Carol hugged her aunt. “I feel like Cinderella going to the ball.”
“I don’t mind playing fairy godmother.” Maria laughed,then grew somber. “I actually offered to be your godmother when you were first born, but your mother wouldn’t have it.”
“Too bad.” Carol wondered how much different her life might’ve gone if Maria had been in the picture while she was growing up. Of course, this only reminded her of Mom and she preferred not to think about her right now.
“Well, I’m glad we got tomorrow night all settled.” Maria yawned.
“Yes, but it’s late. We should be getting you to bed.” Carol carefully removed the dress and hung it up, then she helped her aunt prepare for bed, finally tucking her in and kissing her good night. Then she quietly picked up the dress and boots and rather reverently carried them up to her room so she could hang the dress on a peg by the closet door. For a long moment, she stood just staring at the vintage dress, imagining what it would feel like to be Victor’s date tomorrow night ... then reminding herself that would be Victoria’s pleasure. And, really, if that’s the kind of woman Victor wanted, he could have her. After all, didn’t their names say it all? Victoria the victorious ... wanting to win Victor. Well, let her!
Shooing these troublesome thoughts away, she distracted herself by getting ready for bed, but before turning off the light, she silenced her phone. Just in case her mom decided to give her another late-night call.
Although she felt a smidgen of guilt, she just couldn’t deal with any more mama drama tonight, especially after discovering her mother had twisted the story, pretending she’d been a small child when Maria had left. It was obviously just another pathetic attempt to turn Carol away from her aunt. It was one thing to want a mother-daughter rendezvous in the Bahamas but throwing Maria under the bus like that felt unforgivable. And yet she knew she needed to follow her aunt’s lead, like she’d said she would, and forgive her mom. At the same time, she rationalized that the wounds she bore from her mother randeeper than Maria’s. For that reason alone, it should naturally take longer.
But since she had promised Maria she would pray for Mom, she did her best. And the best she could muster, like she’d done for other “enemies” in the past, was to ask God to bless her mom. She’d once heard a sermon about how asking God to bless someone didn’t necessarily mean they’d win the lottery or become a celebrity ... because sometimes God’s best blessing came in the form of a good spanking. In the case of her mom, she hoped for the latter!
12
After the past few days of decorating and caring for her aunt, Carol was grateful for a peaceful day at the farmhouse. With snow all around outside, Christmas decorations strewn about, and a glowing fire inside, it was the perfect setting for relaxation. Except a certain something was niggling in her mind until she finally had to give in to it.Just get it over with, she told herself. She would call her mom.
For starters, she planned to question Mom about the false accusations she’d made against Maria. She hoped to do it in a controlled and nonconfrontational way, but she knew it would be a challenge. Although it might be easier if she initiated the conversation instead of waiting for her mom to call and catch her off guard again. So, while Maria was napping in the early afternoon, Carol slipped upstairs and called her mom.
The phone rang so many times, she wondered if perhaps her mother really had disowned her. And if so, there was not much she could do about that. She was about to hang up when her mom’s groggy voice muttered “Hello.”
“Oh, you are there.” Carol tried to corral her thoughts again. “So you’re still talking to me, after all.”
Her mom just grunted.
“Did I wake you?”
“Not exactly. I was about to get up.”
Carol knew it was past noon in Arizona but had the wisdom not to mention it. “Well, I talked to Maria about the things you told me, and it seems there’s another side to the story.”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
“No, but I know enough about memories to know that people can experience the same situation and remember it completely differently.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard about that.”
“Anyway, Maria explained that you were, uh, actually a teenager when she married Don.”
“I never said I wasn’t.”
“I thought you said you were a small child.”
“Well, if that’s what you think you heard, maybe it’s your memory that’s wacky.”
Carol bristled but held her tongue.
“All I know is that Maria was very selfish,” Mom continued. “She left me high and dry, and I had to fend for myself. It was very hard. Very traumatic.”
“Maria was twenty-seven, Mom. She’d taken care of you for most of her life. It was time for her to live her own life.”
“What aboutmylife? Being left alone?”
“You were almost seventeen. When I was that age, you used to leave me home alone with no parent in the house, sometimes for days at a time. In fact, I think I was even younger when you decided I didn’t need a full-time parent around.”
There was a brief pause. “You were very mature for your age.”
