I give her a weak smile. “I’m glad. Really. I have a feeling he’ll be family soon. He’s your person, Mia, and you’re supposed to talk to your person about everything. No reason to feel bad about downloading to him.” I hug her again.
“So what have you decided about telling Mike about all this?” she asks quietly, and I nibble my lip.
“I’m torn. On the one hand, we’ve been able to keep the girls completely clueless about what’s going on. They think we’re just having a fun sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa again. So if they don’t know, is there really a need to tell Mike? But on the other hand, if something like this happened while they were in his care and he didn’t tell me… hell hath no fury like this mama not being in the loop with all things having to deal with my babies.”
“Well, either way, it’s not like there’s much he could do. Yes, he’ll learn that you were having a relationship with another man, but seeing as your marriage ended because he cheated….” She lifts her hands up as if to weigh the options. “Whatever you decide, you know I’ve got your back,” she finishes with a reassuring closed-lipped smile, and then we move past the sleeping kids to the kitchen.
“All right, young lady. You better start talking,” Mom says, but her tone isn’t as stern as it would be if she wasn’t two cocktails deep.
Mia and I take a seat at the small four-person dining table, the TV in the living room loud enough to block out our voices so we don’t wake the girls up.
I open my mouth to speak, but Mia’s phone buzzes, and we all look at her.
“Sorry,” she murmurs, looking at the screen. “Oh, it’s Talon. He’s pulling in now.” She goes back to the door to let him in, and a couple minutes later, Mia is sitting on his lap in the chair next to me, her two dogs Talon brought over snoring under the table at our feet.
“So um… this is pretty awkward. But uh… I fell in love with my boss,” I say, staring at the middle of the glass table instead of into anyone’s eyes, my face hot. “And he fell in love with me. But the timing was very, very off.” I clear my throat and take a deep breath, looking toward the heavens to give me strength. “It turns out that he is technically still married even though he’s been separated for over three years. They haven’t lived in the same house and have had split custody of their son that whole time.”
My lip wobbles, tears filling my eyes, and I force myself to look at my mom. “I’m sorry, Momma. I… I know how terrible you must think I am as a person, to turn into the ‘other woman’ after everything that happened with our father, after what happened with Mike.” I sniffle, and tears track down my cheeks. “But I love him. More than I’ve ever loved any man in this entire world. He truly cares about me, puts me first…. He treats me the way Chaz has always treated you. I…” A sob escapes, and I can’t read Mom’s expression. Chaz reaches over and takes her hand in his.
“I may have been older when Chaz entered the picture, but I still got enough time to see how a man is supposed to treat the love of their life. I didn’t have that with Mike. Instead, he turned out to be just like the father I had before Chaz. But now… I’ve found a man who looks at me the way Chaz looks at you, Mom. Like you’re the center of his universe and he couldn’t breathe without you. That’s what I have with Win,” I tell her, and Mia reaches over and grips my shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.
Mom looks over at Chaz then meets my eyes once more. “Three years? Why hasn’t he asked for a divorce?”
I explain in detail all about the prenup, and then I follow it up with the discovery of her affair after he hired a PI.
“So his ex put out the hit on all of us after he confronted her about her affair,” Mom puts together aloud, and we all nod.
I brace myself, waiting for mom to explode now that she has all the information to light her fuse.
But shockingly, it never happens.
Instead, she reaches across the table and takes my hand between both of hers.
“Baby, I saw the way that man looked at you when he showed up at Talon’s that day. And you’re right. There’s no doubt he loves you… beyond sanity. He was distraught… because you had been put in danger. Someone having a fling or an affair wouldn’t have done that, especially in front of so many people. He basically proved right then and there he didn’t care if he lost everything because of the prenup; he cared more about you than anything else.”