Page 110 of A Return For Ren

There was hurt on Ren’s face and she didn’t want to see that, but she had to be honest. “What is your answer?”

“I love you, Ren. I’ve never stopped. I know that now. I’ve known it all along. I also love Max. I don’t want to lose him. I think it’s going to hurt twice as hard if things don’t work out with us. I’ll lose you and him.”

“You’re not going to lose either of us. And because you had these doubts in your head, you thought I had them in mine?”

When he put it that way it made more sense. “Yeah.”

He pulled her into his arms. “I don’t. I love you. Max is in my life and so are you. Does it matter how you came back into my life? If Max never was, I would have still returned to help my mother sell the marina. I would have sought you out. I know that. I’ve always known that. What I can’t know is if you believe me.”

“I do,” she said. “I want to and I have to. I can’t always doubt everything because of what happened in the past. I know that now. It’s easy to say the words and not always so easy to carry out the actions, but I’m getting there.”

“We are both getting there,” he said.

“What are you going to do about Michele?” she asked, moving out of his arms.

“I don’t know. I wanted to know your thoughts. I wanted to see your face when we talked. You’re a good judge of character.”

“Thank you, I think. But what does that have to do with anything? I’d be judging based on what you’ve told me, not what I’ve seen or heard myself.”

“I’m telling you what happened on the call. It’s what you said could have been. It sounds like concern. She told me more of her relationship with her daughter.”

“And that brought up the relationship you had with your father. Not the same, but similar. You both left home because of it.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I need to tell Thomas about the call, but I wonder if it wouldn’t hurt to do a video chat with Michele. Let her see Max. See her reaction to her grandchild. If you’re there, you can tell me your thoughts.”

“I think that’s a great idea. It sounds as if the woman is trying and scared. There is concern. She told you she doesn’t have the money to fight you but would if she had to. She is putting trust in a stranger and maybe you could do the same. You have the upper hand and know that.”

“I do,” he said. “There is part of me that wants to get this over with and do it today. I feel like I’m sick of standing on the edge of the quicksand waiting for it to pull me down. I’m not rushing, or don’t think I am. But I need to take the steps to get answers.”

“I think that is you being reasonable. Why don’t you reach out to Michele and see if she can do the call today? Let her know I’ll be there. You’ll know by her tone what she thinks of you having another woman in your life around her grandson too.”

“That’s a valid point. See, I need you. I need you for me. I need you for Max. I need you, period.”

Zara went into his arms and kissed him and held him tight.

She believed it. Right down to the tips of her toes, she believed every word he was saying.

36

An Obligation

“There is my grandson,” his mother said when he carried Max into the house. “Where is Zara?”

“She had a few things to do this morning. I thought I’d come over and visit while she did them. You said you got an offer on the marina too and she felt like she wanted to give us privacy for that conversation.”

“I did get one on Friday. I told you that. He wants the restaurant too. It’s a fair price. Not what I’m asking, but I know there is wiggle room to negotiate. It’s to be expected.”

His mother had told him the offer. It wasn’t unreasonable but lower than they were hoping for. “What do you want to do? If you turn it down or it doesn’t work out, you might not get another one for months.”

“I’ve thought of all of that. I told them I’d give them an answer this afternoon, that you would be in town and we could talk it through together.”

“It’s your business, Mom. It has nothing to do with me.”

“It has everything to do with you, Ren. The marina has been in the family for years. It was your grandfather’s and your father and I built it into what it is. You don’t want a part in it. I know that. But you’ve got a child now.”

“No,” he said. “You need to retire. I want to make sure you’re set up to do that. I’m not going to work here for twenty years on the chance Max might want it.”

“Because it was your father’s?” his mother asked.