Chapter 23
M aureen had been so horror stricken in the kitchen that she forgot about losing her job. Had she ever been more flustered?
“Lydia, you might as well go to bed.”
“ Danke , I think I will.” Through the darkened room, Maureen watched the graceful young woman exit. The door sighed shut. Maureen figured Lydia was exhausted and didn’t want to deal with Amanda any more than Maureen did. How had she managed to raise such a rebellious young woman? The whole world had tipped off its axis as far as Maureen was concerned. Few children obeyed their parents the way they did in the old days. Maureen and Denny had been good little girls for the most part. Their father demanded respect.
“Mommy, the battery in my phone is going dead. I wanna play games.”
Maureen realized she didn’t have the right kind of plug-ins or adapters. She assumed the hotel would provide them, but she’d forgotten to ask when they checked in. “No electricity, sweetheart.”
“What will I do?”
“I could read to you.”
“Some dumb book?”
“It’s been my favorite ever since high school.” Maureen had read and reread Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel Rebecca so many times she practically knew it by heart. Yet she always enjoyed reading it much more than watching the 1940 Hitchcock movie. And she had no use for the newer 2020 version even though it was in color. She preferred black and white. Maureen was old-fashioned that way.
“Well?” Amanda said. “Okay. Go ahead and read me the first page. Maybe it will put me to sleep.”
Maureen didn’t need a lamp on; she’d read it so many times. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”
“Does this have a happy ending?” Amanda flopped on her side.
“Yes and no.”
“Is it scary?”
“Yes and no.”
“Can’t you just give me a straight answer? Why do you always do this?”
“Always do what?”
“Lie to me.”
Maureen was dumbfounded. She avoided lying when at all possible. Yes, she realized she had bent the truth to shield Amanda from sadness. But what good would telling Amanda about her disappointments do?
“Are you and Daddy getting a divorce or what?”
“What on earth gave you that idea?”
“He’s not here, is he?” Amanda rassled in her sheets. “And you sleep in separate bedrooms.”
“That’s because your father has sleep apnea. I can’t get a minute’s sleep with his machine going on all night.”
“But why didn’t he come on this trip?”
“I invited him, but his work schedule is too full.” Maureen’s mind struggled to recall her husband’s excuses. “His clients need him.”
“More than you and I do? He loves them more than he loves us?”
Maureen had often wondered the same thing, but she said, “Of course not, sweetheart. He loves you more than anything.”
“He sure has a strange way of showing it.”
“If he didn’t work, we wouldn’t be able to afford this trip. Or to live in our beautiful house in a nice neighborhood. And a private school.” Maureen would give all that up. Well, maybe not anymore. Not since she might get fired from her job.
“Mom, you’re such a loser. You’re blind to what’s right in front of you.”
Maureen closed her book to see if her daughter was serious. Of course, Amanda knew her grandparents had recently died, but she couldn’t possibly know about her TV show catastrophe, could she?
“Hey there, I’m still your mother. Show more respect.”
“Do I have to spell it out for you?” Amanda propped yourself on one elbow. “He’s having an affair.”
Laughter burbled out of Maureen’s mouth. “He never would.”
“Are you kidding me? Men are scum.”
“Not your father. He’d be appalled if he could hear you.”
“Mom, I overheard him telling someone named Cheryl that he loved her on his cell phone.”
“You must have heard it wrong.” Maureen knew there was a woman named Cheryl in James’s office. A tall, beautiful brunette. Maureen simply would not believe it. Although she could envision this Cheryl woman in her stilettoes slinking around the office enticing her husband.
“Have it your way, Mommy. Just don’t be surprised when the bomb lands, exploding your world into smithereens.”
Just last month Maureen had felt independent and unshakable. A pillar of strength. She’d assured herself she could always move back with her parents if James left her—not that he would. Since their parents’ demise, she and Denny had listed their home, only to find their parents had taken out a second mortgage they’d neglected to mention to either Maureen or Denny.
Since their deaths, as well as the problems at work, she’d used shopping as a soothing mechanism. Her charge card was accumulating debt faster than she could pay it off, a fact that she had not mentioned to James. If he only knew how expensive this trip was, he would be furious. She dreaded the confrontation.