Always the Last to Know(98)

Her eyes filled. “Thanks, Mama. I was afraid you’d be disappointed in me.”

“That will never happen, Juliet. You’re my pride and joy, and you know it.”

She hugged me a long, long time, and I petted her silky hair while she cried. Oh, it felt so wonderful to be needed by my little girl, even if she was a mother herself. There was nothing like it, this moment, the two of us.

I said a silent thanks to Sadie, then added a quick apology.

Juliet took a deep, shuddering breath, the sign that she was done crying. She got up, blew her nose, and then poured us more champagne. “Did I mention I love Sadie? To Sadie.”

“To Sadie,” I echoed. “I should check in.”

“No, Mom, not yet. You said you knew that feeling of doing everything right and getting the short end of the stick. Is that . . . is that at work?”

I took a deep breath. “No. Not there. I love my job. I guess I meant, well . . . being married. I love your dad, of course”—that wasn’t exactly the truth—“but we drifted apart. You know that.”

“Yeah. I do.” Her voice was odd, and I glanced at her, but she was staring straight ahead.

“We just didn’t have a lot to say to each other, even before his stroke. I felt like I tried, but I could never seem to do the right things. I didn’t know what they were.”

Juliet burst into fresh tears. “Mom,” she sobbed, “I’m so sorry to have to tell you this, but you can’t blame yourself. Dad . . . Dad was having an affair.”

“Oh, yeah, I know, honey.”

That stopped her. “What?”

“I do know that.”

“When?”

“I found out when he was in the hospital.”

“Holy shit, Mom.”

“Watch your mouth, honey. But yes. Holy shit.” I snort-laughed, and she did, too. “How did you know, sweetheart?”

“I saw him with another woman in New Haven this past fall. They were making out on the sidewalk outside the restaurant where I was having lunch. It was disgusting.”

“You’ve known longer than I have, then. Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.”

She started to cry again. “I should’ve told you, but it was just a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, and then your fiftieth . . . I’m so sorry, Mom. I wanted to, and I dreaded it, too.”

“No, no, honey. Your father is the one who did something wrong. Not you. You were between a rock and a hard place, that’s all. Don’t cry, sweetheart.”

My words made her cry even harder. “You know what I wish? I wish Dad had died. That makes me a horrible daughter, but then you’d be free, Mom. I know he’s been a pretty good dad and all that, but he ignored you for so long.” She grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. “You deserve someone better.”

“That might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” I said. “You know, I always felt like people looked at us and thought the opposite. Like he could’ve done better. I’m just a girl from Nowhere, Minnesota, who took some legal secretary courses. He married down. He’s a Frost from Stoningham.”

Juliet huffed, then blew her nose again. “No, Mom. You built this family. You made our home. We’re the Frosts of Stoningham because of you. It’s not his last name; it’s everything you’ve done for the past forty-plus years. You think people don’t know that? Of course they do.”

I guessed it was my turn to get all teary-eyed. “Thank you, honey.” I toyed with the ends of my bathrobe sash. “Are you worried about anything in your marriage, honey?”

She closed her eyes. “No. Yes. I mean, part of me thinks if Dad could cheat on you, then Oliver could cheat on me.” Her lips trembled a little, just as they had when she was little. “Ollie’s so wonderful, Mommy. He’s kind of perfect, and I have this stupid fear that he’s going to wake up and think, ‘Oh, my God, I could do so much better than her.’”

“There is no one better than you, Juliet,” I said firmly. “Trust me. That man adores you. He lights up when you come into a room, and I can tell you, your dad sure never did that with me. Well. Not after the first couple of years, anyway. Oliver’s different.”

She swallowed. “You think so?”

“No. I know it. Plus, I’d stab him in the soft parts if he so much as looked at another woman. But he won’t. You two are the real deal.”

She put her head back on my shoulder. “You’re the best mother ever.”

“Mm. Tell that to Sadie.”

“I do. And she doesn’t have to be me, Mom. All the love you gave her isn’t wasted. It just doesn’t show up the same way.”

“You’re a wise woman, honeybun.” I stroked her silky hair and kissed her head. “Don’t tell her about your dad, okay? It would break her heart.”

“I won’t,” said Juliet. “She’s been great this whole time. And look at her, sending us off, taking charge. She sent us flowers, even!”

“And we smell so good, too. I might never shower again.”

We started laughing, and then we couldn’t stop, that wonderful, unstoppable laughter that made me run for the gorgeous bathroom, which made us both laugh harder.