Well, shetriedto find good ones. But she must have inherited the boy-trouble gene from her mother because her past boyfriends had been one mistake after another. Oh, they weren’t all bad. A few had had potential, but for one reason or another, the relationships fizzled.
Which made her wonder just what she thought she was doing with Axel. He had trouble written all over him. In big letters in black ink. She’d seen him fight men his size, two and three at a time, and walk away unscathed. Violence surrounded the guy who’d watched her for nearly a year without ever asking her out.
Yet the same guy had finagled a date out of a bet and kissed her senseless.
He’d also held her when she cried and called her beautiful.
What the heck should she make of all that? Talk about confusing… But at least he wasn’t married.
She saw her mother frowning at her.
“What?”
“You’re pretty judgmental for someone who can’t find a man.”
“Whoa,” Uncle Liam cut in. “That’s a little rough, isn’t it, Caroline?”
“I think my daughter and I need to talk.”
Sophie gave Rena a worried look. She must have heard from Uncle Liam how Caroline could go off the rails. But Uncle Liam knew Rena could take care of herself. He’d raised her to be strong, after all.
Liam stood. “Come on, Sophie. Time for us to take off.” They left after kissing Caroline and Rena goodbye.
Rena waited for her mother to turn into a raving shrew. Sadly, that too was part of her mother’s MO. To instigate a fight and rant until Rena couldn’t take the drama anymore and walked away.
How was it possible Rena loved her mom so dearly yet also pitied and disliked her at the same time?
“You shouldn’t talk to me that way in front of your uncle and Sophie.” Her mother fumed.
“Why not? I wasn’t disrespectful. I was honest.”
“You have no idea what it’s like to fall in love and lose a man.”
“Oh?”
“Because you never let yourself love,” her mother ended, looking at Rena as ifsheshould be the one feeling pity. “I admit I have issues with men. It all started with your father. I was too young and stupid to know better.”
You got that right.
“But at least I loved him.”
“And the ones after?” Rena asked with a lot more politeness than she felt.
“You watch that mouth, baby girl.” Her mother’s eyes snapped with anger. “I know I’ve dated a lot. I wanted to feel loved, and it probably goes back to your grandparents not giving a shit about me.”
Whoa. Mom’s breaking out the cuss words. Here we go…Rena waited for the fury to spill from a woman done wrong, scorned, ignored. Her mother had more self-pity than anyone Rena had ever met. Which made it worse when Rena herself fell into that samewoe is mestate. Oh boy. She really needed to apologize to Axel for witnessing her breakdown.
Caroline continued, “I thought sex would bring me happiness. And in a way it did. It brought me you.”
Rena watched her mom warily, but Caroline didn’t seem to be paying much attention to her, more introspective than Rena had ever seen her.
“My sister found what I always wanted. She didn’t get to keep it long enough though, poor Bridget. Your uncle is a good man. I don’t know why it’s been so hard for me to find my own Liam, but I try. And I keep on tryin’. I’m working on myself now.” Rena didn’t know what that meant exactly, but she kept quiet, listening. “I’m trying to do better. I haven’t shown you the best way a man and a woman can love, but that’s changing.” That was as close as her mother had ever come to apologizing for having had so many boyfriends. “And you’re grown enough to set your own example anyway.”
“Um, that’s all fine. I’m not asking for anything from you, Mom.” Rena deliberately gentled her tone, not wanting to cause a fight. “I just love you, and I worry about you.”
Her mother watched her for a moment then sighed. “I know. I love you too.”
“Dave seems nice. I just want you to find someone who treats you right. You’re such a good person. You don’t deserve to be somebody’s rent check or provider.”You don’t need a man to be happy, she wanted to say. But she knew the hypocrisy of that considering she wanted a man to make herself happy.
