She pushed away from the counter and picked up her phone, sitting back down as she plugged in her mother’s phone number.
“Clotille? How wonderful to hear from you. How are you doing?”
“Okay. How are you, Mom?”
“Busy with all the different committees. I don’t know why I take on so much. How’s Frederick?”
She swallowed hard, then exhaled. “I’ve left him,” she whispered, waiting for her mother’s tirade of insults on what a fool she was.
“When? Why?”
“A few weeks ago. I couldn’t live with him anymore. It wasn’t working for me. I was dying inside.” Silence. If she didn’t hear her mother breathing, she’d have thought they’d been disconnected. “I know you’re disappointed. I’m sorry.”
“Where are you?”
“Lafayette. I needed time to think before I called you. I was so confused. I know I’ve made the right decision. I can help you financially. I just couldn’t stay with him anymore,” her voice cracked at the end.
“When your father died in the arms of that trashy woman, I was mortified. But when he left us destitute after spending all the money onherand the gambling tables, I was devastated. I didn’t know how to be poor, and I was desperate to get my old life back. That’s why I pushed you into being with Frederick. He could help us financially, and he was able to help you get your life on track. He took care of everything. Now things are different. I’ve made some sound investments. I don’t need his money.”
“I also agreed to be the woman he wanted me to be. I did it primarily for the family. To give you a good life. I’m happy I’ve done that, at least.”
“If Frederick isn’t for you anymore, then you did right in leaving him.”
Clotille’s heart soared. “Do you really mean that, Mom?”
“Of course. Where are you staying?”
“With friends.”
“I insist that you come stay with me for as long as you like. I want to see you. It’s been too long.”
“I can come by to visit today if you’re not busy.”
“What time?”
“In an hour. Is that good?”
“Make it two hours. That’ll work much better.”
“See you soon.”
Clotille leaped up in the air after she slipped her phone in her pocket. With her mother and Armand in her court, that part of her life was unfettered, and it would make things more bearable if Rock ended up throwing her aside after they had their talk. She’d been so worried her mother would’ve been furious at her for leaving Frederick—the goose with the golden egg, as her mother had called him—that she almost didn’t call her. But she was so happy she had. She rushed to her room to fix up before she left.
Two hours later, Clotille paid the cab driver and walked up the stairs to her mother’s home. She rang the doorbell, her stomach fluttering with thousands of butterflies. The door swung open and her mother greeted her with a wide smile. She looked older since Clotille had last seen her, but her forehead still had the perpetual crease that deepened when she was angry or upset. New frown lines had cropped up above her nose and the sides of her mouth. Her hair was still black and from the way her eyes stayed wide, Clotille guessed she’d had an eye lift fairly recently.
“Clotille, come in.” Her mother hugged her stiffly, then moved aside so she could enter. “Let’s go to the sun room. It’s so bright and lovely in there. How do you like my house?”
“It’s beautiful.”You’ve put Frederick’s money to good use.“Isn’t the house too big for just you?”
“I love mansions. The bigger, the better.” She laughed and led them to a sunny room filled with gorgeous plants and flowers. Overstuffed furniture gave the room a very homey feel. A pitcher of lemonade sat on the glass-topped coffee table, a plate of cookies beside it. “Help yourself.”
Clotille poured a glass of lemonade for both of them and then chitchatted with her mother. Every few minutes, her mother would look at her watch, and it was beginning to drive Clotille crazy. “Do you have to be somewhere?”
“No. Why?”
“You keep looking at your watch. I can leave if you need to go.”
“I have a committee meeting. It’s a charity that helps abused women and children. But the meeting’s not for another hour. Let me get some more lemonade.”
