Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
“Like her giving up custody without a squeak?” Bernice offered.
“And her taking off to Idaho like she didn’t birth no babies, when she did, and that baby she forgot she birthed was you,” Mel put in.
“And like she shows when she shows, and you or your gram have to drop everything to be at her beck and call, but she won’t stay with either of you. Nope. She’s got a bungalow at the Biltmore and you have to go get her and traipse around Phoenix at her whim,” Charlie added.
Welp!
It seemed my girls had my mom’s number before I did.
“And straight up, she had the means to help you out when you were busting your back to get your degrees,” Bernie started, “and she didn’t. I can’t believe your dad put all that in a trust and gave it to you. Along with him dropping that mobster client because you asked him to, that’s a seriously stand-up thing to do.”
Dad and I had not come to terms about the trust, but Bernie was right. It was a stand-up thing to do.
“It isn’t Mom’s money,” I pointed out.
“She sells one Birkin bag, she pays an entire year of your tuition,” Mel returned.
Sadly, I couldn’t argue this.
“More stand-up from your dad, that he took the hits he took all your life,” Bernie stated. “What I don’t get is why your mom would pull what she pulled.”
“Well, it isn’t like, in front of Di, Nolan and Margaret are gonna have a chat about who cheated first,” Mel noted.
“That’s the worst part of this,” Charlie said. “The Big Lie.”
“Victims gonna victim,” Mel replied. “Can’t get everyone to kiss your feet and make life easy for you if you don’t convince them they should.”
I stilled.
Victims gonna victim.
Dad cheated on her (when he didn’t).
Brendon gave up on her (but did he?).
Rick forced her to live in Idaho where she had to drive all the way to Seattle for good shopping, or fly down to Phoenix (but she went up there with him without a peep).
Rick went out hunting, and left her “all alone” (when, for God’s sake, people had hobbies).
Rick got mad because she didn’t like to ride in his speedboat because it messed up her hair and “doesn’t he understand about a woman’s hair?!” But she rode in it and bitched about it, like taking a ride in a speedboat on a beautiful lake in God’s country was akin to being stretched on the rack.
Nothing was Mom’s responsibility.
Nothing went Mom’s way.
But she lived a damn good life.
I didn’t even know how she spent her time up there, except she always had perfect nails, an immaculate pedicure, no roots in her hair, and she often went to spas.
I’d wanted to do it on my own, getting my degrees, but I’d wanted to do that to show Dad.
That said, it had been all kinds of hard work.
I’d met all of my girls our first year in college. They knew everything about me. They went through all of that with me. Hell, Bernice’s parents gave me a waitressing job at one of their restaurants. I’d worked there for three years.
And they were right. Mom and Rick gave me big checks at birthdays and Christmases, but they weren’t that big.
She could have helped.
She could have at least offered.
She didn’t.
She never even asked about it, and truth, she still gave me those big checks, though now I was seeing them as guilt checks, if she could feel that emotion.
What they weren’t were presents.
Even when I was a kid, Mom gave me money on those occasions.
Like, she was a superior shopper, and she didn’t bother to know me enough to buy me an actual present that I might want.
“Di?” Bernie called.
I focused on her.
“Oh shit,” Mel mumbled when she caught sight of my face.
“It really hurts,” I whispered.
“Okay, now we’re gonna lay off,” Charlie decided.
Bernie reached across our nearly miniscule table toward me.
I took her hand.
“It sucks you have to come to terms with this, but I’m glad you are, because you give that woman a lot when she demands it, and she doesn’t really deserve it,” Bernie said.
“Bernie!” Charlie snapped.
“No,” I cut in, giving Bernie’s fingers a squeeze and letting go. “She’s right.”
“Do you know what you’re going to do when she calls?” Mel asked.
“I think…I need to talk to Hugger about it,” I said.
“Hugger?” Charlie asked.
“No offense, but I…” I smiled. “He’s kinda become my touchstone.”
“Perfect segue,” Mel muttered.
Yep.
Now was the time to get into Hugger.
“He vacuums,” I announced.
“Sorry?” Bernie queried.
“Maddy and I were cleaning last Saturday, I got out the vacuum, he took it from me and vacuumed my whole house.”
“Yowza,” Bernie said.
“Has Gerard ever done that?” Charlie asked Mel.
“Once, and he did it so badly, he’s never done it again,” Mel told her.
Bernie and Charlie rolled their eyes at each other.