The next day, at 10 o'clock, Joanne woke up. Brian had already gone to the company. She had nothing to do after breakfast and remembered that she had not visited Iris for a long time, so, she drove to the Orchid Gardens.

Iris and a group of wives were playing mahjong happily at home.

Iris was keen on charity, and when she was in her spare time, she still had a full schedule-playing mahjong, gardening, and going to beauty salons and tea houses. Sometimes, she would suddenly become interested in traveling and sign up to travel with a group.

Everyone had the impression of her to be a kind and life-enjoying lady who had good temperament and taste and who looked even more beautiful when smiling.

Everyone thought that an old lady like her must have a rich and comfortable life without going through hardships.

However, Joanne knew that during the month before she met Brian, great changes had taken place in the Lambert Family -Brian's father, a well-known lawyer, died in a car accident suddenly.

Iris was crushed by losing her beloved husband and could hardly recover from the comedown.

Later, somehow, she lived in the old house of Joanne's grandmother with Brian, so, there had been the first meet between Brian and Joanne.

Joanne only knew that Iris finally walked out of the haze of life and took Brian to the United States to start a new life. She took care of Brian and found another way of life that was completely different from the past.

After so many years, she grew old and became a kind and lovely old lady.

In Joanne's memory, Iris was always smiling, her eyes full of peace, and even the wrinkles on the corners of her eyes made people feel peaceful.

"Mom." She called Iris. "I am back."

"Joanne?!" Iris was surprised and happy. She rubbed her hands, stood up, and said to her friends, "My daughter-in-law has come. Let me introduce her to all of you."

After the introduction, the ladies surely blessed Iris that she had such a beautiful daughter-in-law who came to see her from time to time.

"I have chosen her a decade ago. She is surely so good." Iris asked others to help her continue to play mahjong and took Joanne to the living room. "Joanne, are you not going to work today?"

Joanne told Iris that she had been busy helping Brian with the company's anniversary celebration in the past few days, and she would go to work next week.

Iris nodded with a smile. "It's good. It's almost noon, what do you want to eat? I will cook for you."

Joanne rarely came to see Iris and was not willing to let her cook, so, she said, "I'll do it. Go playing mahjong with Mrs. Wright."

Iris had already heard from Simon that Joanne was good at cooking and that Brian's picky appetite was so conquered by her. "Alright, let Aunt Laura help you and make more dishes. Today, I'd like to treat Mrs. Wright and others for dinner. Let them see how good my daughter-in-law is."

Joanne responded with a smile. She rolled up her sleeves and went to the kitchen. Iris smiled and walked back to the mahjong table and said, "Please stay here at noon, my daughter-in-law is cooking. You must try the dishes she makes."

"Wow, she can cook." Mrs. Wright drew out a card. "I heard that she is the girl of the Scott Family. In terms of her age and family, it is rare for her to know how to cook. My son married an immature princess who is picky about everything. Even looking at her makes me angry."

Iris smiled and pushed her Mahjong down. "I win!"

Mrs. Wright widened her eyes. "Yulan, it seems that your daughter-in-law brought good luck to you. You haven't won even once during the whole morning, and now, you win at once after she arrived."

Iris looked at the door of the kitchen. "You are right. Maybe she really can bring good luck to our family."

She could see the changes in Brian after he married Joanne. Now, she only hoped that Brian could let go of everything that happened more than a decade ago because of Joanne."

In the kitchen, Joanne was cutting tomatoes when her phone suddenly rang in the pocket of her apron. She dried her hand and took it out. It was Brian calling her unexpectedly.

"Simon said that you went to see Mom?" Brian's voice sounded as soon as she answered the phone.

"Yes, I came here after breakfast. What's the matter?"

Brian said, "Check your e-mail to see if you have received an email of a design draft."

Joanne checked her mailbox and saw a few printed design manuscripts among the unread mails.

She was confused. "Is this... a design draft of a dress?"

"Yeah." Brian said. "Choose the one you like and reply it to the designer. If you like none of them, ask the designer to redesign them."

"I will check it out first."

Joanne hung up the phone. There were five design drafts in total, and one of them was a strapless dress, which took her breath away at a glance.

She replied to the designer that she wanted this one and then sent a text message to Brian saying that she had picked one. Brian should be busy at that time as he did not reply her.

Joanne threw the phone back into her pocket and continued to cut the tomatoes.

At around 12 o'clock, six dishes and one soup were served on the table that had perfect combination of color, aroma and taste and did not lose to the dishes made by any chef. Those ladies praised and expressed their admiration for Iris and envied that she had a son like Brian who had a good sense both in business and picking wife.

These comments were more like compliments, but Iris just smiled at it and asked them to eat more.

After the meal, the ladies took some tea and left. Iris took Joanne's hands and chatted with her. "Joanne, how are you and Brian doing?"

"We're doing good." Joanne said, "Mom, you can rest assured that we will not make too much trouble even if we have an occasional quarrel. Besides, we usually don't quarrel."

Iris seemed to think of the past and sighed. "When Brian's father and I were young, we wanted to make a lot of money, live in a bigger house, and drive a better car. His father suddenly passed away, which woke me up. Nothing is more important than health. Now, I only hope that you two can live a good life. You don't have to be rich or powerful, and I just want you two to be healthy and safe for the rest of your life."

Every time when Iris mentioned Brian's father, there would be sadness to cover her smile. Joanne suddenly thought, "Maybe... Brian's father's car accident is not as simple as it seems."

Out of uncertainty, she dared not to ask Iris about it and was not sure whether Brian and she could live a good life as Iris had expected.

Brian and she had already discussed about a divorce before they even started to live their life. Although none of them had mentioned it these days, she still had a hunch that the life of her and Brian... would not be as smooth as Iris hoped.

But, in order to make Iris feel at ease, she could only promise her that they would definitely live a good life and told her not to worry about them.

"It's all about you two. Nothing I do will work."

Iris rubbed her shoulder and smiled helplessly.

She did not know others, but she knew Joanne and Brian well. Although they didn't go against her, once they had made a decision, it would be useless for her to change their mind.

Joanne decided to end the topic and went behind the sofa to massage Iris on her shoulders. "I know how to relax your shoulders through massage, I will help you."

After a while, Joanne received a text message from Brian. "I will come after work and wait for me."

At this time, it was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon. Iris thought that the sun was not hot and changed her clothes to go to the garden to weed the grass. Joanne also took some tools and followed her interestedly.

Therefore, when Brian came back, he saw Joanne wearing a big sunhat, squatting on the edge of the flower bed, using some tools to skillfully weed and loosen the soil, and talking with Iris happily.

Iris noticed Brian first and smiled at him while putting down the small shovel. "Brian, you're back, then I am going to cook."

"Mom, I-"

Before Joanne could finish her words, she was held down by Iris, who said, "You have made lunch for us, so, you must try my cooking tonight."

After Iris returned to the kitchen, Brian came over to Joanne, who looked at him and didn't know what to say for a while.

Her sunhat was really big, which made her face look even little. The thin sweat on her forehead stuck to a few strands of her hair, and her cheeks were reddish because of the heat. Brian could not help rubbing her face.

Joanne was somewhat unaccustomed to being watched by Brian. "Is there anything on my face?"

She touched her face unconsciously, and the dirt on her hand was brought to her clean face and the tip of her nose.

Brian frowned. "Silly girl."

He took her hand and wiped the dirt off her face with his thumb.

Joanne had thin skins, and the sand ground her face with pain. She couldn't help but grab Brian's hand and said, "My skin is going to be broken. Do it gently. Do you think your wife is too beautiful?"

Brian smiled and said, "I only see your narcissism."

Although he said that, his hands on her face became gentle. Joanne found that they stood close to each other, and Brian's familiar breath was lingering in her breath.

If it was before, so close to each other, they would be embarrassed, and she would want to escape.

But now, they somehow felt it a natural thing. Brian wiped her face as if he had done it thousands of times before.

Soon, her face was as clean as ever, and Brian retracted his hand. "Okay, it's done."

Joanne felt that Brian caused her stupid behavior of soiling her face with dirt, so, she held Brian's arm and wiped her face with his sleeves while saying, "Thank you."

She tried to leave after she did it.

Brian grasped her hand quickly, pulled her into his arms and wrapped her waist. He looked at the shirt cuffs stained with dirt. "You did it on purpose?"

Right then, Joanne caught the sight of the kitchen, which made her hair stand on end-Iris could see them from the kitchen from the beginning.

She struggled. "You let me go first. Mom is in the kitchen."

Brian raised his lips and said, "She will be happy to see us like this."

Joanne stared at him. "Rogue! I will clean your sleeves, let me go first."

Iris indeed could see them, so, Brian couldn't be too much. He let go of Joanne and followed her to the faucet in the corner.

She wetted her finger with a small amount of water and gently wiped the shallow mud on his cuff. "Well, I always wanted to ask you that why didn't mom move to live with us? She is living here alone, and if something bad happens to her, we won't know."

Brian was silent for a moment -

"She has lived here since she has married to my dad. All the furniture was picked by her and my dad. The garden was designed by them together. In the past few years abroad, she could not ask someone to take care of the house. When she was back, she didn't hire people help her but restored it by herself little by little. She said that she would not live in another place for the rest of her life."

Joanne seemly understood what this house meant to Iris.

"As long as she lives here, she could find traces of her husband."

For so many years, she was always smiling towards life. That did not mean that she had forgotten her husband.

On the contrary, she never forgot her love.

Just as Joanne was distracted, Brian raised his lips. "And, if mom moves to live with us, you will have to live with me in the same room. Joanne, how long have you thought about this?"

---------------

We have opened a discussion post on Facebook Group about this book , and you can post anything you want to say about this story, and we will invite the original author to unpuzzle all your questions. The post link is : https://www.facebook.com/groups/TapReader/, so just shoot!

Besides, if you have found out any bug of TapRead, you can also find a post in Facebook group for you to complain.