“You do realize that I’m going to have to get several desserts here, right?” she asked as she ran her eyes over the largest dessert menu she’d ever seen. Did she just whimper? She just might have.

“I packed the aspirin, heating pad and ice packs so you can have whatever you want,” Nick said, surprising her, not that he was prepared for one of her sugar binges, but that he was accepting it so easily.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. The one and only time he’d encouraged her to indulge in too much sugar had been right after she was released from the hospital and he had to break the news to her that her family had yet again screwed her over. Finding out that her family had made money by selling the journal she’d kept when she was fifteen had not been her favorite day. It was difficult knowing that people all over the world could read about her private thoughts from one of the most difficult times in her life.

Of course that little action helped her get over missing them real quick. They didn’t love her. She knew that. It was fine. She didn’t need them. She had Nick and some really good friends now. Although it would have been nice to have someone to call her own she didn’t need them.

“Do you want to start off with a shake?” Nick asked.

Oh god…….

He was now pushing sugar on her. This was going to be very bad. She just knew it.

“What’s wrong, Nick?” she asked, dreading his next words.

“Nothing’s wrong,” he said, smiling as he reached over and took her hand into his.

“Then why are you pushing sugar on me?” she demanded.

“I just thought you’d like a milkshake,” he said, linking their fingers together.

“But if you don’t want one then you don’t have to get one.”

“Oh, I’m getting one, buddy, and you should know that I know that you’re up to something.”

When he sent her a wink she decided that she was going to make that milkshake a double and watch how he reacted. Nick Quinn was a sneaky man and as long as she remembered that she”Hello,” a warm feminine voice said, “Catherine told me that you would like to speak with me. My name is Aubrey and I…..I……oh my god,” the woman ended in a harsh whisper that somehow managed to draw Jamie’s attention from the impressive list of milkshakes.

She really hoped the woman didn’t start crying and screaming for joy. That happened to her a few times and she’d die happy if it never happened to her again.

She looked up to find a middle aged woman with kind eyes and beautiful blonde hair staring at her. Her skin was pale and she looked seconds away from passing out.

“Are you okay?” Jamie asked, actually preferring the woman’s screaming and crying to this. This frightened her. She quickly scrambled out of the booth and took the woman’s shaky hand into hers and helped her sit down in her freshly vacated seat.

Once the woman sat down she refused to release Jamie’s hand as she stared up at her. It was really starting to freak her out. She threw Nick a pleading look only to find him watching them intently. Really helpful, she thought dryly as she turned her attention back to the trembling woman.

“Are you okay?” she asked, forcing a smile as she looked into the woman’s pretty face.

“No, I mean yes,” Aubrey said weakly, still holding Jamie’s hand tightly.

“Aubrey, are you okay?” a man at the next booth asked, looking as concerned as she felt.

“I-I’m fine, John,” Aubrey said, giving him a watery smile even though her eyes never left Jamie’s. “I’m perfect in fact.”

“Are you the man I spoke to last week?” Aubrey asked and it took a few seconds for her to realize that she was speaking to Nick.

“Yes,” Nick said, surprising her.

This was planned? Why? She didn’t know what was going on or why Nick would plan something like this. It certainly wasn’t easing her anxiety.

“Jamie, I would like you to meet Aubrey O’Shea,” he said before adding, “Your mother.”

“What?” Jamie asked, well, nearly shouted, startling the people dinning around them. “What are you talking about?”

Her mother was dead. Her father said so. Plus this woman didn’t look old enough to have a child nearing thirty. She didn’t. There was no way, she thought even as she noted the woman had her eyes, nose and smile.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hold you again,” Aubrey said, choking back a sob as she dropped Jamie’s hands and pulled her into a hug that Jamie was too stunned to refuse, but once she found herself in the woman’s arms she was helpless to fight it. It felt…..

Right. Perfect. God help her but it felt like she belonged. For the second time in her life she felt like she belonged to someone.

“I am so proud of you,” her mother whispered fiercely against the top of her head as she pressed a kiss against her hair. “So proud, Jamie.”

She didn’t realize that she was crying somewhat hysterically until she felt Nick kneel behind her and run a soothing hand down her back. “Shhhh, Jamie, it’s okay.”

It really wasn’t okay, she thought as a loud sob rocked her body. She was so happy, but at the same time she was scared out of her mind. She was afraid that this was a dream or a sick joke and any second now she was going to wake up or the woman in her arms that was holding her tightly was going to pull back and tell her that it was a mistake.

Please don’t let this be a mistake, she prayed as she tightened her hold around the woman she prayed was her mother. Until that moment she didn’t realize just how badly she needed this woman, a mother. For years she’d accepted the fact that her mother, father and sister didn’t want her and pretended that it didn’t hurt, but it did. She never realized how badly she needed a reassuring smile, a pat on the head or a kind word from her family until that moment.

“I never wanted to let you go, Jamie,” her mother said, sniffling. “I was so young, Jamie. I quit school to have you and worked two jobs, but it wasn’t enough, sweetheart. It wasn’t enough. When I had to choose between putting food in your stomach or a roof over your head I made the biggest mistake of my life and gave you to your father. I shouldn’t have done that, Jamie. I should have worked harder and found a way to make it work, but you were so small and I just couldn’t watch you suffer another minute. I’m so sorry, Jamie, so sorry,” she said, squeezing Jamie tightly against her.

“She tried to come back for you, sweetheart,” Nick said softly near her ear as he continued to rub her back. “She saved every penny she could and when the time came she went back for you, but your father wouldn’t give you up. I don’t think he wanted to deal with people asking too many questions. Your father convinced her that you were being taken care of and that she would only confuse you and hurt you by getting involved in your life, sweetheart, but she’s been keeping an eye on you.

She loves you just as much as I love you, Jamie,” Nick said, pressing a kiss against the back of her head.

Sniffling, she pulled back and looked into the caramel eyes that matched her own. “Is that true?” she asked, hoping like crazy that it was. It would mean that her mother hadn’t given her up because she was unlovable or a nuisance, but because she really did love her and wanted her happy.

Her mother smiled warmly as she cupped her face. “I’ve always been your biggest fan, Jamie.”

Epilogue

One year later……….

“Is this the line for the bathroom?” the cute guy who’d been eying her since she stepped onto airplane an hour ago asked as he stepped up behind her.

She smiled up at him as she nodded.

“My name’s Vince. What’s yours?” he asked in a charming tone as he continued to smile down at her.

“Jamie,” she said, shaking his hand.

“Are you going to Pennsylvania for business or pleasure?” he asked, releasing her hand as he leaned a shoulder against the gray wall.

“A little of both,” she said before reconsidering it. “Well, I guess I’m not really going there to work since I’m just tagging along. Mostly I’m going so that I can spend a few days with my mother,” she said, smiling hugely at the thought.