Mom’s eyes flashed with rage as she whipped her head around to face Lisa. “You’ll see, Lisa. One day you’ll wake up and you won’t be so pretty. Your white skin that used to look dewy will sag and wrinkle. The roles will have dried up by then. Rafael will have become bored with you and be secretly seeing someone else.”
“For the thousandth time, I’m not seeing anyone else,” Dad said.
Mom plowed forward without a pause in speech. “Your children will have grown up and no longer need you. You’ll be a has-been and probably fat from eating your feelings.”
Lisa’s mouth fell open, stunned by the cruelty coming out of her own mother’s mouth.
“Mom, you cannot talk to Lisa that way,” David said. “I won’t allow it.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do, David Paul Perry. I’m your mother.” She turned back to Lisa. “Maybe, just maybe, you’ll get the house where you made fivehundred thousand meals for people who never loved you like you loved them. I devoted my life to the three of you. And now, it’s nothing. Dust between my fingers.”
Hot tears sprang from Lisa’s eyes. Across from her, Dad also wept, silently and without bothering to wipe them from his face.
David spoke softly. “Mom, I know how it is to wake up one day and realize everything you thought was true is not. You’ll be all right. I promise.”
Mom rose abruptly. “I’ll be leaving this morning.”
“Wait, what? You’re not staying for my wedding?” Lisa also stood.
“I have things to do at home. People who need me.” Mom straightened her sweater. “If your father hadn’t decided to announce his intentions last night, it might not be this way. But he’s always been a selfish man, and he still is.”
Mom turned on her heel and made a beeline for the double doors out of the lobby. Lisa, dazed into a state of paralysis, sank back into the chair.
“Should I go after her?” David asked.
“If she’ll listen to anyone, it’s you,” Dad said. “But her bags are packed. She’s headed to the airport from here.”
David rocked back and forth with his hands on his knees. “I don’t know if her staying is the right choice.” He looked over at Lisa. “This weekend is about you and Rafael. Whenever Mom’s involved in anything, it’s all about her. I’m sorry to say it, but maybe letting her go is for the best.”
Lisa looked over at her father. He stared blankly into space. “Dad, had you guys already decided before you came out here?”
“What? No. No, it wasn’t like that. We’ve been in counseling, like I said. She thought it was just a passing phase, you know, because of what happened with Marigold. Her murder and what we found out about her shook me to the core. Dealing drugs? My daughter-in-law. Right under all our noses. I thoughtmaybe your mother was right. My confusion and depression were because of all that. In therapy, though, I was allowed to talk. The therapist made your mother be quiet so I could say what I thought about things—express areas I felt needed improvement in our marriage. Eventually, I started seeing a psychologist separately. Working with her, I finally faced the truth. I’ve been unhappy for a long time. I saw you two taking all these risks and finding the lives you’ve always wanted. It made me see how asleep I’ve been. I’d decided weeks ago, but I wouldn’t have told her my decision until after your big day, knowing how she would react. Believe it or not, Lisa, given my actions, I want the world for you. You’ve never asked for anything from any of us, and I wanted this weekend to be perfect for you. But last night, when we went to bed, she started in on me. She said I kept looking at Ria at dinner, which is not true. I don’t know what got into her. Anyway, we had it out, and in a moment of anger I told her I wanted a divorce.” He looked up at them for the first time. “I’d already started the paperwork before we came out here.”
“But she didn’t know,” David said.
Their father didn’t answer, simply bobbed his chin in an admission that reeked of guilt.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” David asked.
“What I want has been so deeply buried inside me that it was hard to recognize at first. But yes, this is what I want.”
Lisa scooted forward in her chair. Through the lobby’s glass doors, she spotted her mother’s red coat. She stood near the valet stand, obviously waiting for the car. “I should go talk to her.”
“If you think that’s best,” Dad said.
She nodded. “I’ll see if I can get her to come up to the room with me for a talk. You two could maybe go to the coffee shop?”
The men agreed, and Lisa started across the lobby on leaden legs. By the time she reached Mom, she was alreadyregretting the decision. Her mother, upon seeing her, crossed her arms over her chest and turned the other direction.
“Mom?” Lisa tugged at the sleeve of her coat. “Can we talk?”
“My car will be here any minute.”
“We can send it back,” Lisa said, shivering in the cold without a jacket. “Please, just come up to the room with me. We can order you something to eat.”
The valet pulled up in her parents’ rental car. Mom hesitated, but then stepped toward the car. “I should go if I’m going to catch the next flight out of Denver.”
Lisa placed her hand around Mom’s wrist. “No. You’re not going. I need you to stay. I want you at my wedding. Mom, please. I don’t want to do this without you here.”
