It's Better This Way(73)

    Julia made sure she arrived first. The server, who recognized her from her many visits, automatically brought her a steaming pot of Jasmine tea while she awaited the others.

“Mom.” Hillary and Marie arrived together, and Carrie was only a couple minutes behind.

“What a great idea,” Hillary said, as she slid into the booth, making room for her sister and Carrie.

Julia had used the excuse of getting an update on the wedding plans, knowing how eager Hillary was to share the latest news.

No one needed a menu, as they were all familiar with it and had their favorite dishes. “How are all the wedding plans going?” Julia asked, as she served them each from the teapot.

Hillary beamed as she shared the latest update. “Everything is coming together nicely. Blake and I have got the photographer we wanted. Thanks, Mom, she’s the best, and way under what we had budgeted.”

“My pleasure,” Julia said, smiling as she sipped her tea.

“The cake is ordered.”

“What about the dinner menu for the reception?” Carrie asked.

“Done. Chicken and salmon are what we could afford, and, of course, there’s a vegetarian option.”

“What about the flowers?” Julia asked, carefully studying her daughter, wondering what decision she’d made after visiting Laura’s cousin’s shop.

    “Blake and I decided to go with the shop Laura recommended,” she said, looking at her sister and Carrie.

“Laura?” Carrie asked, “as in Uncle Eddie’s wife? That Laura?”

Hillary nodded. “She’s been sending me text messages. I get one nearly every afternoon.”

“You, too?” Marie sounded surprised, which told Julia the two sisters hadn’t shared the news with each other. This was a little surprising, knowing how close they were.

Hillary nodded. “Mom went with me to the flower shop, which is owned by some relative of Laura’s. Her prices were fair, and her work is great. Mom left it up to Blake and me if we went with her or not. It was a tough decision, although Blake seemed to think to refuse the best florist would be silly, especially since she’s one we can afford. I agreed with him.”

“You actually went with Laura’s recommendation?” Marie repeated, as if she found it hard to believe.

Hillary looked a little embarrassed, as if she expected criticism.

“That’s wonderful,” Julia said, praising her daughter. She didn’t want Carrie or Marie to put a damper on what had been a difficult decision for her oldest daughter.

“Wait,” Carrie said, looking from Hillary to Marie. She had this wide-eyed, shocked look. “Did I hear you say Laura has been texting you both? When did that start?”

“A couple weeks ago, I guess—why?” Marie replied, with a hint of defensiveness. She chanced a look at her sister. “I didn’t know she’d also been sending you texts.”

Hillary lifted the fork from the place setting and then set it back down. “When the first one came, and I saw it was from Laura, I was tempted to block her.”

    “Why didn’t you?” Carrie asked.

Hillary looked as if she wasn’t sure she knew. “I…probably should have. I had Blake read it. He thought it showed effort on Laura’s part, and, seeing how bad things are between me and Dad, I let it go.”

“Did you answer her?”

“No,” Hillary admitted.

“I didn’t, either,” Marie added. “I assumed it was a one-off thing, you know?”

“That’s what I thought,” Hillary added. “Then the next day there was another text, and the day after that, until I actually found myself looking forward to getting her silly jokes and stuff. She never tried to be my mother. The only really personal thing she offered was the name of her cousin, the florist.”

“It was the same with me,” Marie said. “I assumed that first text was a fluke. I decided to ignore it, and then they started coming every day like clockwork.”

“Have you answered her back?” Hillary asked, in what sounded like a challenge.

With a guilty look, Marie said, “Yes, once.”

“What did you say?” Carrie seemed intrigued. Everyone knew how strongly Hillary and Marie had objected to anything having to do with their stepmother.

Marie lifted one shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. “She sent a joke and it was really funny. I laughed out loud. I sent a text back that said: Funny. It was only that one time.”

Carrie looked to Julia. “What do you think, Aunt Julia?”

    It was a logical question, knowing the antagonism between Laura and Julia. It appeared Carrie knew more than she was letting on, although Julia didn’t know how.

“Why should I mind? I’m the one who encouraged Laura to reach out.”

Her words dropped like a deadweight onto the middle of the table.

“What?” Hillary and Marie cried simultaneously.

Julia set her small teacup down and nodded, as if it was no big deal for her to be talking to the woman they all considered a world-class home wrecker. With her daughters staring at her with openmouthed disbelief, she began to explain.

“A couple weeks ago, Laura asked to meet me. It was shortly after that fiasco with your father,” Julia explained, looking to Hillary. “I debated if I should go or not, and was inclined to refuse, until I realized I couldn’t ask you to practice forgiveness if I didn’t do it myself. Unsure what to think, I agreed.”