“Hi, Mom,” I greet.
“Good morning.” She points at the coffee maker. “Make yourself a cup.”
I do as she’s said, joining her at the island when I’m done. “So… have you talked to Sienna?”
She gazes at me over the brim of her coffee cup, nodding. “She called me late last night. She was on her way out to stay the night with Shane.”
“I’m sure that pleased him,” I grumble.
She places her cup of coffee on the table. “Real talk, Paisley?”
I quirk an eyebrow. “Are you sure you can handle it?”
In this family, there is everything but real talk.
My mom ignores my question. “Sienna told me about Klein.”
Great. Just fucking great. All that work this week, for nothing.
I flip my hair over my shoulder, and the smell of Klein’s body wash comes over me. No matter what happens with my family, this week was not for nothing. No matter how messy it has been, or will be for the next forty-eight hours until we leave the island, this weekend was the beginning of mine and Klein’s relationship. Ourrealrelationship.
“Klein and I may have not started out in a very conventional way, Mom, but there’s nothing fake about us anymore. In fact?—”
My mom holds up a palm. “You don’t have to tell me. I have eyes. I can see how smitten you are with each other.”
A smile tugs up one corner of my mouth. “Yeah?”
She nods once, slowly. “Yes. He’s obsessed with you. In a good way.”
“I’m obsessed with him, too.”
“Yes, you are. It feels good, doesn’t it?”
Sipping my coffee, I ask, “Is that how you feel about Ben?”
At the mention of Ben, my mother’s eyes light up. “Oh, yes. Yes. He’s...” She searches for the word. “Everything I always wanted.”
I try to nod my encouragement, to be supportive, but it feels weird to hear my mother say these words, and have them not be about my father. Not because I think they should be, necessarily, but it’s just odd.
“Did Sienna tell you she kicked me out of her wedding?”
Irritation flickers over my mom’s features. “Yes. And I told her she was wrong to do that.”
“You did?”
“Of course, Paisley.” Her eyebrows pull together in the middle as she gazes at me like my surprise confuses her.
“You tend to think Sienna can do no wrong.”
She frowns. “That’s not true.”
“You thought it was okay for Sienna to date my ex. You thought it was fine for her to get engaged to him. You thought it was acceptable to ask me to throw her bachelorette party.”
Mom sits back in her chair. “Honey, you don’t know what I thought. You didn’t ask me.”
“I’m asking you now.”
“I thought the choice was odd, and when I questioned Sienna, she said you were fine with it. She even said you were happy for her. Honestly, we’d had so much upheaval in our family that I felt relieved. I didn’t want to deal with more pain in my children’s lives. But,” she sighs, brushing her fingers through her hair, “I should have pushed. Ishould’ve called you and asked you outright. I’m sorry I didn’t press the issue, Paisley. I wish I’d looked harder at your blasé attitude.”
