55. Theo
Theo
When we’d opened that email and discovered the truth, we’d had a freaking moment.
Ella had hugged me, for Christ’s sake. She’d thanked me, despite the implications for her family and the goddamn lawsuit hanging over all our heads.
But here, in Will’s living room a week later, the usual Cold War had escalated into full-on hostilities.
My mother and Caiden were screaming—the former, because it was her M.O.
, and the latter, because it was time for his nap.
Grandma Susi was weeping, Abby had given up on diplomacy and was mainlining popcorn, and Will was, as usual, trying to calm everyone down.
I, in an on-brand move, was pacing and interjecting comments that weren’t helping one bit.
But what the hell else was I supposed to do?
I’d shown the report to my grandmother, who had sobbed. Ever since I’d flown to New York to tell her the truth, she’d been crying. She assured me they were tears of happiness, but part of me worried her heart would give way from the stress before she got a chance to see her sister again.
Mom, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care about how the mounting tension might be affecting Grandma Susi.
She stood by the window, glass in hand and her face getting redder by the second, ranting for the eleven-thousandth time about how the Carters were going to get what was coming to them when the truth came out. I glared at her, out of patience.
“You do realize,” I said, coming to a halt and sinking onto the piano bench, “that Liv and her grandmother are going to be here soon. She already called me from the airport. Could you at least try to pull yourself together and act like a decent human being?”
“I noticed that woman’s parents aren’t coming,” my mother retorted, taking a swig of Coke that I was pretty sure she’d spiked with something harder.
“Speaking of decent human beings. Even when they’ve got the evidence that their family was in the wrong all along, do they apologize?
No. They dig in, like we’re the crazy ones. ”
It was true. Liv’s parents had refused to come to New York, furious with Liv for going against their wishes. Even though they were the ones in the wrong, they hadn’t retracted the threat of cutting her off, and they still weren’t speaking to her. But that wasn’t the point.
“Are you really going to blame Liv and Ella for Russ and Kate’s mistakes?” I countered. “This should be a fucking Hallmark moment. And instead, we’re fighting. Is that the vibe you want going on when Grandma Susi meets her sister for the first time in ninety-odd years?”
My mother took a swig, then glared at me.
“I want justice. I want to make things right. Just look at my mother!” She gestured in my grandma’s direction with the hand that held her glass, spattering me with droplets of Coke-infused alcohol.
“She’s hysterical. And if you think your little reunion is going to fix this, that we’re all going to live happily ever after, then you’ve got another think coming.
You want to make nice for our guests, to preserve your precious image, but as far as I’m concerned, Olivia is one of them. She’s nothing but a—”
That was it: I broke. Maligning me was one thing. Going after Liv, who was innocent in all of this, was a step too far.
Liv and I had agreed not to say anything about our relationship to my family yet. Only Ella and Will knew. But I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t want to.
I rose from the piano bench, looming over my mother. “Don’t finish that sentence. You want to know what Olivia is?” I said, hanging on to my temper with an effort. “She’s the woman I love. The one I want to spend the rest of my goddamn life with. And I’d appreciate you treating her accordingly.”
My mother made a small, incoherent noise, as if I’d stepped on her.
Will was grinning ear-to-ear. Abby, who’d made her way back into the living room, was gaping at me as if I’d just announced I planned to take up competitive unicycle-riding.
Even my grandmother had frozen, tissue in hand.
If I hadn’t been so pissed off, I might have laughed.
“I’m not going to hide our relationship,” I said. “I’m sick of secrets and lies. So if you’re going to be ugly about it, then do it to my face, Mom, before Liv gets here. Because I won’t have you treating her that way.”
My mother seemed to expand, until I was afraid she might actually burst from rage, Violet Beauregarde-style. “How dare y—” she began.
But before she could say another word, Grandma Susi struggled to her feet and came to stand between us. “Joan,” she said, her voice thin but authoritative, “that’s enough.”
It was rare for my grandmother to speak to Mom directly, even more rare for her to intervene in an argument.
Shocked into silence, my mother stared at her, as did the rest of us.
But undaunted, Grandma Susi dabbed her eyes with a soggy tissue and continued.
“You’re hurting your own family now. Surely you must see that. ”
“I’m doing this for you.” My mother’s lips trembled. “I want to make things right, Mama. You’ve lost so much. I just want to make you happy. And proud of me, for once.”
Despite my anger, my heart twisted. I held my breath.
“Lily is my sister,” Grandma Susi said, her voice strengthening. “None of what happened is her fault. This farkakte lawsuit is only wounding our family all over again; why can’t you see that?” She sniffed, holding back tears. “You’re robbing Peter to pay Paul, Joan.”
“I just want to make it right,” my mother said again, her eyes roving from Grandma Susi to Abby and Will.
“I want Caiden and the new baby to have the best of everything. And I want to make up for all the years you spent grieving. For the way Grandma May died, may her memory be a blessing. I know money can’t erase that, but I just… I wanted…”
She took a long, desperate swallow of her drink, her gaze settling on Grandma Susi again.
“Even when I try to do the right thing, I do the wrong thing somehow,” she said bitterly.
“Maybe I’m the one who doesn’t belong in this family, not Olivia Carter-Brentwood.
I should just leave, before they get here. Before I ruin everything.”
Leave it to my mother to play the victim and make this reunion all about her. I waited for my grandmother to respond in kind, to tell my mom to get out. With my luck, she’d run smack into Liv and Ella in the hallway, and ruin things before they even got started.
But Grandma Susi surprised me. She laid a hand on my mother’s arm, the first time I’d seen her touch Mom in years. “Of course you’re part of this family, Joan,” she said, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. “How can you say such a thing? But you’re missing the forest for the trees.”
She peered into my mother’s eyes, as if willing her to understand.
“I don’t need a cent of the Carters’ money.
Years ago, I had to accept their handouts, but I was a frightened child then, and at least the gifts were freely given.
Not taken by force.” Her voice broke. “I love you for trying to bring my sister back to me, but that part is done. By a miracle, Lily’s been restored to me.
You need to drop this lawsuit now, sheyna meydeleh.
You need to drop it and let this family have some peace. ”
My mother’s mouth fell open. But instead of vitriol, all that emerged was a sob. “You love me?” she whispered, as if that was the only part that mattered. “In spite of everything?”
“Of course I do,” Grandma Susi said, like the question was ridiculous. And then, to my shock, she hugged my mother.
Across the room, Will’s eyes widened as he draped an arm over Abby’s shoulder, pulling her close. Through her sobs, Mom promised she would drop the suit, that she just wanted Grandma to be happy, that that was all she’d ever wanted. It was like I’d swapped the Lannisters for the Waltons.
And then, with either diabolical or perfect timing, the downstairs buzzer rang.