Mom smiled as she watched the waves.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” I asked.
“More than I imagined.”
I waited until she’d finished eating. “Mom, how did you recognize a hotel you’ve never visited?”
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Her smile disappeared. “Evelyn sent pictures when it opened.”
“She owned it?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you visit?”
Mom nodded. “She asked me, too, many times.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“She owned it?”
My mom stared into her coffee. “I told her I’d come when I was ready.”
“Ready for what?”
She looked away. “To face her.”
I leaned closer. “Mom, did something happen between you two?”
She took a deep breath. “She was lonely. Her husband had died, and she was trying to build something new.”
“To face her.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
