Love Inspired: October 2022 Box Set 1 of 2 by Vannetta Chapman

Author:Vannetta Chapman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Jason looked in the direction Ashley had gone, then turned and looked at Mom, concerned. “Do you think she’s okay?” he asked. He could have kicked himself for letting this examination of Christopher’s things go on for so long. He’d been so worried about his mother and how she was taking it, given her poor health, that he’d neglected to think about Ashley. She’d had a loss, too, and the past hour—the whole visit, really—had to be bringing it all up again.

If he was being honest, he tended to avoid thoughts of Ashley’s marriage to Christopher on purpose. He didn’t like thinking about it. Didn’t like the mix of guilt and possessiveness that came up when he thought of them together.

Jason looked around the kitchen, trying to get his bearings before deciding whether to go after Ashley or to leave her alone. Surprisingly, the old-fashioned sink with the colorful rug in front of it, the mountain view out the windows and the smell of pie lingering in the air brought back memories, pretty good ones.

He rarely thought of his childhood with fondness. He didn’t remember much before his father had died when he was two. Just a few warm impressions. And then his mom had married Trent and everything had changed. It had changed again after Christopher’s birth. But it was worth remembering that they’d had some decent times as a family. Some people had it a lot worse.

Mom was quiet, looking in the direction Ashley had gone, obviously thinking. Finally, she spoke. “Go after her,” she said. “Don’t ask a lot of questions. Just bring her back here and then leave us alone.”

“Why?” He didn’t want Mom upsetting Ashley more than she already was.

She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked at him. “There are a few reasons baby clothes can make a woman cry,” she said. “Two of the biggest are that they can’t have babies or that they lost a baby.”

“Wait—what?” That seemed like a pretty big leap, but what did he know?

“Miscarried,” she clarified. “And if either of those is the case—I don’t know—she’d do better to talk to someone, another woman, who’s been through it.”

“Been through it?” He felt foolish echoing her, but he wasn’t tracking the conversation well. Did she mean...?

She looked at him for another moment and then nodded in the direction of the door. “Go on.”

He didn’t move. “When did you...did you...lose a baby?”

From the family room, football-game-related shouts came from the TV. Seeking something to do with his hands, Jason broke off a bite of piecrust and crunched into its salty richness.

“It happened several times, over several years.” Mom blew out a breath. “Why do you think I got so depressed and withdrawn soon after marrying your stepfather? Why do you think we were so infatuated with Christopher?”

It took a minute, and then what she was saying clicked into place. He remembered his mother taking to her bed, periodically, not to be disturbed. Sleeping a lot, going to the doctor a lot.

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