Page 51 of Wedding Season
“Heather, who is the owner of this shop? Tell me again why you decided to spend this summer in Magnolia instead of going straight to Chapel Hill.”
“Mom, it’s okay.”
Mariella heard the thread of panic in her daughter’s voice. She didn’t want Heather to get into trouble for seeking her out. She wasn’t exactly sure how Kay would react, but she had no doubt that things would go better if the woman had an outlet for her emotions other than Heather.
Mariella slowly rose from under the desk. If she could give Heather nothing else, she could be a fall guy at this moment.
“They don’t make earring backs like they used to,” she said, looking at Jasmin as she fiddled with her lobe. Based on the incredulous look her employee gave her, the excuse for why she’d been hiding behind the desk sounded as lame as it did to her own ears.
Push through. Don’t show weakness.
She shifted her gaze to Kay Garrison, who had gone white as a sheet and was staring at Mariella like she’d just done that exorcist head-spinning trick.
Mariella didn’t bother to pretend they hadn’t met before. She was certain those few minutes were etched in Kay’s mind as much as they were hers. Kay looked much the same as she had back then, albeit with a few more wrinkles and streaks of gray in her dark hair, which was pulled back into a low bun.
She looked like the version of a mother Mariella could never be, with a kind smile and gentle brown eyes. She wore a striped blouse and jeans that seemed to have a bit of stretch to them. Stylish but appropriate.
“You’ve raised a lovely daughter,” Mariella said.
She hadn’t seen the woman since that day eighteen years ago. Even with the recent popularity of social media that made cyber-stalking feel like a normal activity, she’d never googled Kay or her husband. She’d been resigned to honor the choice she made, as difficult as it was.
Now something shifted inside her, and she wasn’t sure she could give up the possibility of a relationship with her daughter. What if Kay demanded that? What if that was the only choice Heather had?
“Did you do this?” The woman’s voice was eerily quiet. “Did you track her down?” She lobbed the questions at Mariella as if her mind refused to consider any other possibility.
“No, I didn’t. I honored the terms of the adoption. I never reached out to her. I never would have tried to find her.”
Heather had come to stand next to her mother. Mariella saw her flinch slightly at those words and realized how they sounded.
How could she explain to the girl that it wasn’t as if she hadn’t wanted to know her or been curious? She’d needed to cut things off. Imagining her daughter’s future had been soul-wrenching enough without being privy to the details of Heather’s life. She’d understood the need to not open her heart to the kind of pain it was feeling now. The kind that could crush her if she let it.
“It was me, Mom.” Heather put a hand on Kay’s arm. “I found an old letter from her in Dad’s office. I figured it out from there, and I came to Magnolia to find her.”
Mariella thought she understood pain. She’d experienced enough of it in her life. But the look of anguish on Kay Garrison’s round face when her daughter admitted to seeking out Mariella went beyond anything she could have imagined. Mariella glanced away. Jasmin had taken a step closer to her.
“Heather is...” Her employee and friend started to ask. She didn’t need to finish the question.
Mariella nodded, not trusting herself to speak at this moment.
“Why?” Kay whispered to Heather. “Am I not enough? Did I do something to push you away? I know you had to look after your sisters a lot but I thought...”
“It’s not that,” Heather said softly. “It has nothing to do with you.”
Heather was openly crying now and the sight of it broke Mariella’s heart.
“She has said wonderful things about your family,” Mariella offered. “It’s clear that you—”
Kay held up a hand. “You have no business offering an opinion on my family or what we have or haven’t done. You made your choice in that hospital, and I will always be grateful because your choice made me a mother. You gave up your right to anything else.”
“She came to me,” Mariella couldn’t help but point out. She wasn’t trying to be cruel, but it was the truth. “I’m happy to know her and I’m grateful to you as well. You are her mother.”
“Damn right,” Kay said through clenched teeth, showing more spine than Mariella would have expected from her with her quiet voice and unassuming demeanor.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen.” Heather sounded miserable. “It’s early and I just wanted you to meet the baby. I didn’t tell you about Mariella being in Magnolia because I knew it would upset you.”
“There are consequences to actions,” Kay said. “You’re young and smart, but you convinced us that you wanted this chance to live on your own under false pretenses. You also made a choice, Heather. Now we’re all going to have to live with it. I love you, but I need some time right now.”
Kay turned and walked away. Heather stood in the doorway quietly sobbing.
