you believe it? I actually want a stranger to track me down.
“It’s all part of the grand plan,” Maeve said. “If you’re meant to see him again, you will, and if you’re not, there’s nothing you can do to change your fate. It’s all been preordained.”
Was Maeve going Buddhist again? At least during Maeve’s Wicca period, there had been spells and charms designed to goose fate along a different path.
They both looked toward the door at the sound of a familiar laugh. It was Gwynn, aglow with excitement. “You won’t believe who I found wandering the halls!” She poked her head back out into the hall. “It’s okay. She’s awake.”
Ed Bannister stood in the doorway, barely visible behind an armful of more larkspur and wisteria than Kate had ever seen any place short of a botanic garden in paradise.
On a surprise scale of one to ten, the appearance of her ex-husband with her favorite blooms was off the chart.
“Ed!” Maeve leaped to her feet. She had always had a soft spot for her former son-in-law. “It’s been too long.”
Ed handed Gwynn the flowers, then enveloped Maeve in a bear hug. “I read your latest on the plane, Mae.” He mimed wiping sweat from his brow. “Nobody warned me you were X-rated these days.”
Maeve laughed as she hugged him back. “A healthy sex life promotes a healthy life,” she said, “and that isn’t limited to people under sixty-five.”
Maeve’s current book promoted the sexual, social, and psychological benefits of Tantric sex for the senior citizen. Kate was proud of Maeve’s success, but there were times she wished her mother wrote under a pseudonym.
“How cool is this?” Gwynn said, clearly delighted with the impromptu family reunion. “The elevator doors opened and there he was, wandering the halls looking for Mom.”
Gwynn was an unapologetic daddy’s girl. Kate braced herself for the pangs of jealousy that usually followed one of these father/daughter get-togethers, but this time she felt only regret that they hadn’t been able to make it all turn out the way their daughter obviously still wanted it to.
“We’re going to need two vases for all of these,” Gwynn said, then dashed off with the flowers to the utility room down the hall.
“I thought you were in the outback,” Kate said to her ex-husband. She could still see the teenage boy she had married in the grown man who stood before her, and probably always would. Once, a very long time ago, she had believed she would grow old with him.
“Marie tracked me down through the bush pilot who flew me in.” He had met and married Marie a few months after their divorce became final.
Poor Gwynn. Romantic impetuosity ran in both sides of the family.
“You didn’t have to do this.”
“Of course he did,” Maeve piped up. “We’re family.”
“We were family,” Kate reminded her mother. Thirteen years was a long time to be divorced.
“You share a child together. That makes you family, no matter what the courts say.”
For a woman who had danced through a half-dozen marriages and more engagements than anyone cared to count, Maeve retained an old-fashioned reverence for the institution that was as charming as it was illogical.
“Sit.” Kate gestured toward a chair near the window. “You look exhausted.”
“Good idea.” Ed stifled a yawn. “I came straight from the airport.”
“I’m going to strangle our daughter. What did she say to Marie anyway that pulled you out of the outback?” Gwynn could turn a root canal into major neurosurgery. Kate could just imagine what she could do with a heart attack.
He looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “She said you had a heart attack. I didn’t need more than that.”
“I’m fine, Ed. Stop looking at me like I’m going to disappear.”
He didn’t crack a smile. “Gwynn said you flatlined and a stranger gave you CPR in the parking lot.”
“That’s the story, but I don’t remember the details.” They said he
“It’s all part of the grand plan,” Maeve said. “If you’re meant to see him again, you will, and if you’re not, there’s nothing you can do to change your fate. It’s all been preordained.”
Was Maeve going Buddhist again? At least during Maeve’s Wicca period, there had been spells and charms designed to goose fate along a different path.
They both looked toward the door at the sound of a familiar laugh. It was Gwynn, aglow with excitement. “You won’t believe who I found wandering the halls!” She poked her head back out into the hall. “It’s okay. She’s awake.”
Ed Bannister stood in the doorway, barely visible behind an armful of more larkspur and wisteria than Kate had ever seen any place short of a botanic garden in paradise.
On a surprise scale of one to ten, the appearance of her ex-husband with her favorite blooms was off the chart.
“Ed!” Maeve leaped to her feet. She had always had a soft spot for her former son-in-law. “It’s been too long.”
Ed handed Gwynn the flowers, then enveloped Maeve in a bear hug. “I read your latest on the plane, Mae.” He mimed wiping sweat from his brow. “Nobody warned me you were X-rated these days.”
Maeve laughed as she hugged him back. “A healthy sex life promotes a healthy life,” she said, “and that isn’t limited to people under sixty-five.”
Maeve’s current book promoted the sexual, social, and psychological benefits of Tantric sex for the senior citizen. Kate was proud of Maeve’s success, but there were times she wished her mother wrote under a pseudonym.
“How cool is this?” Gwynn said, clearly delighted with the impromptu family reunion. “The elevator doors opened and there he was, wandering the halls looking for Mom.”
Gwynn was an unapologetic daddy’s girl. Kate braced herself for the pangs of jealousy that usually followed one of these father/daughter get-togethers, but this time she felt only regret that they hadn’t been able to make it all turn out the way their daughter obviously still wanted it to.
“We’re going to need two vases for all of these,” Gwynn said, then dashed off with the flowers to the utility room down the hall.
“I thought you were in the outback,” Kate said to her ex-husband. She could still see the teenage boy she had married in the grown man who stood before her, and probably always would. Once, a very long time ago, she had believed she would grow old with him.
“Marie tracked me down through the bush pilot who flew me in.” He had met and married Marie a few months after their divorce became final.
Poor Gwynn. Romantic impetuosity ran in both sides of the family.
“You didn’t have to do this.”
“Of course he did,” Maeve piped up. “We’re family.”
“We were family,” Kate reminded her mother. Thirteen years was a long time to be divorced.
“You share a child together. That makes you family, no matter what the courts say.”
For a woman who had danced through a half-dozen marriages and more engagements than anyone cared to count, Maeve retained an old-fashioned reverence for the institution that was as charming as it was illogical.
“Sit.” Kate gestured toward a chair near the window. “You look exhausted.”
“Good idea.” Ed stifled a yawn. “I came straight from the airport.”
“I’m going to strangle our daughter. What did she say to Marie anyway that pulled you out of the outback?” Gwynn could turn a root canal into major neurosurgery. Kate could just imagine what she could do with a heart attack.
He looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “She said you had a heart attack. I didn’t need more than that.”
“I’m fine, Ed. Stop looking at me like I’m going to disappear.”
He didn’t crack a smile. “Gwynn said you flatlined and a stranger gave you CPR in the parking lot.”
“That’s the story, but I don’t remember the details.” They said he
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