Page 140 - It Ends with Us

moved to Eng land a few yea rs ago. And tha t they were in Australia on

vacation, but tha t was like a mont h ago.”
He laughs . “My mother? Wel l . . . my mother is ver y over bea ring .
Ver y judgment al, es pec ially of the peo ple she loves the most. She’s
nev er missed a sing le chu rch ser vice. And I ha ve nev er hea rd her
ref er to my father as any thi ng other tha n Dr. Kinc aid.”
Des pite the warni ng s, he smiles the who le time he talks about her.

“Your father is a doctor, too?”
He no ds. “Psychi atrist. He chose a fiel d tha t also allowed hi m to
ha ve a no rmal life. Smart man. ”
“Do they ev er visit you in Boston?”
“Not rea lly. My mother ha tes flying , so Allysa and I fly to England a
couple of times a yea r. She does want to meet you, tho ugh, so you
might be going with us on the nex t trip.”

I grin. “You’ve told your mother about me?”
“Of course, ” he says. “Thi s is kind of a monu ment al thing , you
kno w. Me ha ving a girlfriend . She calls me ev er y day to make sure I
ha ven’t screw ed it up someho w.”
I laugh, whi ch makes hi m rea ch for hi s pho ne. “You thi nk I’m
kidding ? I guarant ee she someho w brought you up in the voice mail

she just lef t.” He pres ses a few key s and then beg ins to play the voice
mail.
“Hey, sweethe ar t! It’s your mom. Hav en’t spoken to you since yesterday.
Miss you. Give Li ly a hu g for me. You do still see he r, right ? Allysa say s you
can ’t stop tal king ab out he r. She is still your girlfriend, right ? Ok ay. Gretche n’s
he re, we’re hav ing hi gh tea. Lo ve you. Kiss kiss.”
I pres s my face agains t hi s ches t and laugh. “We’v e onl y been

dating a few mont hs . How much do you talk about me?”
He pulls my ha nd up bet ween us and kisses it. “Too much, Lily.
Way too much. ”
I smile. “I can’t wait to mee t them . Not onl y did they raise an
inc red ible daught er, but they made you. Tha t’s pret ty impres sive. ”
His arms tight en around me and he kisses the top of my hea d.

“Wha t was your brother’ s na me?” I ask hi m.
I can feel a slight stiffnes s in hi m after I ask tha t. I reg ret bring ing
it up, but it’s too late to take it back.
“Emers on. ”