I scowl. It’s been my fight for most of my life.
“You need to contact your lawyer and negotiate the contract with Juliet Ash.”
“I will.”
“No more putting it off because you’re worried about the kids.”
“I didn’t put off contacting the lawyer.”
She shakes her head. “You’ve never been a good liar.”
“I am too a good liar.” I realize how strange what I said is and clamp my mouth shut.
She smiles. “Regardless, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Juliet Ash is huge.”
I roll my eyes. “You don’t even know who Juliet Ash is.”
“I do, too. I googled her.”
“You googled her?”
“Of course, I did. You were excited and I wanted to understand why.”
Tears well in my eyes. Mom usually doesn’t have much time to pay attention to my life. But she took the time.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t you dare thank me. I should have been interested in your life and welfare for years. Instead, I relied on you to help me with the children. I didn’t consider what a toll it was taking on your life. I didn’t realize you’d give up on love to help me.”
I grimace. “You eavesdropped on my conversation with Gage.”
“I won’t apologize. I’m glad I did. I’ve been blind to your life, but my eyes are open now.”
“You weren’t blind.”
She squeezes my hand. “You love Gage?”
“With all my heart. I’ve never felt this way before.”
“I get it. I felt the same way about your father.”
“Are you ever going to tell me what happened?”
She glances away. I don’t know why I bothered asking. This subject has never been open for discussion.
“Arlo never wanted to have children. His dad had schizophrenia while he was growing up and he knew the disease was hereditary. He was terrified he’d pass the disease on to a child.”
“My grandfather had schizophrenia?”
Mom nods. “He died by suicide when Arlo was ten.”
I gasp. I was expecting this story to be sad. I didn’t expect it to be gut wrenching.
“When Arlo and I fell in love, he made me promise not to get pregnant. Knowing his background, I readily agreed. I would have done anything for him. I loved him more than anything in the world.”
“But you did get pregnant.”
“It was an accident. We used all the precautions, but…” She trails off with a shrug. “Sometimes accidents happen.”
