Leaning against the kitchen counter, Luke watched his mother eat alone at the table. He checked his watch again, then pulled out his phone from his back pocket.
“You might as well leave it out,” she said, shaking her head at him.
“I don’t understand what’s taking her so long.”
“Really?”
“Well, I know she’s working the biggest case of her career right now, but I also know the policies they have in place. She can’t work twenty-four seven. They get some overtime, but they have to go home and sleep. That’s just life. Their detectives will take turns and work different shifts if needed, but she should be here by now.”
“Maybe she went to chat with Father Matthews again.”
“What? Who’s that?”
“A young priest. Quite dashing, really. I wonder if…”
Her unfinished sentence dangled over Luke’s heart like an icicle threatening to split it in half. But his head wouldn’t have any of it. He knew Kate too well to worry about that.
“Mom, that’s just ridiculous.”
“I don’t know. She’s a beautiful, smart woman. It wouldn’t hurt if you showed her how much you care by proposing to her.”
“Stop it! I’ve got a romantic dinner all set up for us here, but she’s just not showing up!”
“It’s not that romantic if your mother is here, is it?”
“What do you want, Mom? You’d rather I kick you out of the house?”
“I can always go to the theater and watch a movie. I may be older than you, but I can still walk and leave the house for a few hours, you know. I understand your need for privacy.”
He checked his phone for the umpteenth time. Still no text message from Kate.
“I appreciate that, Mom, but it sure doesn’t look as though my romantic evening will be happening tonight.”
“What are you celebrating? Maybe she just forgot.”
“It’s the three-year anniversary of our reunion.”
His mom pressed a hand against her chest and smiled at him. “Oh. You’re as romantic as your dad, God bless his heart.” She crossed herself and looked up to the sky.
“Yeah. I’m not sure my romantic gestures are always appreciated by Kate. I may be hopelessly romantic with a woman who doesn’t seem to see it as a value worth having.”
“Oh, Luke.” She shook her head at him once more.
He shrugged but stayed silent.
“I used to think your job was quite dreary,” she said. “Working in a lab, looking at samples that had nothing but horrible stories attached to them. Then I began thinking about poor little Katie. After what she witnessed decades ago… And now what she sees and deals with day in and day out… Can you really blame her for being a little emotionally detached?”
Luke poured himself a glass of wine as he let his mother’s words sink in.
“I guess you’re right. I can’t imagine what her work days are really like.”
“But keep the romance alive. She probably needs it more than you can imagine. Don’t give up on her. I might even suggest you double down on it. Don’t just be the most romantic of the two. Be romantic for two.” She lifted her hands and pointed to her ring finger, which still displayed her wedding ring, even though his dad, her husband, had passed away years ago.
“Mom! Enough about the hints. You’re not subtle at all. I get it.”
Bringing his glass to his lips, he reflected on it, yet again. The thought had crossed his mind more than once already. He’d even started putting money aside. Deep in his heart, he knew Kate was the one. If he was brutally honest with himself, he’d probably known back then, decades ago, when they were just children and she’d befriended him out of nowhere.
But did he really want to be married to someone who valued work more than family? Someone who prioritized criminals and murderers over those she loved?