A Love Like Ours

Chapter 44

A warm breeze wafted through the open windows of the cafe, and I turned my face toward it, watching as the sheer curtains billowed into the room, buoyed by sunlight as well as wind.

It was a beautiful day in England, but had the windows been closed in this restaurant, it would've been unbearably hot. As much as I loved my home country, the Americans had the right idea where air conditioning was concerned. It was better to have it everywhere than nowhere at all, just in case of days like today.

I stared through those open windows, watching people pass by on the street. And I probably would've enjoyed the whole atmosphere a great deal more if I wasn't feeling the remnants of last night's fears take hold. I just wasn't enjoying this quiet day in Holmes Chapel as I might normally have. No, with my arm around the back of Madelyn's chair, and my focus on the world outside of this restaurant, I was waiting for one of the passers-by to hold up a camera pointed in our direction.

And scolded myself for being so paranoid.

"So what does she do for them, then?" Mum asked as I tuned into the conversation again. She and Mads were both picking at what was left of the appetizer we'd ordered—some kind of salad.

"She's one of only three sales associates," Mads was saying. She brought her napkin to her mouth as she chewed. "It's a small boutique, so usually only two of them are in there at once, but she works alone a lot, too."

Her mum. They were talking about Michelle. I tried to seem like I'd been listening the whole time.

"And she likes it?" Mum asked.

Mads nodded emphatically as she swallowed her last bite of food. "Loves it. I think it was the perfect thing to get her back to feeling like... like she was needed, I guess."

Mum murmured her agreement, her eyes totally focused on Madelyn.

"Not that I don't need her, or my brothers or her grandchildren don't need her," Mads was quick to clarify, laughing a little. "Cause we do. But, you know, we're all doing our own things now. Mark and Will are married, both have full-time jobs, I've got a full-time job... and since then, she's just been... alone in the house. All day. It helped to have me there at night, but I worried about her during the day."

I glanced at Mads now. She didn't seem particularly emotional, but I put my hand on her knee anyway. Her fingers slid over mine, keeping them in place.

Mum clicked her tongue and lifted her water glass. "That couldn't have been easy."

Mads shook her head, her gaze on the table now, and I could tell her mind was far, far away for the moment. "No, it wasn't." She heaved a sigh after a bit of a pause and smiled. "But it's all good now." She looked at me, her brows furrowed. "I think it's been like, what, ten months since she started there?"

"Mm," I set my own water glass down, "She started in November I think, didn't she?"

"So, like nine months, then." Mads looked at Mum again. "And it turned out to be the best thing for her."

"That's wonderful," Mum said, planting her elbows on the table and folding her hands together. "She really seems like a take-charge kind of woman."

Mads laughed. "Oh, she is. A no-nonsense, full speed ahead, take-charge kind of woman."

Mum's eyes gleamed as she laughed along. "I can't wait to meet her. I'm already sure I'll like her."

Madelyn's smile went a bit shy. "I hope so. Hopefully, we'll be able to get you two together sometime soon. Right, Harry?"