Kip put his hand on hers and squeezed her fingers. “You two need to back off. Harlow and I will make the decisions about the wedding. We’ll let you know when we’ve picked a location and what the guest list is.”
“The less you pay for the where, the more you have for the who,” his father grumbled.
Judy shot him a warning look.
“I’m shutting up,” he told her. “It’s her parents’ money. If they want to waste it, that’s their decision. I know, I know. You’ve told me enough times.”
OMG! Kip’s parents talked about how her parents spent their money? Harlow stared at her food, not sure what to say.
Judy freshened everyone’s iced tea. “Let’s talk about something else. Kip, you’ll never guess who called the other day. Tracey, and she wanted your number. I didn’t give it to her.”
Kip’s face drained of color.
“Who’s Tracey?” Harlow asked.
Hank frowned. “Kip’s ex-wife. Who else would she be?”
* * *
“I know nothing about grandfather clocks,” Robyn admitted with a laugh as she removed the clean towel from the top of the bowl and checked the dough.
Sure enough, it had risen. She scooped it onto the floured countertop and used a sharp knife to divide it into twenty-four pieces.
“The one on the second floor might be from the early 1800s. I think it’s an English marquetry longcase.” She glanced at her aunt. “It belongs in a museum, Lillian.”
Her aunt smiled from her comfortable chair as she patted the tuxedo cat dozing on her lap.
“Then you should get on that, my dear.”
“Call up a museum and offer it to them?”
“I’m sure there’s a procedure,” Lillian teased. “Leaving it on the doorstep like an abandoned puppy won’t do.”
“Plus it’s really big.”
Robyn stretched the first piece of dough into a square, folded the corners under and shaped it into a ball.
“It’s good to see you back in the kitchen,” Lillian said. “Making bread.”
“You’re the one who taught me how. Every time I work with dough, I think of you.”
She remembered being in this kitchen back when she’d been so small, she’d had to stand on a chair to see what her aunt was doing. Lillian had taught her how to make cookies and brownies, crunchy French loaves and delicious cakes. She’d passed on that knowledge to both her kids, although Austin had been a lot less interested than Harlow.
Thinking of her daughter made her grateful she’d reached out. They’d only exchanged brief “hi, how are you” type comments, but it was a start. Fighting less with her daughter was on Robyn’s to-do list. She just had to figure out how to make that happen.
“I remember the first time you brought Cord here,” Lillian mused. “He was determined to help you in the kitchen.”
Robyn chuckled. “He kneaded with great enthusiasm.”
“He wanted to please you. That boy was crazy about you.”
“We were young and in love,” Robyn said lightly, knowing that hadn’t been enough to sustain them.
“You have regrets,” Lillian said kindly.
“Sure. About a lot of things. Sometimes I wonder if I’m more to blame than him. Not for the cheating—that’s on him, but for giving in rather than standing up to him.”
“You didn’t want to rip apart your family. You thought, after surviving cancer, Harlow needed both her parents. Austin, too.”
“You make me sound reasonable.”
“You were.”
“You’re right that I forgave him because of Harlow and Austin. I felt like they’d already been through so much. I didn’t think they’d survive a divorce. But what if that’s not true? What if I was really protecting myself?”
“Is that bad?” Lillian asked.
“Yes. It means I’m weak.”
“It means you’re human.”
Robyn finished with the rolls. She draped plastic wrap over them and washed her hands.
“You always see the best in me.”
Lillian laughed. “Of course, my dear. I love you. What else would I do?”
Robyn’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen, then grinned as she answered and put the call on speakerphone.
“Austin, you’re calling instead of texting. Has there been a shift in the earth’s rotation? Are the stars not aligning? I’m here with Lillian, by the way, so say hello.”
Her youngest chuckled. “Hey, Lillian.”
“Hello, dear boy. I miss you. Come see me.”
“I’d love to,” Austin admitted. “I miss you both.”
Robyn heard something in her son’s tone, but didn’t want to probe in front of her aunt.
“We miss you, too,” she said. “How are things?”
“Okay. Work. Hanging out with my friends.”
Lillian shifted the cat off her lap and rose. “I’ll leave you two to talk,” she said. “I’m going upstairs to take a little nap.”
Robyn kissed her cheek. “I’ll check on you later.”
Lillian walked out of the kitchen. Robyn turned her attention back to the call, taking him off speaker and putting the phone to her ear.
“Austin, are you okay?”
He sighed. “Dad’s sticking me with all the shit jobs, like he’s trying to prove something and I don’t know what. Plus, I’ve been trying to talk to him for a month, and he keeps blowing me off.”
“What do you want to talk to him about?”
“Stuff. My future.”
Which told her nothing. “I’m right here. I can listen.”
“Thanks, Mom, but this is stuff I need Dad for. Besides, some of it is me finding out if he’ll ever listen to me. I know you’ll always take the time.”
“Austin, your dad loves you.”
“That doesn’t mean he has time for me.”
She ran through a list of potential “dad only” problems. “Is someone pregnant?”
The line went silent. Robyn held her breath, too terrified to even pray.
“Mom, jeez. I don’t have a girlfriend right now.”