“God,” Gina said. “Why didn’t I have your brains when I was your age? Sit down with me a minute. There’s something I’ve been planning to talk to you about and with all you’ve had going on, I didn’t want to overburden you. But—it’s kind of because of all you’ve had going on. When I checked you into the hospital and filled out all the forms I realized that since you were born the ‘paternal’ side of the health history was always unknown. If we ever had a real issue—like if there was something hereditary we should know about, then... The thing is, Ash, I searched out your biological father specifically to ask those questions. And I found him. Not very far away.”

The look on her face was one of sheer shock. “Holy crap.”

“Yes, I found him, I talked with him, I asked him medical questions. And I found that he hadn’t even been certain whether I was definitely pregnant, whether I’d gone through with the pregnancy, had you adopted, whatever.”

Ashley leaned back on the porch post. “Wow. That’s almost creepy. Especially at the same time Eve’s long-lost mother shows up unannounced.”

“Pure coincidence and entirely different circumstances. It turns out your father didn’t exactly run out on you. He did run, though, and I think we can all agree that worked out a lot better for us than it did for him.”

Gina told her the whole story, including the fact that Eric had gotten in trouble, served time in prison and then seemed to have turned his life around. She had had Mac check him out and learned that he had not only been a model prisoner, determined to get out as early as possible, but was now a model citizen.

“Is he nice?”

Gina nodded. “Seems to be. In fact, lots nicer than he was at eighteen. He seems to be responsible and kind of successful with his own little business.”

“Do you like him?”

“I like him more now than I had.”

“Am I going to meet him?” Ashley asked.

“Do you want to?” Gina responded. “Because you shouldn’t have any fantasies about him—he’s no knight in shining armor. He’s just a man—he does auto body work. He’s got a girlfriend but no family and, he and I?” She shook her head. “Never. I think we’re both pretty relieved he didn’t step up seventeen years ago—it would’ve been a disaster. For that matter, I don’t know that you can expect him to be a father, Ash. I think that time has surely passed. You might not even like him.”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing his face. Finding out what kind of person he is. I already know what kind of person he was.”

“I can probably arrange that, but I want you to think it over for a couple of days and be sure that’s what you want. He gave me his word he won’t push himself on you.”

“Couple of days?”

“I think it’s reasonable to think it over first. Don’t you?”

“Sure. Yes. Wow—I always thought if I ever ran into him, he’d be a horrible person.”

“He doesn’t seem to be.”

A couple of days after that conversation, Gina pulled the business card with the cell phone number out of her pocket and called Eric. “Hi,” she said. “It’s Gina. Ashley’s doing very well after a real challenging spring. She had some major heartaches, but she’s so smart, so strong. And I told her about you. Eric, I think it’s time. She’d like to meet you.”

* * *

“Do you have a date tonight?” Mac asked his Aunt Lou.

“Why? Do you need me for something?”

“I want to take you to dinner.”

She backed away from the kitchen sink, put a hand on her hip and looked at him suspiciously. “Now this has never happened before.”

“I’m sure it has,” he said. “Hasn’t it?”

“I don’t think so. And the kids?”

“Let’s throw a pizza at them—they’ll be fine. I want to talk to you alone. It’s about me and Gina.”

“Oh, dear God, you haven’t screwed that up, have you?”

He made a face. “Do you ever get tired of being so judgmental? No. I didn’t screw up, just the opposite. It’s time to talk about the future, which happens to link to your future. We have to get on the same page, you and me.”

“Are you at least going to take me somewhere nice?”

“Will you settle for Cliffhanger’s?”

“If I can sit at a table,” she said. “I’ll need thirty minutes. Lucky for you, Joe’s working tonight and I’m free.” And then she pulled a couple of frozen pizzas out of the freezer, set the oven, opened the boxes.

“That’s a lot of pizza.”

“If Landon doesn’t show up, hell has frozen over. I should speak to Sarah—her brother clearly has a tapeworm.”

Forty minutes later they were seated at a table in Cliffhanger’s and Cliff was at the table personally to take their drink orders. “Bring Lou a white wine and I’ll have a beer,” Mac said.

“Hold on,” Lou objected. “I want a mojito. Do you know how to make a mojito?”

“Yes,” Cliff said tiredly. “I went to bartending school.”

“Excellent,” she said. “He’s buying. I’m not pinching pennies here.”

“Really?” he asked. “Are you sure I haven’t ever taken you out to dinner before?”

“Like this? A completely adult dinner? Just the two of us? I can’t remember a time.”

He just shook his head. “You’ve done everything for me. I haven’t done anything for you.”

“You gave me a home,” she said softly.

“You had a home.”

“I had a house, Mac. I had two great nieces and a nephew I rarely saw because you were married to a woman who hated me and considered me an interfering old crone. I never once wished your marriage would fail, I hope you believe me. But in spite of the pain of it all, I had a family again.”

Mac reached for her hand. “You will always have a family, Lou. You’ll always have a home. I swear to you.”

“I’m not worried that you’re going to throw me out, Mac,” she said. Their drinks arrived and they ordered dinner. Then she lifted her mojito to his glass of beer. “Cheers, Mac. Congratulations.”

“For...?”

“I assume you’re getting married.”

He put down the beer. “We have to get the families together. I’m not sure how we’re going to pull this off. And what if someone protests?”

“Who would protest?”

“Well, when Eve first found out about me and Gina, she got a little crazy. Afraid she’d be put through another traumatic situation, like when she was little and Cee Jay left.”

“She panicked, that’s all. If she takes three deep breaths, she’ll realize this isn’t the same thing at all. She loves Gina. And Gina loves her. Besides, Eve is in a serious relationship, like Ashley was last year. She might not admit it but Landon has become a priority.”

“Where are we all going to live?”

“We could squish everyone in our house,” she said. “It would be crowded for a while, but not forever. A year and three months from now at least one of those older girls will go off to school, maybe both of them, although I’ve been working on Eve to do her first year of college at community college. Or, maybe I’ll move out. Not far, just out.”

“With Joe?” he asked.

She laughed. “Oh, he’d love that. I’ve been trying to save Joe from being stuck with an elderly woman when he’s still young enough to have fun, but he might be the one to bite the dust first. Not only is he a trooper, his blood pressure and cholesterol tend to be high and he’s pretty lazy about it, too. Have you ever seen a man who enjoys butter more than Joe?” She shook her head. “I think his arteries might be completely clogged by now.”

Mac smiled. Joe ignored her just as he did.

“Maybe Carrie would take me on.”

“That sounds awful,” he said.

“Seriously?” She laughed. “Two working women of a certain age who are tidy and like the same wine? One of whom loves to cook? A room of my own in an adult household where my boyfriend can spend the night without destroying the values of the younger generation? Please, Mac. You must think us so boring. Besides, I don’t want to discourage you in any way, but I might not be completely interested in a household of seven. I had my own small house in Coquille, remember. I took you on when you were ten, and when you were twenty-six, I got you and three small children. I’m surprised the walls of that little house didn’t blow out.”

He grinned at the memory. “We sure worked hard back then, didn’t we?”

“It was horrendous,” she said.

At first, right after Cee Jay left them, Mac was so hopeful that she’d just return, he worked his two jobs—four days a week as an armored car guard, four nights a week as a new cop, not one day of the week without a job to do—and since Lou was teaching, they filled the gap with sitters. Lou ran back and forth between her house and Mac’s, feeding, bathing, walking the floor, sleeping on the couch. Both of them were sleep-deprived and emotionally distraught. Finally Mac gave up hope; he and the kids moved into Lou’s small house. All three kids had one bedroom, Mac had one, Lou had one—but one kid or another crawled in with them every night.

And Mac had been so broken. He’d been in pieces.

It never did get easy, but Mac had to quit the second job even though they needed the money—Cee Jay had left behind bills that had to be paid. They did get into a routine once they had child care nailed down and their schedules were at least the same every week. Once they moved to Thunder Point and all the kids were in school, life became more manageable. Not simple or uncomplicated, but definitely manageable.

“Honestly?” she said. “I don’t know how we did it.”

“We worked together,” he said. “We had a common goal. Lou, please know I’ve never taken you for granted. I’m grateful for what you’ve done every day of my life. And you will never be alone or without a home. Never.”

“That’s very sweet, Mac. But if it’s all the same to you, alone for a while might be just fine. I can still help out with carpooling, et cetera, but a nice little house or apartment...?” She smiled and gave him a shrug. “That might be pleasant.”

“Gina and I have to talk to our kids. Everyone needs to have a chance to air their concerns. We have to get a consensus on how we’re all going to live together. It has to be unanimous. And everyone should have time to adjust.”

She just smiled at him. “You don’t want to wait.”

“I don’t want to wait,” he said. Then in a voice lowered to be private he added, “It took me so long to act on my feelings, Lou. I just want to wake up beside her in the morning. I don’t care how crowded it is or how complicated, as long as she’s by my side.”

She sipped her mojito and smiled. Mac might be her nephew, but she’d been responsible for him for ten years when he was growing up, another ten after his wife left. He was more of a son than nephew; his kids were like grandchildren. They were her life. “This is what I’ve always wanted for you,” she said, her eyes misty. “Cee Jay and I were like oil and water. I hoped she’d grow up and be the wife and mother you deserved. And now that you’ve been treading water for ten years, all I want for you is a life partner who loves and respects you as much as you do her. Mac, you’re still a young man—marry your girl. Build a life with her. Be happy.”

“You’re the greatest woman in the world, you know.”