Page 76 of Maybe Some Other Time

“Does Becky know?” Thelma had never met her, but she felt like she knew her from all of Megan’s talk.

“No! Why the hell would my ex-wife know?”

“Because she’s the mother of your child you are potentially leaving behind.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

“I’ve had enough of this.” Thelma shoved the papers into the glove box and left her purse on the floor as she slammed the latch shut. “It’s fine if you’re a closed-off man who likes to keep his heart close to him, but things like this? You can’t keep this to yourself, Rob. I’m still your mother. Do you think I don’t care about your well-being?”

He muttered something unintelligible.

“You’re coming with me to my therapy appointment tomorrow.”

That got him talking more clearly. “What? No way. I ain’t seeing no shrink, let alone withyou.”

“You are, and you will! There are some things we need to hash out with a neutral third party!”

“I ain’t seeing no time travel shrink!”

“Fine! Then who doyousuggest we see, if not a therapist? Because now’s not the time to drag Megan into this.”

“Damn straight it isn’t.” Robbie chewed on something for a second. “I know who. If I arrange something on Friday, will you shut the hell up about this?”

“All right. Just nothing embarrassing.”

“No guarantees!”

He slammed his hand against the gearshift and hit the gas. Thelma thrust against the seatbelt that locked up against her chest.Gosh darnit, do I hate these things!Whoever mandated seatbelts while she was gone was a monster!Like a caged animal choking to death!

Which was probably exactly how Robbie felt every day, wasn’t it?

While Megan was in class, Thelma dressed in her Sunday best, which included Irene’s Givenchy knock-off and perfect curls that matched her autumn sweater. She didn’t know who to expect that day, but Robbie had gone out of his way to make coffee and order in from a sandwich place for lunch.I offered to make something, but…He had shooed her out of his sight while in the kitchen.

The rickety picnic table in the backyard was dusted off. Thelma kept to the shade as she sat on one side of the bench and watched her son guide a woman only a few years younger than him out into the backyard.

“Oh, my…” A riot of auburn curls blew in the breeze as a woman with more freckles on her face than polka dots on her shirt slowly approached Thelma. “You weren’t kidding. She looks just like the pictures.”

Thelma minded her manners as she stood up and extended a polite hand to her visitor. “Thelma Van der Graaf,” she introduced herself. “I’m Robbie’s niece.”

“The hell you are! You’re his mother! I’d recognize those little dimples and that strong Scandinavian clavicle anywhere! I only saw you watching me sleep foryears!”

This was how Thelma met Robbie’s ex-wife, Rebecca, more commonly known as Becky.

“Well…” Robbie backed away. “I’ll go get the coffee. Make yourself comfortable.”

Thelma rolled her eyes as Robbie scurried back inside and left her with someone new. “So, you know?” she asked Becky, who sat in a plastic chair at the head of the picnic table.

“Enough. Trust me, I had to dive into the darkest parts of the internet to find real discussion about it. I’ve got people I trust.”

Thelma didn’t know what to make of that. All she knew about the internet was that you could shop on it, read the news, and talk to other people.And there’s so much of all of that.It was still too overwhelming for her. “Still, it’s not something to take lightly.”

“What? Time travel? Hey, I’m a big Trekkie. I think anything is possible if we put our minds and creativity to it.”

“A Trekkie?”

Robbie reemerged, balancing plain coffee cups on a tray. Already, Thelma huffed. “You know. Fans ofStar Trek.Guess that was a bit after your time.”

“Oh, I’ve seen that. Robbie watches it.”