Finding Eden (A Sign of Love Novel)(95)

Carolyn stared at her with wide eyes. Molly took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "You yourself said you looked the other way and buried your head in the sand with what happened with Uncle Bennett, and then with Hector." Her expression filled with sympathy. "Don't do it again, Carolyn. Please don't be oblivious to what's going on around you. Your daughter is a woman. I'm sorry you didn't get to see that happen. But you can't turn her back into a little girl by cutting crusts off her bread and brushing her hair before bed every night, by denying that she fell in love with someone and you didn't get to be a part of that. You can be a part of it now." She sat back in her chair. "Eden, she has this . . . quiet strength about her. She's been patient with you because she loves you, but she won't be patient forever. If you don't see that, then you're not seeing your daughter and you're going to lose her just when you found her again. And Calder," she looked over at me, "Calder is sitting in front of you asking you to accept him."
I stared at Molly for a minute, shocked and grateful. I cleared my throat. Molly was right. I hadn't actually acknowledged for some time how much I missed my mother's love, hadn't spoken of it with Eden yet. Despite the deep, aching feeling of betrayal at the end, I missed my mother. It was confusing and it hurt like hell. Did I want Eden's mom to accept me as a son or as her daughter's boyfriend? Whichever it was, my heart was so thankful for Molly's comment, and for all she'd said.
"Molly . . . thank you," I said to her, hoping she could see the sincerity in my eyes and then I glanced at Carolyn who was still silent, staring down at the table. She sat there not saying anything for so long I wondered for a minute if she'd respond at all. She didn't. Instead, she stood up—her chair scraping over the stone patio—turned her back on us, and walked through the French doors, shutting them behind her.
I let out a breath and ran my hand through my hair. I looked at Molly who had a pained expression on her face. "I meant every word I said to her," she said. "I just hope it did some good."
I nodded. "I appreciate it, Molly. Either way, I appreciate all the ways you've been so supportive of Eden and of me."
Molly smiled sadly. "You've both been through so much. If anyone deserves to find their place in this world, Calder, you two do. I hope I've helped."
"You have," I said, meaning it one hundred percent. Now I could only hope Carolyn would come around, too.

**********

Carolyn spent the day in her room, not even coming out once. Despite the fact that we didn't have her blessing, Eden and I decided that we'd still go on our trip. It wasn't going to start off with quite the same happiness we had hoped, but it was necessary for us and we were going to go anyway.
Late that afternoon as I was in the kitchen getting a glass of water, I turned around when I heard someone enter the room behind me. It was Carolyn. My eyes widened to see her with her hair pulled back and no makeup on. I'd never seen her not looking perfectly done-up, regardless of the time of day. Her eyes were rimmed in red as if she'd been crying. She offered me a small smile. "Can we talk?" she asked.
I nodded and walked slowly to the table where we both sat down. I looked at her warily, not knowing where this was going to go.
"Calder," she started, and then paused, "I owe you an apology." I let out a breath. "I owe Eden an apology, too."
"Carolyn—" I started.
"No, wait," she said. "Let me just say this and then you can say what you need to say to me. I can imagine you need to get some things off your chest, too." She looked down, studying her fingernails.