A Haven on the Bay - Nicole Ellis Page 0,12

the things she’d started.

She closed the door so their cat wouldn’t get in and wreak havoc, then came downstairs to find Kaya sitting on the living room floor playing with her stuffies. “Mommy will be here soon to pick you up after your brother’s soccer game.”

“Okay.” Kaya hung her head, then looked up at Debbie. “Can I spend the night with you instead?”

Debbie cocked her head to the side. Although she knew Kaya loved hanging out with her grandmother, she was a mommy’s girl and normally was excited when Libby came to get her. “What’s the matter?”

Kaya rubbed the soft fur on Panda’s leg. “Mommy seems mad a lot.”

“Mad?” Debbie sat down next to Kaya and pulled her into her lap. This was definitely one thing that had been easier with her own kids. Being in her sixties now, she’d much rather sit in a chair than on the floor.

“She yells at us a lot, and she and Daddy are always talking in their bedroom with the door closed.” Kaya’s lips quivered.

“Oh, honey, I’m sure she’s not mad at you.” Debbie stroked Kaya’s silky hair and the little girl relaxed into her. She had noticed Libby seemed a little on edge lately, but she wasn’t sure why. From snippets of conversations she’d overheard between her daughters and their friends, she’d learned Libby suspected Gabe might be cheating on her. It wasn’t something Debbie would have expected from her son-in-law, but if life had taught her anything, it was that things didn’t always go the way you hoped.

As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

“There’s Mommy,” Debbie said.

Kaya sprang from her lap and ran to the door, peering through the tall, frosted sidelight next to it. “Hi, Mommy.”

“Hi, sweetie.” Libby’s voice was muffled as she pressed her face close to the window. Debbie opened the door and let Libby inside. Libby leaned down to hug Kaya. “How was your day at Grandma’s?”

Kaya hugged her back, seemingly forgetting any concerns about her mother. “Good. I made a birthday card for Grandpa and we had a tea party.” She scrunched up her face. “Don’t worry, I didn’t let Little Bunny have too much tea.”

“Ah,” Libby said knowingly. “Good thing.” She moved past Kaya into the house.

“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Debbie asked.

Libby considered the offer, then shrugged. “Sure, I could use another cup. That was the longest soccer match ever. At least it wasn’t raining, but the other kids were getting antsy and I was so happy for it to be over.” She followed Debbie into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

Debbie brought two coffee cups over to where Libby was sitting and took her usual seat at the head of the table. “If you’d like, I’ve got some leftover cookies from our tea party. I managed to keep Panda’s paws off of the last lemon bar.”

Libby laughed. “I do love your lemon bars, but I’m planning on starting dinner as soon as I get home.” She rubbed the pad of her thumb against the curve of the mug’s ceramic handle and stared into the cup.

“Something’s bothering you.” Debbie narrowed her eyes at her daughter. She’d given Libby space to work through her issues, but she was tired of being in the dark about what was going on in her own daughter’s life. “What is it?”

Libby lifted her head and met Debbie’s gaze. “I wanted to talk to you about taking on more catering jobs. I have a lead on a few weddings in the next couple of weeks. Maybe even some other, smaller events. You’re feeling better, so we should jump on these opportunities when we can.”

Now it was Debbie’s turn to stare into her coffee. “I don’t know. I was kind of enjoying spending time with the grandkids and getting back into some of my hobbies.” Her eyes darted over to the basket next to her recliner where three skeins of yarn in different colors poked out. She’d made blankets for all of Libby’s kids soon after they were born, but Kaya was four and Debbie still hadn’t finished hers yet.

Libby grinned at her and shook her head dismissively. “Oh, Mom. You’ve got plenty of time for that. Think of how great this would be for us. It would be like old times.”

The trouble was, Debbie wasn’t sure she wanted to go back to the days when she wasn’t home to get dinner ready and had no time to do the things she enjoyed.

“I don’t know.” She scanned