Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Vivian drove up to Hazel’s cottage and parked her car carefully. Early morning sunlight sparkled on the windows of the house and gleamed on the colored glass garden ornaments that dotted the front garden. Vivian had always felt proud of Hazel for creating such a wonderful home for herself and Samantha. Every time she’d visited her daughter, she’d felt as though she was going to a place that was going to bring her comfort and happiness.
Today she didn’t feel the same way, but that was no fault of Hazel’s. The night before, Alexis hadn’t returned to the dinner table, and she and Hazel had left shortly after everyone else had finished eating. Vivian’s heart ached for her daughter, and she was there at Hazel’s house hoping that she could talk to Alexis and help her feel better about her situation with Grayson.
She got out of her car and walked slowly up the path to the front door, which was painted a cheerful mint green. She knocked softly, and a moment later the door was opened by Hazel, who was still wearing her pajamas with an apron tied on over them.
“Hey, sweetheart.” Vivian gave Hazel a hug. “How are you this morning?”
“Oh, I’m okay.” Hazel smiled at her mother as they pulled away from the hug, but then she sighed. “Alexis was quiet all the way home last night. I’ve been up for over an hour already, and I haven’t seen her yet this morning.”
“I feel so bad for her.” Vivian followed Hazel as they walked slowly toward Hazel’s kitchen. The air was filled with the warm, buttery aroma of waffles and the nutty fragrance of coffee. “I didn’t realize that Alexis was having so much trouble. I feel as though I should have realized it, somehow. I think I might have if I wasn’t so bogged down with my own grief.”
Hazel shook her head. “You couldn’t have known, Mom. It’s clear she didn’t want to tell anyone about it, so she must have been trying to keep it from us. All we can expect when someone’s going through something so sensitive like that is that they’ll confide in us when they’re ready. She wasn’t ready until last night.” Hazel bustled around in her kitchen as she spoke, getting a cup of coffee ready for her mother.
“You’re right.” Vivian sighed, and then gratefully accepted the cup of coffee that her daughter handed to her. “But I don’t think she was even ready to tell us last night. We kind of forced it out of her by accident.”
“True. But I think it’ll be better for her now that it’s out in the open.” Hazel went back to the stove, where she was making waffles. “Now we can support her, since we know what’s going on. Before, she didn’t have anyone she could talk to about this. That must have been awful.”
For a few more minutes, Hazel and Vivian worked quietly in the kitchen together. Vivian helped set the table for breakfast while Hazel finished making the waffles and cut up fresh strawberries into thin slices. Vivian was lost in thought as they worked. She wanted to make Alexis feel better, and she kept wondering what she could do to lift her daughter’s spirits.
“Good morning!”
Samantha sashayed into the kitchen, followed by Alexis. They were both smiling, and Vivian’s heart lifted with relief when she saw that her daughter was feeling better.
“Good morning.” Hazel gave Samantha a hug, and then gave Alexis one as well. “How are you both feeling?”
“Great.” Samantha slid into a chair at the kitchen table. “Wow, these waffles smell amazing.”
“I feel better.” Alexis gave Vivian and Hazel a watery smile. “Samantha cheered me up.”
Hazel gave her daughter a high-five. “That’s my girl. Way to go. You’re a sweetheart to help your aunt out like that.”
Samantha smiled, looking happy. Then she noticed the time on the clock hanging on the wall behind her mother’s shoulder and gasped. “Oh, shoot! I overslept. The bus is going to be here in a couple of minutes.”
Hazel sprang into action. “Take a waffle,” she said, sliding one into a Ziploc bag. “I’ll save you a couple so you can have them with the strawberries and whipped cream when you come home.”
“Amazing, thanks, Mom!” Samantha grabbed the Ziploc bag, threw her backpack on over her shoulder, and hurried out the back door. “Bye, everybody!”
“Bye!” they all called, even though the door had swung shut behind her already.
“That girl is a treasure,” Hazel said fondly, bringing the bowl of freshly cut strawberries over to the kitchen table. “Come on, you two, let’s eat these waffles while they’re hot. There’s nothing better than waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast, if I do say so myself.”
Vivian smiled at her daughter, thinking to herself that Hazel was a treasure as well. If she remembered correctly, Hazel’s favorite breakfast food was a skillet with plenty of bacon, potatoes, and cheese, and waffles with strawberries and whipped cream was Alexis’s favorite breakfast food.
The three of them sat down at the table together, and for a few minutes, they ate in comfortable silence. The waffles were deliciously light and fluffy, and the strawberries added a pleasantly tangy flavor to the sweetness of the whipped cream.
“I know you’re both trying to cheer me up,” Alexis said finally, looking up from her food and smiling at her mother and sister. “I appreciate it, I really do.”
Vivian reached over and squeezed her daughter’s hand. “Whenever you feel ready to tell us about it, we’re here to listen. We love you so much, Alexis.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Alexis blinked back a few tears. “I love you both so much too. I don’t know what I’d do if I had to face this without my family.”
“Well, you don’t have to.” Hazel gave her a reassuring smile. “We’re here for you.”
Alexis smiled back at her, and then let out a long sigh. “I would like to talk about it, but I hardly know where to begin.”
“When did you first feel that your relationship was getting rocky?” Vivian asked gently.
“Oh, it all seemed to happen gradually. At first, I convinced myself that it would just be a temporary thing. He’d get so busy with work and brush off our date nights. At first, he tried to reschedule them, but then he stopped doing that. We—we’ve just been drifting apart. He doesn’t have time for me anymore, and he doesn’t make time. We don’t talk like we used to, and no matter what I’ve tried or said, it hasn’t gotten better. I—I think I’m losing him.” Her voice cracked on her last words, and she covered her face with her hands.
Hazel and Vivian exchanged a troubled glance. As much as she hated the idea, Vivian had to admit to herself that it looked as though Alexis’s marriage with Grayson was coming to an end.
“It’s all going to be okay.” Hazel stood up and walked around the table to her sister. She gave her a hug. “I remember feeling like how you do now when Simon and I decided to get a divorce. At the time, I felt like my world was ending and I didn’t think I’d ever really be happy again. But I was so wrong. There’s life after heartbreak. There really is.”
Alexis hiccupped, nodding. “Thank you. I know you’re right, but I—well, it still doesn’t feel that way.”
“I know.” Hazel sighed as she returned to her chair. “You’ll just have to give it time. But when it feels hard, remind yourself that you’re going to feel so much joy again.”
Vivian felt tears rise to her eyes as she reflected that Hazel’s advice was good for her to hear as well.
“I also want to apologize for how we handled last night,” Hazel said. “Julia and I, I mean. We got carried away, trying to come up with a plan, and I’m sorry if we seemed insensitive.”
Alexis shook her head. “You couldn’t have known. I tried to keep it a secret. I—I didn’t want to tell anyone. I was hoping I would never have to. I was hoping that Grayson would start to fight for our marriage and that no one would ever know we’d been struggling. But I have to face the music, and the reality is that we’re slipping further and further away from each other.”
Alexis stared down at her plate for a few heartbeats, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Hazel and Vivian exchanged another worried look.
“Things will be all right,” Vivian said, wishing with all her might that she could somehow just snap her fingers and make everything okay again for her daughter. “You have us. We’re going to support you through this.”
“And it isn’t over yet.” Hazel’s blue-green eyes were full of empathy as she looked at her sister. “Stay positive for as long as you can. Things may still get better between you and Grayson.”
Alexis nodded, smiling weakly. “Thank you both. I feel a bit better—well, better supported at least.” Her smile widened and she looked almost happy.
“Good. Whenever you’re feeling down, just know that you can talk to us.” Hazel reached across the table and squeezed her sister’s hand. “And try to keep your mind off it as much as you can. I’ll do my best to distract you. You want some more waffles?”
“Yes, please.” Alexis laughed. “These are wonderful.”
All three of them had second helpings of the waffles, and Vivian felt a rush of happiness as she watched her daughters smile and talk to each other. She felt very proud of her family, and grateful that she had them by her side.
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