Chapter 16 - Dinner Without Catherine
Isaac arrived at the restaurant twenty minutes early.
Then hated himself for it.
He had negotiated acquisitions worth more than some small countries’ annual budgets without checking the clock twice.
Now he checked it every thirty seconds.
At 6:58, Megan entered.
No apron.
No flour.
No practical sweater.
She wore a dark green dress and small gold earrings.
Isaac stood too quickly and struck his knee against the table.
Megan stopped.
“Did you just injure yourself?”
“No.”
“You absolutely did.”
“I’m fine.”
“You're limping.”
“Sit down.”
She laughed.
“Very smooth.”
He smiled despite himself.
“You look beautiful.”
Her teasing expression softened.
“Thank you.”
They sat.
For several seconds, neither knew what to say.
That surprised Isaac.
They had discussed death.
Grief.
Family.
Fear.
Money.
Yet dating apparently destroyed vocabulary.
Megan saved them.
“So. How's Lily?”
“Currently furious because I wouldn't let her come.”
“She knows we're here?”
“Helen told her.”
“Of course.”
“Helen returned yesterday.”
“For the weekend?”
“Supposedly.”
“Meaning?”
“She brought three suitcases.”
Megan laughed.
“Catherine wins again.”
Isaac smiled.
“How's your mother?”
“Good.”
“And the bakery?”
“Recovering.”
He resisted asking about debt.
Megan noticed.
“Go ahead.”
“What?”
“Ask.”
“How much is left?”
She smiled.
“Less.”
“That's extremely specific.”
“Enough.”
“Still refusing help?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“You mean that?”
“I’m learning.”
Dinner became easier.
They talked about Megan’s childhood.
She had grown up above the bakery.
She could decorate a wedding cake but hated doing it.
She had studied hotel management for two years before dropping out when her mother became ill.
She wanted to return to school.
“For what?”
“I don't know.”
“That's unlike you.”
“You don't know me that well.”
The sentence was not cruel.
Just true.
Isaac nodded.
“Then tell me.”
Megan looked at her glass.
“I spent a lot of years being useful.”
He smiled faintly.
“Sounds familiar.”
“Maybe that's why Catherine got to both of us.”
“What would you do if usefulness weren't the requirement?”
Megan thought.
“Work with older adults, maybe.”
“In healthcare?”
“Not exactly.”
She explained how much she had loved helping Catherine reclaim routines, hobbies, choices.
“People focus on medical care. Which matters. But loneliness can erase somebody too.”
Isaac thought of Catherine before Megan arrived.
Curtains closed.
Books untouched.
Meals half eaten.
“You were good at it.”
“I had one stubborn test subject.”
“She liked you.”
“I loved her.”
The words brought tears to Megan’s eyes.
Isaac reached across the table.
This time there was no employment agreement between them.
No hierarchy.
Megan took his hand.
“I miss her.”
“So do I.”
They sat quietly.
The date ended with a walk.
No cameras.
No luxury spectacle.
Just two people walking along a river while city lights reflected across the water.
Near Megan’s car, Isaac stopped.
“I’d like to see you again.”
She smiled.
“I assumed that was the idea.”
“I’m being clear.”
“Very executive.”
He laughed.
“Megan.”
“Yes.”
“Can I kiss you?”
Her expression changed.
No teasing.
She stepped closer.
“Yes.”
The kiss was gentle.
Almost cautious.
It lasted only seconds.
When they separated, Megan whispered, “You ask permission surprisingly well.”
“Catherine trained me.”
“She'd be unbearable right now.”
“Completely.”
They kissed again.
When Isaac arrived home, Lily was sitting on the staircase in pajamas.
“You're awake.”
“So?”
“It’s ten.”
“I can't tell time.”
“You can.”
“How was dinner?”
Isaac removed his coat.
“Fine.”
“Did you kiss?”
He nearly dropped his keys.
“Go to bed.”
“You did!”
Helen appeared at the top of the stairs.
“I told you.”
“Why are you encouraging this?”
“Family bonding.”
Isaac pointed upstairs.
“Both of you.”
Helen laughed.
Lily ran to her room shouting, “Daddy kissed Megan!”
Isaac stood alone in the foyer.
Then he laughed.
Weeks became months.
Isaac and Megan dated slowly.
Deliberately.
She returned to Vermont often.
He never offered to solve every problem.
Sometimes she asked for advice.
He gave it.
Sometimes she asked for help.
He helped.
The difference mattered.
Lily adjusted naturally.
She did not call Megan “Mom.”
No one asked her to.
Anna remained part of the family.
Her photographs stayed up.
On Anna’s birthday, Isaac took Lily to the cemetery.
Megan did not come unless Lily wanted her there.
Grief did not have to compete with new love.
That realization freed Isaac more than he expected.
At Mercer Group, the restructuring worked.
Not perfectly.
Nothing did.
Two senior executives left.
A major deal failed.
The company survived anyway.
Isaac learned to let other people make decisions he would have made differently.
This proved almost physically painful.
One afternoon his new COO said, “You're hovering.”
Isaac stepped back.
“Catherine used to say that.”
“I never met her.”
“You would have liked her.”
“Was she as intimidating as you?”
“Worse.”
By June, the lavender Catherine had planted bloomed.
On Lily’s seventh birthday, Helen arrived before breakfast.
Megan came carrying a cake from her mother’s bakery.
Ruth brought flowers.
The kitchen filled with voices.
Isaac found the blue list upstairs.
He carried it down.
Beside Watch Lily turn seven, he placed the paper near Catherine's old chair.
Lily saw it.
Her smile disappeared.
“Grandma didn't get to.”
“No,” Isaac said.
Lily picked up a pen.
He expected her to cross out the line.
Instead she drew a star.
Isaac crouched.
“Why?”
“She wanted it.”
“But she wasn't here.”
Lily shrugged.
“She started my birthday.”
Isaac’s throat tightened.
Children understood continuity differently.
Maybe better.
Lily wrote beneath the line:
We remembered her.
Then added a star.
Megan stood beside Isaac.
Catherine's second list now held stars beside two lines.
See Helen come back without being invited.
Watch Lily turn seven.
Only one remained.
See Isaac happy.
Lily noticed.
“Are you happy?”
Isaac looked around.
Helen arguing with Ruth about frosting.
Megan beside him.
His daughter turning seven.
Lavender outside.
Curtains open.
He nodded.
“Yes.”
Lily drew the final star.
Isaac caught her hand.
“Wait.”
“What?”
He looked at Megan.
Then smiled.
“Okay.”
Lily completed the star.
For a moment everyone was quiet.
Then Helen lifted her coffee.
“To Catherine.”
Ruth echoed, “To Catherine.”
Megan whispered it too.
Isaac looked toward the empty chair.
“To Mom.”
The doorbell rang.
Lily ran to answer it.
A courier stood outside with a registered envelope.
Isaac signed.
The return address belonged to Catherine’s attorney.
Inside was a letter.
To Isaac, to be delivered on Lily’s seventh birthday.
His hands trembled.
Megan stood beside him.
“Open it.”
Isaac did.
His mother’s handwriting filled three pages.
The first sentence made him laugh through tears.
If Helen has moved into my guest room by now, charge her rent.
From the kitchen Helen yelled, “I heard that!”
May you like
And for the next ten minutes Catherine Mercer returned to them through ink, humor, and one final plan none of them had expected.
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