“Did she?” I didn’t need to ask who she meant. “Because it felt more like a transaction than a concern.”
Melanie sighed and set the magazine aside. “She’s offering you a way out. You should at least consider it.”
“A way out?” I repeated. “By finding me some rich husband to play father to my kids?”
Melanie’s eyes narrowed slightly. “A good husband. A man who can give you stability. Safety. You’ve been running on fumes for years, Michelle. You can’t raise children on love alone.”
“I’m not raising them on love alone,” I said. “I’m raising them with Scott.”
She shook her head, almost pitying. “You’ve never seen him clearly. You see who he could be, not who he is. And I’m scared that while you’re waiting for him to catch up, your life is passing you by.”
I met her eyes. “I know exactly who he is. I didn’t marry him by accident.”
She gave a short, humorless laugh.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No,” I challenged. “You definitely want to say something.”
Melanie’s stare lingered, then went cold. “You married him out of revenge. You’ve had your rebellion, Michelle. It’s time to come home.”
The bitterness in her voice shook me. “That’s all you think this is—a rebellion? Melanie, I love him.”
“Love is a luxury we Carvers can’t afford.”
“Oh, stop with the cryptic Carver bullshit. Love doesn’t cost a dime. It just requires sacrifice.”
Any pretense dropped from the conversation. “You knowwhat kills me, Michelle? You think you’re the only one who paid a price.”
My stomach turned. “What are you talking about?”
“You act like I wanted to marry James.” Her voice cracked just slightly. “He’s my Donald Lavelle the Third. You think I dreamed of country clubs and cotillions and two kids to round out the perfect Christmas card? You’re livingmylife, Michelle. Mine! I was supposed to be the outcast, the one Mother’s friends whispered about. The one who married for love. But then you went rogue, and somehow, your destiny became mine.”
“Melanie—”
“No, don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t want to hear it. You left for love, Michelle. And left me here to clean up your mess. To hold up the name. To prove to everyone that the Carver girls weren’t a total disgrace.”
Her words came fast and ragged, the truth she’d been holding in all these years.
I fought the rising lump in my throat. “You could’ve chosen differently.”
She laughed with no humor. “No, I couldn’t. Because you already did.”
I stared at her, letting the words settle. Was that really true? Had Melanie been trapped by my freedom?
“You don’t owe them,” I said, treading lightly. “Why give up your own life for theirs?”
Her gaze sharpened.
“Because you wouldn’t.”
Melanieand I hadn’t ended on the best of terms, leaving me tossing and turning all night. I hadn’t even finished my morningcoffee when the door swung open without so much as a knock. Only one person entered a room like she owned it.
Well, technically, she did own this one.
“Mother,” I said flatly.
