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.Which is totally fine,” she assured them all.“He was a…mistake,” she admitted, seeing no need to elaborate.“As far as I’m concerned, this child is no one’s but mine.”The sisterly concern in Georgie surfaced right along with her pragmatism.“That sounds fine,” she assured her.“The only thing worse than being married would be marrying the wrong man.But he has a financial obligation to that child.We can’t let men just walk away from their responsibilities.Too many women do, you know? You need to assert yourself here, Tommi.At the very least, make whoever he is pay support.”“Absolutely.” Frankie dug into the bar mix.“If you don’t want anything to do with the guy, I’m behind you a hundred and fifty percent.But educations are expensive.And day care,” she added, getting to what came first.“You need good day care to get into good schools.”While Frankie had echoed their mother’s philosophy, Georgie had sounded just like Max.Tommi turned on her heel.“Where are you going?” Georgie wanted to know.“To get Frankie something to eat.She missed dinner.”“We could go after him,” she could hear Frankie saying.Her voice rose.“What country did he go to?” she called as Tommi disappeared through the open kitchen doors.“It doesn’t matter,” she called back, grabbing a plate from the rack.Frankie remained undeterred.“We can find out and go after him,” she insisted, but whatever else she said was lost as Tommi took the chill off leftover chicken confit for her, heated bread in the microwave and put together a plate of pâté and brie for the rest of them.“Still taking care of your sisters?”Her mom’s quiet voice drifted over the muffled sounds of her two oldest siblings speculating, debating and otherwise deciding her options.Bobbie, as usual, wisely stayed out of the debate.Glancing over her shoulder at her mom, Tommi gave her a strained little shrug.“Frankie should eat.I thought everyone else might like something, too.”She returned to her task.It was easier than looking at all the disappointment she’d known she’d see in her mom’s eyes.The concern so apparent there didn’t make her feel any better.“You know, Tommi,” her mom began, folding the napkin over the basket of warm bread, “if you’re already four months along it’s apparent this happened before I made that remark to Harry.And I can’t imagine that you’d have said anything to him before you told us, so his trying to get you married is just coincidental.“All that aside, I’m not going to ask you for any details,” she assured her.“You’re a grown woman and I’m sure you have your reasons for not wanting to discuss the father.That’s not my concern right now, anyway.“I haven’t always agreed with the choices you’ve made,” she admitted, reminding Tommi all over again of how upset she’d been when Tommi had applied to culinary school instead of to university, “but I need you to know that this truly isn’t what I wanted for you.“I’m not talking about your bistro.” She touched Tommi’s arm to keep her from turning away.“I know you love doing what you do.If this makes you happy and you can take care of yourself doing it, then that’s really all that matters to me.What worries me is how you’ll take care of yourself.And a baby.I raised the four of you without any help after your father died.I know how hard it is to do this on your own.So, what I need to know now is how you’ll keep up.Most of the time, you work sixteen hours a day.Your reviews are wonderful.And I’m so proud of you for that.But I also know you haven’t taken a vacation in three years.You can’t keep up that pace now.You need more help.”For the first time in the last few months, Tommi actually felt some of the burden she’d carried lift from her shoulders.Thanks to Max, this was the easy part.“Everything here is under control, Mom.” She offered the assurance with a sort of certainty she hadn’t felt in a very long time.“I’ve already hired a new sous chef.He starts next month,” she told her, looking back to the plate she prepared.“I worked with him and his wife in culinary school.She’s a pastry chef.She may be coming to work for me, too.“I’m expanding the bistro into the space next door,” she continued, tucking a few cornichons next to the pâté.“Since that will more than double my seating, I’ll be hiring even more help.”Surprise tempered concern [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]