Table for Two. Jennifer McKenzie

      Gus laughed long and loud. “We did. But not on his wedding day.” Anyone who didn’t know about Gus’s heart attack would never guess he’d suffered one from looking at him today. He was tall and slim. He and Evelyn had recently taken up cycling and were talking about a trip to Europe to see the sights on a bike tour. He looked very much like his sons, with just a few more wrinkles and a little extra gray at the temples. “Exactly what am I looking at?”

      Mal shrugged. “Mom’s being crazy.”

      “She looks tired, doesn’t she?” Evelyn said at the same time. She lowered her voice, though the other guests were far enough away that there was little chance of being overheard. “She talked to Travis.”

      The confusion on Gus’s face cleared. “I see.”

      Mal just bet he did. That they all did. “As I already told Mom, I’m fine.” Bad enough that she had to deal with her own emotions at seeing the ex she thought she’d left behind, but dealing with her family’s concern on top of it was getting to be too much. And she was fine. So fine. Even if Travis was moving back.

      She ignored the thump of her heart.

      “Wasn’t the wedding gorgeous?” Because Mal could think of no better way to change the subject than to do it herself.

      But these were her parents she was talking to and they weren’t so easily conned. “I think she’s trying to pull a fast one,” Gus said to his wife while Evelyn nodded.

      “It’s not a fast one.” Mal held her hands out. Nothing up my sleeves, folks. “I’m simply commenting on the beauty of the day, which is what normal people do at a wedding.”

      “We’re normal?” Gus feigned a shocked look. “Don’t you remember when she was a teenager and she used to tell us we were from another planet because we didn’t get her?”

      “And how she used to make us drop her off a block from school if she couldn’t get a ride with her cool brothers?”

      “I was thirteen. It was a phase.” Mal felt herself falling back into those old teen habits and stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Barely. She put her hands on her hips instead. “And I wouldn’t have had to behave that way if you’d been able to get me and understand that climbing out of the family minivan on the first day of school would forever taint my chance of high school popularity.”

      “High aspirations,” her mother said and pulled her into another hug. “I’m not sure how you managed to survive our parenting.”

      “Sometimes I wonder that, too.” But Mal leaned into her mother’s arms and rested her chin on her mother’s head, which earned her a swat.

      “You know I don’t like it when you do that.” But there was a twinkle in Evelyn’s eye. “It makes me feel short.”

      “You are short,” Mal and Gus said in unison.

      “You should appreciate my height more.” Evelyn straightened the cuffs of her winter-white suit jacket. “Who else would you find to lord your own height over if not for me?”

      “Your mother has a point.”

      Mal nodded and followed her dad’s lead when he curved his arms around his wife so that the two of them surrounded her completely. Their eyes met over Evelyn’s head and without a word or even a signal, they both leaned forward to rest their chins on her head.

      Evelyn might have been six inches shorter than Mal, and more than that compared to her husband, but her slight stature didn’t stop her from being the bossiest member of the Ford clan. “Very funny.” But even she couldn’t help laughing.

      The easy warmth comforted Mal. This was what she wanted out of life. A happy family and a devoted relationship. She let her parents wrap her up in the security of their love; she reveled in it. Just for a minute. And when they all stepped back, she felt better. Less fragile. “Thanks.”

      “For what?” Her mother reached up to pat her cheek.

      “For being my parents.” It was a little sappy. Okay, it was a lot sappy, but that didn’t make it any less true.

      Her mother hugged her again and her dad’s voice sounded a little tight. “We love you, sweetheart. You know that.”

      She did, and it was good.

      They chatted a few more minutes, talking about whether they should get up early and take the first ferry back home to Vancouver or stay a little longer and explore Salt Spring. The three of them, plus her older brother, Donovan, and his wife, Julia, were all staying in a huge farmhouse about ten minutes away. The place had eight bedrooms and an enormous kitchen that Julia had already called dibs on. Since Julia was a professional chef, and an excellent one at that, they were more than happy to let her take over the space.

      When her parents headed off to go and talk to some friends, Mal was feeling much better. And when Grace slipped up to stand beside her, Mal felt better yet.

      The two of them had become friends a few months ago. It was a friendship that Mal was grateful to have. Somehow, she’d allowed most of her personal life to fall by the wayside this last year. Instead of turning to her loved ones, she’d held herself apart, filling her time with work and not much else.

      But with Grace it had been different. Maybe because Grace didn’t know her from before and had no preconceived notions of what Mal should be like. Whatever it was, Mal appreciated what they had.

      “Hello beautiful bride.” She wasn’t just saying it, either. Grace, with her long legs and silky blond hair was attractive at any time, but glowing with love and being loved? She was stunning.

      “Everything okay?” Grace’s tone was gentle. Obviously she was still concerned after Mal’s little fit at the side of the house.

      “Of course. A small overreaction for which I apologize.”

      “It wasn’t an overreaction.” Grace shook her head. “Your brother, my husband, doesn’t always know when to mind his own business.” But she smiled when she said it.

      “Anyway, I’m fine.” Mal pasted on a smile. Her issues were her own and not something she would unload on a friend on her wedding day. Talk about a downer.

      But Grace merely lifted a pale blond eyebrow. “Right. So the way you’re so obviously not looking anywhere to your left has nothing to do with the fact that a handsome and tanned man just happens to be standing over there studying you?”

      “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mal tried to lift her nose, but not before curiosity got the best of her and she risked a peek to her left. What better way to show Grace and herself that she wasn’t afraid to look anywhere than by checking out just what Grace was talking about?

      She immediately wished she hadn’t.

      Travis stared back at her, a soft smile that she remembered all too well on his lips and heat in his eyes. Even thirty feet away with small groups of other guests between them, Mal could feel the sizzle rock the length of her spine. She shuddered.

      “That’s what I thought.” Grace’s voice broke into Mal’s thoughts. “You still want to tell me you’re fine?”

      “Yes.” Because she sure wasn’t going to admit that she wasn’t. “What else would I be?”

      “Upset, rattled, confused.” Grace counted them off on her fingers. “I could go on.”

      “You could, but I’m fine.” Though she’d been more fine before she became aware of Travis’s eyes on her. Didn’t he have somewhere else to look?

      “Maybe you should talk to him.”

      “I have talked to him.” Okay, so she hadn’t unloaded the thoughts rattling around in her head, making her stomach tight. Thoughts like: How could you not be there when I needed you the most? How could you choose the business over me?