Sex could confuse things. Could mess things up, and yet she didn’t want to deny either of them what they both seemed to want.
Her mom pulled out a chair and sat, her face gone white, pinched with pain.
“Mom?”
Allison was around the table and at her mom’s side as fast as possible.
Maisey waved a hand. “It’s nothing. Indigestion. Those leftovers from the restaurant were too spicy for me.”
Allison turned to grab a glass of water only to discover Gabe standing right there, holding one out. His expression showed his concern, but there was no trace of it in his voice as he spoke.
“You sit and relax. If you’d like, I’ll go take care of those trees you asked me about, and Allison can help you sort here at the table.” He leaned in and gestured toward the pile Allison had been working on. “You keep an eye on her. I think I saw her sneaking some papers out of that one. If she’s hiding old love letters or something, I need you to catch her for me.”
Allison’s mom sipped the water, lightness around her eyes that hadn’t been there a moment before. She put the glass down and patted Gabe’s hand lightly. “You go on. I’ll watch her for you.”
“Mom!”
Gabe squeezed Allison around the waist as he headed to his task, and a wave of something far more than gratitude swept over her.
He knew when she needed a touch. Not just the physical touch, but the emotional. How many nights had he sat and listened to her talk about the restaurant? Let her go on about the things that were happening, the changes she’d seen in her mom.
So damn patient.
“Now that’s what I like to see.” Maisey tugged on her sleeve and dragged Allison’s attention to the fact she’d been staring after Gabe’s back as he walked out the door.
She twisted to look at her mother. “What do you like to see?”
“You. In love.”
Allison got herself busy digging into the nearest box and lifting things onto the table. The flutter inside pointed out maybe being in love and being very much in lust looked somewhat similar. She wasn’t going to let the bad moment pass, either. “What did you eat that’s upset you so much?”
Maisey took the pile of paper from the table in front of them and started flipping through them. She returned a few to the pile on the left, dropping the rest into the garbage can at her side. “Just a rich sauce. I’m feeling better already.”
The house fell silent for a moment, only the soft noises of her mom going through the old receipts and bills. The gentle ticking of the ancient family cuckoo clock in the living room—a sound that had been a part of all her growing-up years.
For a second she imaged it as a stopwatch, an eerie hourglass ticking down the moments of her mother’s life.
The pain inside grew too large to contain, and she carefully came to her mother’s side. Knelt by her chair and wrapped her arms around Maisey and held on tight.
Her mom stiffened slightly, then sighed and returned the embrace. “You’re a little old for crawling into my lap now, aren’t you?”
Allison didn’t speak. Couldn’t speak. Her throat had closed up at the realization these moments were fading. At some point she’d reach out to hug her mother and the woman would be gone forever.
“I love you, Mom.” Cracking, barely understandable.
“Oh, sweetie.” Maisey sniffed and squeezed even harder. “You going to be okay?”
“No.” Allison pulled back so she could look at her mom directly in the eye. “Mom, I know.”
“Know what?”
Allison gestured, even though her flailing probably made no sense. Nothing more than a whirl of her hands, but holding back the motion was impossible. “About you. About what’s wrong.”
Maisey’s face tightened, her lips pressed together. She blinked hard and then nodded once. A sharp, sudden jerk. “I wondered if you did.”
Allison held her peace about how she’d found out. If her mom asked, she’d consider telling, but who spilt the beans was less important than everything else right now. “I’m here for you, okay?”
Maisey stared out the window. “I didn’t want you to have to worry. Do Paul and Elle know as well?”
“Not yet, but you should tell them—”
“No,” Maisey blurted out. “Allison, no. And promise me you won’t tell them either. After everything that happened last time with your father, I don’t want to see them hurting because of me.”
“There’s nothing you can do?”
Maisey shook her head. “Nothing. It’s cancer, sweetie. Pancreatic. And taking experimental drugs in the hopes of prolonging my life just to make it to Christmas? I can’t—” Her voice broke, and she sucked back a gasp. “I can’t watch you all go through that again. It’s better if it’s quick.”
Listening to her mom list all the reasons Allison had thought of was confirmation, but it also gave her the chance to add her plea. “We’re not children anymore, Mom. Telling them is the right thing to do. Give them time to say goodbye.”
Maisey’s lips pressed together tight as she avoided Alison’s gaze.
Stubborn as always. Allison readied herself to argue some more. Maisey broke down crying, and suddenly she was neck deep in tears and having to be strong for her mom. It took a while before the torrent passed, both of them using the box of Kleenex at an alarming rate.
Maisey finally nodded. “I’ll think about it. Don’t say anything yet, will you?”
Allison hesitated before giving in. “But don’t wait too long. I’ll help you. We’ll all want to be here for you.”
Maisey clutched her hands. “In a way, I’m glad you know. And I’m ever so glad you have Gabe right now.”
And with that one comment, any chance she had of confessing that she and Gabe weren’t really a couple slipped away. It was terrible, and it was probably wrong, but Allison felt the same way. “Do you want anything? Can I get you anything?”
Maisey shook her head.
They both sat back, the clicking clock in the background now just the familiar noise that had been part of life forever. Maisey played with the papers a little, then straightened. “Well, enough moping. I want to get this cleaned up so we can enjoy some supper and then maybe we can just talk for a bit. If you don’t mind staying and visiting for a while?”
Allison squeezed her mom quickly, not trusting herself to give a full-out hug without breaking into tears. The she returned to the other side of the table and continued her part of the job.
“You want me to…” No better way than to just say it straight, now that the truth was out. “You want me to divvy up pictures between us kids? Or do you have things around the house you want given to friends? We don’t need to talk about it now, but you should think about it.”
Her mom nodded. “I will. Not that I really care who gets the hurricane lanterns, but I sure don’t want you kids throwing out something that’s actually valuable.”
“Oh, Mom.”
“Well, you remember Paul was snitching coins from your father’s coin collection to buy candy at the corner store.”
Allison groaned on her brother’s behalf. “He was ten years old. One mistake and you’re never going to let him forget it.”
Maisey moved the box in front of her to the side and started on the next one. “It was rather memorable because he was using real silver dollars. If Mrs. Fortney hadn’t told me, he would have gone through the entire set.”
They continued their task. Allison let her mom ramble about all kinds of things and words poured out—every topic under the sun. She listened and soaked it in. At the same time, a part of her wondered where Gabe was. When he’d get back, and how he would react to discovering Mom’s secret was out.
Would he stick with the plan or try to convince her the deception could be finished?