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“Cool.” Jess knelt to help him open the packages.

Maureen watched them for a few seconds. Something was up. Tension beyond the normal mother/daughter strain crackled in the air. Jess barely made eye contact, unusual for her. “In your face” was a term coined with Jess in mind.

“How about you, Jess?”

“Cookies and milk would be great, Mom. Thanks.”

Maureen retreated to her cozy kitchen, her thoughts spinning. She glanced at the refrigerator, decorated with photos and crayon drawings. She touched a fingertip to last year’s Christmas photo and the grins on their faces. Why had Jess come? What was happening? Since Jess had spirited Riley off to Seattle when he was just a few months old, she rarely initiated contact. Maureen had been the one to make plans to visit, to make ninety-five percent of the phone calls. She’d even bought them a computer with a video camera so that she and Riley could keep in touch more intimately than through phone calls.

Why are you here, Jess?

Maureen got her cookie plate down from her cupboard and took out a bakery box of the big, chewy, chocolate chip cookies she kept to satisfy Ted’s sweet tooth, then poured two glasses of milk.

“I could use a little help,” she called out, hoping to get a minute alone with her daughter, but it was Riley who popped into the kitchen.

“Those cookies are big,” he said.

“Hmm. I think you’re right. Maybe I should break them into smaller pieces and put some back?”

“No way.” He grinned.

She handed him the plate, then picked up the glasses and followed him. They sat on the floor among a city of cars already in place.

“This is the dish that Mommy painted, huh, Grandma? I can read it now. It says, ‘I love you, Mom.’”

“That’s right. She made it for me when she was twelve years old, for Mother’s Day.” When I was still a cool mom to her.

Jess slid her fingers around the circle of multicolored hearts painted around the edge. “Aunt Cherie took me to a do-it-yourself ceramics shop. We had a blast.”

“I wanna do that,” Riley mumbled, cookie crumbs spraying.

“Swallow before you talk, bud.”

Maureen took advantage of the opportunity. “Maybe the shop is still in business. How long are you staying?”

“I’m not sure yet, Mom.”

“No idea? A day? A week? A month?” she added in a teasing tone.

“I really don’t know.”

An open-ended visit? Now Maureen was really worried.

A long silence followed, until Riley finished his cookie and yawned. “Mommy, I’m tired.”

“Of course you are, bud. Let’s get you to bed.”

Maureen opened the sleeper-sofa in the guest room while Jess supervised Riley’s bedtime preparations. Hugs and kisses followed. His stuffed tiger, Stripe, was tucked in with him. He was almost asleep before the light was turned out.

“I’m going to bed, too,” Jess said outside the guest room door. “I’m wiped.”

She headed toward the bathroom, but Maureen stopped her. “What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you drive all the way down here without calling first. What if I’d been gone?”

“You’re never gone.”

Maureen had no response to that. Jess was right. It was a bone of contention with Ted, too. Which was why she’d finally given in and scheduled a vacation.

“Jess—”

“Really, Mom, I’m exhausted. Can we talk later?”

“I guess so.” What else could she say?

Jess slipped into the bathroom and shut the door.

Maybe it would be good to wait until tomorrow anyway. Since they pushed each other’s buttons easily, having a full night’s sleep first could only help.

By the time Maureen cleaned up the kitchen it was a little after ten o’clock. She climbed into bed and dialed Ted’s number.

“Guess what I came home to?” she said when he answered.

“An empty house with no one to rub your feet.”

She smiled. “That’s true. And in retrospect…”

“I can be there in ten minutes.” When she didn’t encourage him, he said, “I give up. What did you come home to?”

“My daughter and grandson.” She filled him in.

“It’s hard to imagine someone coming that far without checking to see if it was okay.”

“It’s also so Jess. She’s always been impulsive. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn she got up early this morning and decided on a whim to come.” But what does she want? Because there has to be a catch….

“She knows we’re leaving for Europe in two weeks, right?”

“We really didn’t get to talk.” A long silence ensued. “Maybe we all could go on a picnic tomorrow. It would be a great way for you to get to know each other, in a casual situation like that.”

“Sure. I’ll come around noon.”

“Good. Gives me time to shop first.”

“How come you got home so early from your girls’ night?” he asked.

“Cherie and I ended up staying at Bonnie’s place a lot longer. She needed quite a bit done. I came home to change my clothes and go back out, but then Jess and Riley were here.”

“Lucky timing.”

“It sure was.”

After they hung up she lay in bed, too keyed up, too curious and too, well, happy. She shouldn’t question why Jess had come but just be grateful. Maybe Jess was reaching out. Maybe at twenty-three she was finally maturing.

Maybe second chances could happen, after all.

Then again, maybe it was just something to add to her list of fantasies.

CHAPTER 2

As much as Maureen wanted to sleep in, her internal alarm woke her at 6:00 a.m. Frustrated, she pulled the blanket higher and rolled over—and came almost nose to nose with Riley, who stood beside her bed, solemn-faced, staring at her. Her heart thumped at the surprise, but she calmly said good morning.

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