“Whatever it’s worth, you could put that into your business,” I suggested, knowing firsthand how there were never enough funds for a fledgling venture.
“I don’t want anything from that monster touching my business. It’s mine and mine alone. I’ll succeed without him.”
Studying her, I took my first gulp of champagne. The lightness and bubbles made me shudder, and I set the glass back on the desk.
Outside, the rain intensified, hitting the large windows behind me, pulling my brain out of the morass of history and back to the here and now. My watch said I’d been here for nearly an hour.
“Hell, I need to get home,” I said, standing abruptly. “My little girl’s waiting for me.” I needed to address the shitstorm of everything she’d revealed, but I didn’t know what to say, as I was still absorbing it. “Uh, thanks for telling me all of this. I…I need to let it all sink in.”
Thunder clapped loudly, suddenly, and Magnolia visibly startled, reminding me she used to be scared of storms.
“Are you okay?” I found myself asking.
“I’m fine,” she said stiffly. “Go, get home to your daughter. I’ll be fine.”
She didn’t sound fine, but she wasn’t my responsibility. Addie was. The farm was.
Still…
“You’re not going to drive anywhere, are you?” I eyed the champagne bottle. I couldn’t see how much was left, but she’d gone through at least half of it while I’d been sitting here.
With a dismissive laugh, she said, “I live above The Lily Pad.”
The stationery store was a block away, on the other side of the square.
“I’d offer you a lift, but my truck is nearly that far away,” I said.
She waved me off. “I’ll just ride it out here. Go.”
I nodded once and went into the outer room. When I glanced back at her, her gaze was averted. Instead of the light, celebratory mood I’d walked in on, Magnolia looked sad, uneasy. As if she was all alone to face the ghosts her mother’s visit had awakened.
For the first time in eighteen years, I felt more than an ounce of empathy for Magnolia James.
My phone buzzed with a silent text message. I knew without looking it was my dad wondering where the hell I was, so I walked out the door into the storm.
Chapter Nine
Magnolia
By the time Luke walked out, I no longer felt like celebrating.
Once he’d gone, I locked the door to the world so I wouldn’t be interrupted as I replayed both the conversation with him and the one with my mother.
Luke might’ve looked shaken by what I’d told him, but he hadn’t bothered to apologize for shutting me out in the past.
But I’d told him. Finally, after all these years, I’d gotten my side of the story out. I felt a little bit lighter, unburdened, even if disappointed.
What had I expected though?
His reaction was on him. I couldn’t control whether he was a jerk. Obviously I had been wrong about him in high school.
The rain continued to pound outside. I went to the closed blinds to peek out, feeling trapped. Alone. Overwhelmed by all the airing out of the past in the last two hours.
My mother… I’d thought not much could surprise me where she was concerned. I’d been wrong. Though I’d grown up in that cold household with no doubt that neither of my parents loved me, the hateful games between them still stunned me.
I could well imagine the explosion that would occur when Felix found out my mother had broken their agreement, but that was their problem. He’d lost any control over me the day he’d forced me out on my own.
That hadn’t seemed like a blessing when it happened, but now I could see how lucky I was to have him out of my life.
