Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
T ressy
“Mom.” I blinked at the woman standing outside my door Monday morning, shock holding me in place. “I didn’t— I wasn’t expecting you.”
Bebe Meyers looked like she was headed to a meeting. She’d scraped her perfectly tinted blonde hair into a twist on the back of her head and wore a black pantsuit with a white silk shirt. She looked ready to do battle. Oh god, I wasn’t ready to deal with this now. I had something more pressing to handle.
“Hello, Teresa. Can I come in?”
Shock stuck my tongue to the roof of my mouth and my feet to the floor for a few long seconds before I shook it off and said, “Of course. Sorry. You just…took me by surprise.”
My mom didn’t respond, just walked through the door then turned to look at me as I closed the door.
“Is Krista at school?”
I gestured for her to sit as I sank into a chair in the living area. Our home in Chelsea wasn’t a three-story townhouse, but it wasn’t a one-room studio, either.
Of course, it couldn’t rival Rowdy’s home.
And nope, not going there.
“No, she’s with Mrs. Santiago. They missed their brunch this weekend.”
Mom nodded. “Good. We need to talk.”
I took a deep breath and held it, readying myself for the confrontation I was sure was coming.
“I assume you heard from that reporter? What’s our strategy? Have you contacted your lawyer? Do you need me to take care of it?”
Okay, that’s not what I’d been expecting. I sat there and stared at her, my mouth hanging open a little until I remembered to close it.
“Mom, how?—”
“They called me for comment. No idea why they think I’d ever tell them anything about my family. Scumsuckers.”
Finally, I shook my head, trying to get my thoughts in order. “I’m going to confront him. Make it clear to him that if he says anything about my daughter in his rag, I’ll sue him.”
My mom nodded. “Good start, but I think you should let me come with you. I think he needs a little more than the threat of legal action. I did a little digging?—”
I held up my hand. “I don’t want to know.”
She smiled. “Not a problem. You don’t need to know.”
At that moment, I wondered just how much she hadn’t told me growing up. Maybe I’d been too young or too na?ve to think about what she’d been doing behind the scenes. And when I’d gotten older, I just hadn’t wanted to know. I’d let her do her thing and told myself it wasn’t anything I needed to worry about. That I didn’t want any part of what she was doing.
“Just know that I can have that story squashed in a few hours. All I need is your OK. ”
I’d been dreading talking to my mom since we got home last night. It’d been late and Krista had been sleepy and weepy when I’d finally tucked her in. I’d hoped she’d wake up this morning, happy to have slept in her own bed in her own room with all of her things all around her.
Of course, she’d immediately wanted to know when we were going back to visit Rowdy and Raffi and Mandy. She didn’t want to go back to school. She didn’t want me to go back to work. Only the thought of seeing our neighbor got any kind of positive response.
Mrs. Santiago was more than happy to visit with Krista this morning, since they’d missed their Saturday brunch this week. She’d offered to take Krista to lunch, if it was okay with me. I’d thanked her so profusely, she laughed and said, “You must have had an interesting weekend.”
You have no idea.
But then I’d been alone, and I still didn’t know how I was going to deal with the asshole threatening to expose my secrets.
“Mom, look, about last week?—”
“Actually, Teresa,” my mom cut in, “I have a few things I need to say first.”
Shit, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to hear this, but she looked so uncomfortable, I bit my tongue.
“I realize now that the situation I created was…not the best.”
Good thing I was sitting down, because I think that might’ve taken my knees out. My mom never apologized. It just wasn’t in my nature. But now, she actually looked contrite. Something I never thought I’d see. Or even believed she was capable of.
“I know we haven’t seen eye to eye on, well,” she grimaced, “much of anything lately. And that’s okay. I just hope you know that everything I’ve ever done has been to make sure you and your sister, and now Krista, are taken care of. My technique isn’t always polished, but I will always fight for my babies. ”
My stomach clenched a little. “I know that, Mom. I do. And I appreciate everything you’ve done for us. It’s just?—”
“I realize I broke your trust Thursday night, and I apologize for that. I was out of line, and I should’ve known that.” She took a deep breath, then she nodded, like she’d shut the door on that whole deal. “So, what are we going to do about this scumbag?”
Tears welled, but I blinked them back. It was exactly what I’d needed to hear from her and had never expected. “Thanks, Mom, I appreciate that.”
“I know I should say it more, but I’m proud of you, Teresa. I hope you know that.”
Honestly, I didn’t. I’ve never doubted her love, but I’d never considered the fact that she was proud of me.
“You put yourself through college while raising a baby.” She held up one finger then two. “You manage your own business.” Another finger. “You created a life for you and Krista.”
“I didn’t do it alone.”
“But you didn’t do it with my help, did you?”
I couldn’t deny that. But… “You had Tiff.” When I became a parent, I understood what that meant, the commitment and the fear and joy. “And you showed me how to be strong mom.”
“Well, I’m glad you got something from me.” Her expression softened for a second as her lips curved in a little smile. It softened the lines of her face and made her look younger somehow. “You’re a better mom than I ever was, Tressy. But I’ve got a hard streak that you don’t. Let me help you handle this. I can’t help but feel some responsibility for this. I put you in a horrible position, then I tried to shine a spotlight on it. You felt you had to run to escape me, and that makes me a horrible mother.”
“I didn’t run because you were a horrible mother. I ran because…” I sighed, “I don’t know. I guess I just needed some time to get my head straight.”
“And did you? ”
I didn’t even have to think about my answer to that. “Actually, I did. And…I met someone who helped me do that.”
Mom’s brows arched so high, they disappeared beneath her bangs, which she pulled off amazingly well. “Really? Like a male someone? Do you want to talk about it?”
I realized I did want to talk about it. About him. Rowdy.
“I think I screwed everything up, though.”
Mom rolled her eyes. “Anything can be fixed. You just have to be willing to do the hard things, sometimes.”
“And if I’m not sure I’m able to do the hard thing?”
“You’ve been doing the hardest thing for years. You’re raising a daughter on your own. What could be harder than that?”
“Well, I met this guy…”
Shaking her head, Mom sighed. “Men aren’t hard, Tressy. Actually, they’re pretty damn easy to figure out. They either want to get you in bed then forget about you, or they want you to take care of them.”
“Rowdy isn’t like that.” I knew that to my bones. “I think…he wants to take care of us.” I held up my hand before my mom could open her mouth. “And not in a bad way. He’s sweet and sexy and he cares about us?—
“And you’re not used to that.”
“I don’t trust myself to know that he’s not playing us. I want to trust him, and when I’m with him, I do. I trust him more than anyone, but…”
“Honey, your dad was a miserable SOB who deserves to rot in hell. He’s a piece of shit, but he gave me you and your sister, which is the only reason I didn’t murder him in his sleep. But not all men are like that.”
“I know. Rowdy’s nothing like that.”
“Then trust your instincts. You’ve been doing pretty damn well up to now. Though it does seem kind of sudden.”
I nodded, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth until it hurt. “It was. Maybe too fast. How fast is too fast? ”
“No one can answer that for you, hon. You have to trust your instincts. Mine are shit, especially about men, so I can’t help you there. Are you getting any red flags?”
“No, and his family’s amazing. I think… he’s too good to be true.”
“Well, in my experience, that’s usually the case. I mean, if he seems perfect, that’s probably a signal to run. Because no one’s perfect.”
“He’s not perfect. He’s a little cocky, but he’s not a dick. He’s confident but not too much. He’s kind and funny and Krista thinks he’s the best.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“He lives in the middle of Pennsylvania, and I don’t see that ever changing.”
“And that’s a dealbreaker?” Mom’s brows rose again. “When you can basically work from anywhere now? And the middle of Pennsylvania is only about three hours from the city. You know that, right?”
Yes, I knew it, and I’d been thinking more about that. Krista and I didn’t have to stay in the city. I would still be close enough to drive in for meetings and auditions.
“But Krista loves the city.”
“Krista would love living anywhere you are. You’re her home, hon, not a city or a building.”
I stared at my mom like I’d never seen her before, my lips parted as if I was going to say something, but nothing came out, which made my mom laugh.
“You know, sometimes your mom actually knows her shit.”
Shaking my head, I huffed out a laugh. “I never doubted that. You were always the smartest person in the room. And you showed me how to be strong. I want to be strong for Krista.”
“I wasn’t always the smartest or the strongest. But it’s nice to know you think that. And that old saying, with age comes wisdom, that’s pretty much true. Which is why you need to have me with you when you go to meet this asshole.”
And we were back to the problem I’d been avoiding. “I can’t screw this up.”
I’d been planning to walk into Rodney Feeney’s office with my lawyer and tell him if he mentions my daughter’s name in print in any way, shape or form, I’d slap him with a lawsuit so fast, his head would spin. But now I was doubting everything.
My mom smiled again, but, this time, it held a bite. And I pitied anyone who was the recipient of that bite.
“We won’t. Now, here’s what we’re going to do.”