism of her.’
‘Well, she is Molly’s mother. And Rob respects that. He’s a very concerned father,’ Shelby reproved her gently. ‘To both of his children. You’re lucky. A lot of men wouldn’t care.’
Chloe’s voice sounded small and bitter. ‘Like my father.’
Shelby always felt guilty for the effect that loss had had on Chloe’s life. ‘I’m just saying that you married a good man. You made a wise choice.’
‘Over there,’ said Chloe, pointing at a buff-colored brick building with a large, unadorned cross at the peak of the roof. ‘There it is.’
Shelby obediently pulled over to the curb, where all the other parents were waiting. Chloe gazed through the windshield with a blank look in her eyes. Her long, thin fingers twisted in her lap. She was wearing an oversize, beat-up leather jacket, one of her flea market finds, over her scrubs, which made her look small and fragile.
Shelby frowned at her. ‘Are you OK, honey?’
Chloe did not reply.
Just then, the doors of the parish hall opened and kids began to pour out. Shelby studied each little face, her heart hammering like a teenager trying to catch a glimpse of a boy she had a crush on. Suddenly, she recognized him, and at the same minute he spotted his grandmother.
‘Shep,’ he cried joyously. Misunderstanding her name, Jeremy had dubbed her ‘Shep’ when he first could speak, and it had stuck. Jeremy began to barrel toward Shelby, blond hair falling across his forehead, a sheet of manila paper sporting a colorful drawing clutched in his hand.
‘There he is,’ Shelby cried.
‘I know, Mom,’ said Chloe quietly. ‘I know my own child.’
TWO
That night, when Rob came home, Chloe pulled a home-made casserole from the oven. ‘There’ll be plenty left over for tomorrow,’ she said pointedly to Shelby as she placed the serving dishes on the table in the tiny dining room.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Shelby wryly. ‘I’ll make sure he gets fed.’
Chloe lit the candles on the table and avoided her mother’s gaze. ‘I don’t like him to eat processed food, Mom,’ she said. ‘I know it was the easiest thing when I was little and you were working, but Jeremy’s used to fresh food.’
Shelby took a deep breath and tried not to take offense. It was true, she reminded herself, that she had cut a lot of corners in the kitchen. Chloe wasn’t saying it to be mean.
Rob, sandy-haired with strong features and mild, blue eyes, had been washing his hands in the kitchen. He came into the dining room, loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top button of his chambray shirt. He always wore a tie to work at the senior center, even with his work shirt and jeans. ‘Hey, your mother knows how to take care of a kid. I mean, you turned out pretty well.’ Rob held out a chair for his mother-in-law at the table, and Shelby sat.
‘Pretty well,’ Shelby protested with a laugh, but Chloe did not smile and her face reddened.
‘Let’s sit down,’ she said. ‘Jeremy, come to the table.’
‘I’m sitting next to Shep,’ the child crowed, and everybody smiled as