A Boy To Remember. Cynthia Thomason

loss. She was young and impressionable. And she was obviously vulnerable to the same Chandler charms that had influenced her mother. Alex could only envision a nightmare of problems ahead for all of them if Lizzie developed a crush on her mentor.

      “Yes, he is all that, I suppose,” she said, “but Lizzie, don’t get any ideas about you and Daniel...”

      “What do you mean ideas?”

      Alex cleared her throat, glanced at Lizzie. All at once her daughter’s eyes widened in shock and her jaw dropped. “Mom! Are you kidding me? You think I like Daniel that way?”

      Alex swallowed. Yes, that was exactly what she’d thought. “I’m not jumping to conclusions, honey...”

      “Yes, you are. How gross! I like him, yeah, but he’s old enough to be my father!”

      A sharp pang sliced into Alex’s chest.

      “You couldn’t be further from the truth, Mom,” Lizzie said. “I was considering Daniel as date material, sure, but not for me. I was thinking he’d be perfect for you!”

      * * *

      ALEX COULDN’T FIND any words to respond. She was grateful the road was nearly deserted or she might have wiped out, taking a farm truck with her. Her hands gripped the steering wheel and she focused her gaze on the ribbon of blacktop. Just drive, Alex, she said to herself. Don’t say anything that could get you in trouble.

      After a mile or so, Lizzie said, “Mom, did you hear me? I said you and Daniel would be so good together. And I think he might be interested in you.”

      Alex exhaled a deep breath. “Yes, I heard you.”

      “Well, doesn’t it make you feel better that I’m not interested in him for myself? Good grief, Mom, he has gray hairs! And since you married Daddy, you obviously like gray-haired men.”

      Alex felt her temper, the one she rarely showed, flare inside. Her cheeks felt hot. She could almost sense a rise in her blood pressure from the pounding in her head. “I didn’t choose your father for the color of his hair, Lizzie. That was very unkind of you.”

      “I’m sorry. I’m only trying to be helpful.”

      “Well, you’re not being helpful at all. I don’t need my daughter to arrange dates for me or to interfere in my social life.”

      “No offense, Mom, but what social life?”

      Alex gave her daughter a sharp look. “It’s only been five months. What did you think? That I’d start looking for dates the first chance I got?”

      “No, of course not, but this wonderful man, Daniel, has just about fallen into your lap. Would it have hurt you to go out for some stupid ice cream?”

      “I’m not going to discuss this with you any more, Lizzie. This whole conversation is inappropriate.” And uncomfortable. And frightening. “I’m your mother, for heaven’s sake!”

      “And I love you, so I want you to know that I don’t expect you to live like a nun. You’re still young.”

      Alex’s shoulders relaxed and she loosened her hands on the steering wheel. In a calm voice, she said, “How I choose to live my life is my business, Lizzie. Right about now, life in a convent doesn’t look so bad.”

      Lizzie giggled, erasing the remaining tension from the car. “Have you looked at Daniel, Mom? I mean really looked? He’s your age. He’s single. He’s successful. And he’s gorgeous. Any woman would be happy to share a hot fudge sundae with him!”

      “Enough, Lizzie!” Alex caught a quick glimpse of her daughter, who was smacking her lips. “You’re impossible.”

      “I’m only having fun, Mom, and I want the same for you. Haven’t we been sad long enough? Loosen up, maybe give Daniel a try.”

      Oh, my poor, sweet, blissfully ignorant daughter. If only Lizzie knew that her virtuous mother had already given Daniel a try, and that it was coming back to haunt her in the worst possible way.