“That and a whole list of things you had no business saying to her, and you know what they are. She has a right to do what she wants, and live where she wants.”
“I’ll think about it,” Deanna said icily. “Is she coming back to New York now? I assume she’s flying, not driving back.”
“She’s going to see Millie in Mendocino first for a few days.”
“I’ll see her when she gets back,” Deanna said noncommittally.
“Wait until she invites you, or call first. Don’t just drop in on her. Have a little common courtesy and respect.” He wasn’t letting her off the hook.
“Do I need an engraved invitation now?” she said caustically.
“No,” he said. “All you need is a heart. It would be a good place to start. She’s our mother, Dee. That’s a sacred relationship, or it should be.”
“Since when did you turn into such a mama’s boy? You hardly ever have her out to visit either, and your wife doesn’t like her.”
“It’s going to be different now,” he said, and he hung up a few minutes later. It was his last day in the office before their trip to Hawaii, and he was too busy to spar with his bitchy sister. It was just too bad her husband never yanked her chain. Ben thought she needed it.
* * *
—
When Maddie left them that evening, she kissed the children and Laura, and Ben held her tightly in his arms in a hug for a long moment.
“Take care of yourself, Mom,” he whispered to her. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Ben,” she said, looking deep into his eyes, and she smiled at him. “Thank you for everything.” There were tears in his eyes when he waved goodbye to her. He was sorry to see her leave. Laura came up and put an arm around his waist.
“We’ll have her back soon,” she promised. It had been a great visit. Hopefully, the first of many more to come.
Chapter 11
Maddie was just closing her bags, getting ready to check out of the hotel, when William called her. She had sent him a text thanking him for the flowers when she arrived, and she told him on the phone that they were still beautiful.
“How was your visit with your son?” he asked her.
“Wonderful. The best one ever. I spent most of it playing with the kids. Ben and I had a nice dinner alone on the first night. That’s never happened before. He sent his wife to a benefit without him, so we got some time together. You just caught me. I’m leaving for Mendocino, to see my daughter. She finished a book, so she’s letting me come up.”
“How long will you be there?”
“As long as she can stand me, a few days at most. She likes her own company. She gets nervous if I hang around too long.” It intrigued him how she seemed to adjust to each of her children’s personalities and needs, and accommodated them. He expected his son to fit into his life, but Theo was very young. Her children were adults and sounded complicated.
“Is that what I have to look forward to? A three-day limit when I see my son, once he grows up?”
“Maybe. Depending on what his wife wants.”
“I’d better enjoy him while I can. I had an idea last night and I thought I’d run it past you. I didn’t realize you were going to Mendocino.”
“I just got the invitation a couple of days ago.”
“I’d like to come up and see you. We could spend the day in the Napa Valley, or in the city if you prefer. I’d like to see you before you go back to New York. I’m sure it sounds crazy, but I miss you, Maddie.” She was touched to hear it. She had thought of him too, but she’d been busy with her son and grandchildren. She thought about it as he asked her.
“I really need to get back. I’ve been gone for a long time. My desk must look like a nightmare. I’ve never played hooky like this.” But the idea of a day or two with him appealed to her too. “There’s almost no phone service where my daughter lives.”
“That must be inconvenient.”
“She likes it that way. Why don’t I call you when I leave Mendocino? If my assistant isn’t screaming for me by then, and if it isn’t too short notice for you, you can come up to the city and we can spend a day or two together. I’d enjoy it.”
“I’ll wait to hear from you. I can be in the city before you get down from Mendocino. I’ll book a room for myself just in case.”
“Thank you for being flexible.”
“It’s worth it to see you,” he said. She booked a room for herself when she checked out too. She had been planning to stay there for a night before she flew out after Mendocino, but another day wouldn’t make too much difference. And she liked the idea of seeing William. There was something very peaceful and soothing about him, and at the same time very masculine. She had enjoyed his company and their intelligent conversations about subjects that interested them both.
She left the city half an hour later and headed north to Mendocino. It was a sunny day when she started her drive, but the weather got foggier and the landscape more austere as she neared her destination. Milagra lived just outside town, and as Maddie drove up to the house, she smiled. It looked like something in one of her daughter’s novels. Milagra kept the place neat and tidy, but Maddie always expected a vampire to open the door when she rang the bell. She had stopped at the bakery in town and was carrying a bag of pains au chocolat and croissants, and she had bought a bunch of flowers.
It took a long time for Milagra to come to the door, and Maddie wondered if she was out. She finally opened it with a serious expression. She was wearing a ripped sweatshirt with bleach stains on it, and jeans that were torn. It was a fashionable look at the moment, but Milagra’s jeans looked as though they had been run through a shredder, not intended by a designer.
“I’m working on an outline,” she said, frowning at her mother, who knew the drill. No hello, no hug, no kiss. She had had an idea, and instantly disappeared like a ghost. Maddie always stayed in the same room, and knew where to go. She took her bags upstairs and set them down. The clothes she wore were already damp from a thick mist outside. And she went back downstairs to put the croissants away and the kettle on for a cup of tea.
Milagra reappeared an hour later, looking relieved and pleased to see her mother. “Sorry, Mom. It just came to me right before you got here. I’ve got to grab the ideas when they come. If I don’t, I forget the nuances.”
“No worries.” Maddie smiled at her, happy to see her. They hadn’t seen each other for almost a year. Milagra was waiflike and eccentric and always had been, even as a child. She would hide under the stairs somewhere or in a closet for hours, and not respond when you called her. She had told Maddie when she was five that people were too big and the world was too loud. But she had found her niche, and the people she wrote about were as odd as she was herself. Deanna had complained as a teenager that it was like living with the Addams Family. Milagra was beautiful in an ethereal, translucent, almost transparent way. She hated bright sunlight, and her skin was china white. She had Maddie’s blond hair and blue eyes, but everything about her was paler, as though filtered by an invisible film, like a fine white veil. Her three large dogs were asleep in the living room, and the cats were hiding under a chair, eyeing Maddie with suspicion. The dogs had thick curly coats and were a mix of some kind.