Fool's Gold Collection Volume 4: Halfway There / Just One Kiss / Two of a Kind / Three Little Words

“I knew him when he was a teenager, so he’ll always be a boy to me.” She looked around the store. “Look at what you’ve done. You should be so proud of yourself.”

“We’re in this together.”

“With you getting stuck with all the hard work. Still, I’ll be able to do more when the store is open. I’m excited to learn how to use the espresso machine.” Ava smiled. “My friends and I are talking about some after-hours parties here.”

“I don’t want to hear about spiked coffee.”

“Then I won’t tell you.”

They crossed to one of the tables where Patience had already set up their piles of paperwork. After they were seated, Patience opened the first folder. Although they’d made a few hires, they were going to need more staff.

“We have plenty of applications, which is great. We have the college kids who want to work in the evenings and a few moms with school-age kids interested in morning shifts.”

Her mother closed the folder. “I’d like for us to talk about something else, first.”

Patience fought against a rush of cold. “Mom, are you okay? Are you sick?”

Because with MS, danger always lurked. Even with the good days, there was the fear that something bad was going to happen.

“I’m fine. This isn’t about my health, but it is about something I’ve been keeping from you.” Ava glanced down at the table, then back at her daughter. “I haven’t been completely honest with you. About Steve.”

It took Patience a second to put the name with the face. “Lillie’s grandfather? What about him? Oh no. You found out something horrible about him.”

“No, it’s not that.”

Ava pressed her lips together. If Patience didn’t know better, she would swear her mother was blushing.

“Mom?”

Ava drew in a breath and looked at her. “Steve got in touch with me about five months ago. He’d just sold his business and was thinking about what to do with the rest of his life. He’d tried to make contact with Ned several times, but his son didn’t want anything to do with him. He wanted to reach out to Lillie, so he came to see me and ask my opinion.”

Patience stared at her mother. “You knew about him?”

“Yes. We talked and he seemed nice, so I agreed to meet with him. It started out innocently enough. I wanted to make sure he was the kind of man who deserved to be in Lillie’s life, and I knew you were busy. I thought I was helping.”

Which all sounded reasonable and generous, even. So why was her mother acting so strange?

Ava’s brown eyes darkened with emotion. “I’ve been seeing him regularly.”

“Okay. I get that. To make sure he wouldn’t hurt Lillie and...” Patience felt her mouth drop open as she figured out what her mother was really saying. “You’re dating Steve?”

“I have been for a while.”

“That’s what the secret calls have been about? The disappearances? You have a boyfriend?”

“Are you mad? I know I should have told you, but I was nervous. I felt strange, going out at my age. Plus, he’s Ned’s father. He walked out on his family the way Ned walked out on you. I thought you might see him as the enemy. I was afraid you’d disapprove. And the more I saw him the more I liked him. I guess I acted like a coward and I’m sorry.”

Her mother was dating Lillie’s grandfather? Patience turned the information over in her mind. It was a little strange and would take getting used to. But it wasn’t bad.

“Mom, I want you to be happy. If you’re having a good time with Steve, that’s great. I just wish you would have told me. I asked Justice to run a background check on him.”

“I wanted you to make your own decision about him. I didn’t want to influence you.” Ava shrugged. “I think a part of me wanted you to come to your own conclusions because I was afraid I was seeing what I wanted to see, rather than what was there. I don’t exactly have a good track record when it comes to men. It’s one thing for me to make a mistake. It’s another for me to drag you and Lillie through the mess.”

“Oh, Mom.” Patience stood and moved around the table. She bent low and hugged her mother.

Ava held on tight. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.” She crouched in front of her mom. “So you’re doing the wild thing with this guy?”

“Maybe.”

“You’re practicing safe sex, right? There are issues that don’t involve pregnancy.”

Ava laughed. “Yes. We’re very safe.”

“Then I’m happy for you. I wish you would have told me, but I understand why you wanted me to make my own decision about Steve.” She stood and smiled. “Admit it. You were secretly thrilled when Justice’s report came back clean.”

“I was very pleased to hear the man I was dating didn’t have a criminal record.”

Patience returned to her chair. “Anything else I should know?”

“That’s it.” Ava’s humor faded. “I hope you understand. After I was diagnosed with MS, I couldn’t seem to pull myself together. Then your dad left and it was just the two of us. I was so scared. Since then, I haven’t met a man who could see past the disease. Until Steve.”