I nodded. “But once he realized that I was pregnant with his child, it was like he stopped fighting me, stopped trying to beat me, or something.”
“Amazing,” my mom smiled softly at me. “Love conquers all.”
I pulled a face. “I don’t know.”
I told her about his mother, and how her illness had cast a shadow over everything. “He wants to stand up to her but that may mean an end to their relationship, and he is all she has. His family and the Waterstone legacy are his entire life. Even if he says he doesn’t care about it, I think he can’t help being affected by all of it.
We sat in silence for a while. My mother poured herself another glass of wine and we lit some candles. The mood was warm, companionable.
“How are things with Vic?” I asked. I think she blushed, but it was hard to tell in the candlelight. She certainly seemed embarrassed.
“Good,” she said. Then she laughed and amended, “Very good. I met his son the other night and he introduced me as his girlfriend.”
“But that’s great!”
My mom laughed, embarrassed. “Oh, I’m too old to be a girlfriend, don’t you think?!”
Still, I could tell she was pleased. Perhaps she would be able to make this relationship work after all. I didn’t want her to be alone.
“I’m going to go back to the hotel room,” I told her.
“You’re leaving?” she asked.
“I want to be there when Matthew gets back from the hospital.”
She nodded but looked a bit forlorn.
“I can wait a while if you want? I don’t think he’ll be back yet?”
“No, no, you go,” she said, sitting up straighter in her chair.
As I hugged her goodbye, I held her a little while longer, smelling the familiar scent of her shampoo and the perfume she had used for years. I closed my eyes and wondered how Matthew would be when he came back that night. If he would be as tense and withdrawn as he’d been all day. His family had come between us before, and I hoped our love was strong enough to deal with this.
But I wasn’t sure.
Chapter 24
Matthew
From the hospital, I went back to the house.
The housekeeper, Rosario, opened the door, anxiously scanning my face for news.
“How is she? How is Mrs. Waterstone?”
“The doctors say she is going to be fine,” I reassured her. I told her what the doctor said.
“She’s asked for a few things to be brought to her, I said I’d drop it off.” I wasn’t keen to go through my mother’s private things. “Could you pack a bag for her? Some night clothes, toiletries, you know what she likes?”
“Of course, right away.”
Rosario rushed upstairs, eager to help. I thought of how rude my mother always was to her, how quick to point out dusty surfaces or flowers that needed changing. But in her time of need, Rosario was the one who wanted to help her.
I thought of how I’d walked into my mother’s private hospital room earlier in the afternoon, and saw her lying there, a small figure in the big hospital bed. Her hair was flat, limp and her face had seemed older, pale. I didn’t like to see her like that.
She opened her eyes and cried out my name, stretching a hand towards me.
“Matthew!”