Hidden Summit (Virgin River #17)(36)

“There is that....”

“Besides, you wouldn’t have listened. And you would’ve gotten mad at me,” Candace said.

“Possibly. But okay, in the future, will you please risk it? Because I spent so much time…”

Candace was shaking her head. “I don’t know, my angel. I was at odds with so many of your decisions and really, you blew me off. Like the whole idea that Greg’s political career—” And right there a bark of laughter came out of her petite mother’s mouth, and she covered it with her hand. “Hmm. That his political career was so important you’d decided not to have children so you could focus on that. You, who had always said an only child wasn’t a good idea, and when you got married you’d have at least two, maybe three, maybe even four. And what political career?”

“He thought he was going places. He was the Chamber of Commerce president and aspired to—”

“Phhhttt,” Candace said with a wave of her hand. “Your father was president of the Chamber, the Rotary, a dozen city organizations. And I’m no slouch—I headed the Junior League for three years! In fact, I was asked to run for City Council but I just didn’t have the time.”

Leslie mentally checked her memory book. That was all true. Her parents had had more political influence before she married Greg than Greg had to date. Was I in some kind of romantic fog?

“I never put these things together,” Leslie said. “I thought he was wonderful for such a long time.”

“He had his fine points,” Candace said. “When you first met and were first married, he fussed over you. He definitely romanced you and treated you like the First Lady he wanted you to be. Of course he also treated you like his administrative assistant. Give Leslie a call and ask if I can squeeze that in. Check with Leslie and ask if we can make a donation. Leslie will know if I can speak at that event.”

“God! He did!”

“It was so annoying!” Candace said. “We had a fight once, you know.”

“You did? You and Greg?”

Candace nodded. “I didn’t want you to ever know. It was not my finest hour. You know how we had to split holidays with his family? One of us got Christmas Eve and the other got Christmas day? And it was every other Thanksgiving? And the Adamses always had first choice. Well, I always had a problem with that whole idea—I didn’t know why we couldn’t all be together. I welcomed his mother and father and even his no-account brother and that whole crew. But I called your house, and he answered when you weren’t home yet. I told him I wanted to nail down the holiday schedule, the plans for when we’d get to host. He very sweetly told me that you were managing his schedule because he was in such demand that he didn’t even know which days were free, and you were the manager of his ‘events’ calendar. What a load of crap—all he did was go to meetings and dinners and play golf with potential investors.”

“That doesn’t sound like a fight....”

Candace looked down briefly where her hands with the perfectly manicured nails were folded in her lap. “I told him to kiss my ass. And then I just called you at the office.”

Leslie laughed with delight. “Really? That’s awesome. I wish I’d known that.”

Candace was quiet for a moment. Finally she said, “It was a long eight years of you promoting him, Les. He knew how to choose restaurants, music, order from the menu, and his plans for his future were a priority. Not your future, but his. Your dad and I sometimes wondered if we’d have to have you deprogrammed.” She shook her head. “He must have been some kind of wonderful in the sack.”

A burst of laughter shot out of Leslie, not because her mother had been so candid but because she’d been so wrong.

“How would you have felt about us if our marriage had lasted?” Leslie asked her mother.

“Leslie, it doesn’t matter how other people feel about your spouse! Don’t you see? You chose him, you had to live with him, he was your package to adore or be fed up with! Once you made your choice, I didn’t have a right to an opinion. Your grandma Petruso never much cared for me and she let me know it—I learned a very important lesson from that. And I made a vow never to be that kind of mother-in-law.

“But he’s not my son-in-law anymore and I don’t have to pretend to have any hero worship. All I care about is that you find the happiness in life you deserve.”

Leslie felt her eyes mist. “Every time I saw him with Allison it felt like a knife. I wonder how long I would have suffered like that if I hadn’t decided to leave Grants Pass....”

“It was obviously a good decision,” Candace said. “And I dreaded it so much....”

“It’s temporary,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll be back eventually, and in the meantime we’ll visit. I’ll admit something, Mom—I was thinking of coming up for a weekend and I hated the thought of not spending my time off with Conner!”

Candace ruffled Leslie’s curls. “Speaking of Conner, we don’t want to keep him waiting. Go tame your wild hair—your dad should be back any second.”

When they were all seated for lunch at a table in Jack’s bar, Leslie’s parents first asked Conner where he was from and whether he had any family. Right after that Leslie redirected the conversation before it could turn into Twenty Questions.