“Really? A farm? A wedding?” she pushed.

“Not just a farm, Mom. A huge farm. I’ve heard about Peyton’s wedding, people talk about it all the time. These Basque farmers get drunk and dance their butts off.”

“Lovely,” she said.

“I heard it was fun! I think you could trust me not to get drunk,” Charlie said, grinning at her.

“I don’t think a responsible parent would send her teenage son to a brawl...”

“You don’t think Troy and Scott would make sure I don’t get into trouble? You think Grace and Peyton would be a bad influence? You have to look up Basque weddings sometime—the dancing is between the men and it’s ceremonial. And there are dogs and horses.”

“You’re allergic,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, but if I start to sneeze or wheeze I can move away from the animals. If their hair is all over the bed I sleep in, I might be in trouble, but...”

“I think you just want to go on a trip without your mother,” she said.

“No offense, but it would be cool to go somewhere with Troy and Grace, Peyton and Dr. Grant. But I bet if you wanted to go...”

“I can’t leave Winnie, you know that. Especially now.”

“Then I think you should just enjoy not worrying about my allergies for a whole weekend, and if I get drunk with the Basque men and dance my butt off, you can ground me for the rest of the year.”

“You think you’re funny but I don’t,” she said.

“Just have a good weekend. Go out with Blake. And try not to get in trouble without me here to look after you.”

“I wasn’t planning anything like that, you know.”

“Not planning it, maybe, but you sure are thinking about it. And whispering into the phone late at night and looking at him with twinkling girl eyes, and when someone says his name, you look down so no one will see you like him.” She let out a little gasp. “Listen, I’m okay with it. If that’s what you’re worried about.”

She couldn’t help but smile at him. “I was worried about the opposite.”

“Huh? What’s the opposite of okay?” he asked, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

“I thought you might get too excited. That your expectations would be unrealistic. That I’d go to a movie with a male friend and you’d think it would be serious, lead to marriage or something.”

“That would be cool,” he said. “But you don’t have to marry him unless you want to.”

“Thank you,” she said. “And do you really want to go to that farm?”

“For two nights, Mom. Think you can behave yourself if I’m not here to watch you?” he asked with a devilish grin.

She ruffled his hair. “I’ll try.”

* * *

On Friday morning at nine Lin Su stood outside Winnie’s house with Charlie while Troy put a suitcase and Charlie’s duffel in the trunk. She did not ask him even once if he had his inhaler and EpiPen. And it was not easy. She also did not say that it was the first time she’d ever be separated from him for over twenty-four hours. Even early in her nursing career when she’d been assigned the graveyard shift, she was only away from him for ten hours. He was probably already more than aware of that fact. But she did say she would miss him.

“I’ll miss you, too, Mom,” he said sweetly.

“I bet you won’t think of me twice,” she said.

“Sure I will.”

He endured a hug and kiss on the cheek, then he couldn’t get on the road fast enough. She just stood there, watching them drive away. She pulled her jacket more tightly around her and the car had long been out of sight when she saw a cyclist come up the road.

Blake rode up to her and stopped. He balanced without putting a foot down, just moving his feet back and forth on the pedals, showing off. He was all sweaty; he’d probably been riding for at least a couple of hours. God, he was gorgeous. She looked at those rock-hard thighs and fought a sigh. His shorts and shirt fit like skin and revealed every muscle; his riding gloves on the handlebars accentuated his strong, sexy forearms.

He finally put his foot on the ground and removed his helmet. “Did you let him go?”

“I told you I said yes.”

“I wondered if you’d chicken out at the last minute, come up with a reason he couldn’t go.”

“Hah. You’ve obviously never had a teenage boy. I’d never have heard the end of it.”

“I’ve had about a hundred of ’em at one time or another. They’re relentless. We have a date tonight, then?”

“Sure. What do you want to do?”

“Well, since I’m devious and just want to be alone with you, I thought I’d cook you a very nice dinner. While I’m finishing that, you can search through the movie guide and pick one. Anything you want.”

“Any preferences?” she asked.

“Something that you’ll need to be held through, that would be my preference.”

“I’ll be over after I settle Winnie for the night. Full disclosure—I’m going to tell her we’re staying in for dinner and a movie and she should call me for any reason.”

“Of course. They’re a little shorthanded right now. But you know she won’t bother you unless there’s an epic disaster.”

“I’m going to tell her not to wait that long.”

“Everything’s going to be fine, you know,” he said. “For them. For us.” He leaned toward her. “Kiss me.”

“Outside? Where anyone can see?”

“Anyone with a telescope, maybe. It’s okay, Lin Su. We have permission from the most important guy.”

True enough. Charlie had endorsed the idea. “I’m sure he didn’t realize all he was agreeing to,” she said.

“Oh, trust me, Charlie knows. Charlie is counting the days till he can get it on with a girl.”

“Oh, God, please don’t even say that.”

“Kiss me,” he said.

She leaned toward him. She tried giving him a little peck on the lips but he slipped his arm around her and pulled her close for a much deeper kiss. Deep and filled with the promise of greater things to come.

“You’re very sneaky,” she said. “And you’re sweaty.”

“It’s going to be a very long day,” he said. “Get to work. Let me know approximately when you’ll be over. Text me.”

* * *

Time did indeed crawl through the day.

There were a few new routines for Winnie caused by the progression of her disease. First of all, now that using the walker alone was out of the question, she had to use the wheelchair to move around. Lin Su would have preferred if Winnie would settle for the bedpan for those middle of the night bathroom breaks, but she wouldn’t have it. Lin Su really couldn’t blame her; that would come soon enough. But she hoped she had fully convinced Mikhail not to try to just walk her to the bathroom. Although he was a mighty strong little guy and Winnie was quite small, it was risky.

She still had some strength in one leg, but it was not dependable. Lin Su taught them how to transfer her in and out of the chair, over to the commode, back again. A lap robe helped with modesty, but she assumed that after several months of spending the night in the same room, Mikhail had taken on some more personal tasks for Winnie. He had become a very competent nurse.