“I’m not getting into this with you right now. I will talk to you when I get back.”

“I need to talk to you about a beginner’s astrology class Katie is interested in taking.”

“Mom, no. You know how we feel about that. I’m going to be late. I’ll talk to you when I get back.”

“It’s something she’s very interested in,” Alice insisted.

“I’m not sure how that’s possible, considering you aren’t supposed to be showing her any of that stuff, but I’m not getting into it right now. Phil is home, and I need to finish getting ready. Thanks again for taking care of the kids,” Lina said before ending the call.

“You’re not ready?” Phil asked. He looked pointedly at her open suitcase as he walked towards his wardrobe. “You said on the phone you were ready.”

“I’ll be ready before you finish changing,” she answered. “That was my mom. My father is going to be staying here with her this weekend. I think they’re a couple.”

Phil turned back to her. “We don’t even know him. I don’t want him staying in my house.”

“What do you think he’s going to do?”

“I have no idea,” he said shortly. “You don’t have a problem with him being around the kids?”

Lina considered the question. “No. Maybe it will be interesting for them.” She turned back to the suitcase on the bed. “He is their grandfather.”

“Your mom knows to stay in the guest room, right? I don’t want him in this room.”

“He’s a professor, Phil. Not a thief. But yes, my mom always stays in the guest room.”

“The man abandoned his family and isn’t fit to step in this house. If he’s still here when we get back, I’ll tell him that personally.”

The wedding was being held at the Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Virginia, a two-hour drive from Lina and Phil’s home in Maryland. Like Wayne and Diane, they decided to go up a day early to enjoy dinner at the Inn’s five-star restaurant and hopefully some quality time together away from children, computers and cell phones.

“The two of you seem normal, happy,” Diane commented when the men went out onto the balcony to enjoy cigars. They were in Lina and Phil’s private cottage where they’d come after dining together in the Main Inn.

“If I don’t think about her we are. I’m not sure how I’ll be tomorrow. I just can’t believe she’s coming, knowing I’ll be here.”

“It’s very nervy,” Diane agreed. “Just remember that it’s over, and he’s yours.”