Mom’s rambling nonsense didn’t click until I realized she was talking about Victor. She must have heard that Victor was engaged somehow. Maybe it was John who told her; he did have connections. I didn’t answer right away because of my shock, so she kept going.
“Well, it’s just downright atrocious that he would do such a thing. Or wait—were you the other woman?” She gasped as if shocked and horrified then went on. “Oh, dear. I thought maybe I taught you better, but I guess you just have to make your own choices and learn sometimes. Well, that’s okay. If there is any damage done, John can help smooth out the reputation. Dear, I’m so glad you’re just free of that dead lump of flesh. You deserve so much better than—”
“Mom.” I couldn’t listen to her talk about him like that anymore. “I’m engaged to Victor.”
You could have heard a pin drop for about twenty seconds. She was just as in shock at my announcement as I was at her idiocy. I expected her to get very angry and hang up, but she lingered there.
“Mom, I told you; I love him.”
“Dear, you’re ruining your own life. You know that? You understand what that man is?”
“He is the man I love. The man whose baby I am carrying. And the man I intend to marry and live with for the rest of my life. We have something not many people get. I’m not giving that up because you’re upset with me.” I was seething, but maybe I should have felt sorry for her instead. She couldn’t let the old vendetta go.
I almost hung up, but I waited. She’d gone quiet for long enough without hanging up that I was curious as to why. She had no reason to stay on the line. She knew I was never going to change my mind now. Even her fleeting joy over him having broken my heart—or me having been a home wrecker—seemed to have passed so fast I got whiplash.
“That’s the one thing I could never give him.” Mom was suddenly calm. Her voice meeker and timider than I’d ever heard her. It was like I’d tapped into a morsel of her heart no one had ever touched. “He wanted children, but I didn’t. I had you. That was enough for me. He thought I’d refuse to give him some because I wanted his money. It was true—I liked his money.” She said that with a chuckle. I tried to remain nonjudgmental. “But in reality, having you was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. It almost broke me. I had so many complications. I was afraid. I had you young. If I did that over again at my age, I knew it would be worse.”
Hearing Mom’s confession brought me to tears, but I wiped them away before Victor approached.
“Mom, I have to go. I’ll stop by later, okay? We can talk then.”
“Yes, dear. Okay.”
She hung up before I said goodbye, but it was okay. I didn’t want Victor to know what she said or why I was crying. He could read into it all he wanted. Things between her and me were not great, and they hadn’t been in years. He knew that.
I rose to meet him, and sniffled.
“That bad, huh?” He shrugged and offered me his arms, so I hugged him.
“Can we go visit her? I think she’s ready to talk.”
Victor nodded and guided me toward his car. “Anytime, babe. I’ll do anything for you.” We walked awkwardly across the parking lot, and when we got to his car, he put the groceries in the trunk and opened my door for me. I buckled in and lost myself in thought.
I wondered if I had found Thomas Evers, Mom’s husband before John, would she have had the same reaction? Or was it that she really had loved Victor, and he really had broken her heart? Was that the reason why she had gotten so bent out of shape about everything?
My phone rang again, this time Bethany. I ignored it. I was too emotional at that moment to deal with trying to explain why I was crying or what had happened with Mom. And after my few weeks stint away from the orchestra, I knew I had to return—with all the news of course. So, I was taking this weekend to prepare myself for all of that. I just hoped that somehow, some way, I’d be able to go into all of that chaos with my mom on my side, not still in civil war.
25
VICTOR
Kat was nervous—she kept fidgeting with her purse strap.
I drove toward her mother’s house a little faster than she would have liked me to, but only because we were enjoying the calm before the storm. Her conversation with mom earlier in the day hadn’t been the usual screaming match, but that didn’t make me feel any better about talking to her.
“Can you please slow down? It’s just my mom’s house; no need to rush.” She sounded irritated, but I knew it wasn't because she was angry with me. She’d been on pins and needles all afternoon since the call.
“Babe, I’m driving the speed limit.” I glanced at a sign as we passed, then checked my speedometer.
“Can you find a tractor to drive behind?”
I chuckled at her insistence. Procrastinating wasn't the answer. I was a firm believer that ripping off the bandage was a much better approach to problem solving than hum-hawing around, hoping the problem solved itself.
“It’s going to be fine, Katherine. Even if she never wants to see you again, we will get through it together.”
She reached for my hand, and I let her hold it. I found myself having second thoughts the closer we got. If Jillian had the same reaction this might be the last time Katherine really got to sit and talk with her. She was the type of woman who cut a ran, though she’d not done it with Kat yet. I’d seen her do it with men and with friends, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she did do it with her own daughter too. So, the word nervous didn’t effectively communicate what I was feeling about our visit. I worried about Kat.
“Hey, it’s going to be alright.” I squeezed her knee and glanced at her before pulling my hand away to make a turn onto Jillian’s Street. She sighed and balled her hands up.