Page 121 of The Invitation
I look over my shoulder to see a tired, broken, scared woman crying behind me.
Oh, hell.
“She won’t talk to me,” she whispers. “She always calls when we fight. Or she just shows up here like nothing’s wrong and it’sall fine. But we’re five days in now and I haven’t heard from her. I was hoping you were her.”
“She should be at work right now.”
Felicity laughs sadly, wiping away the onslaught of tears streaming down her cheeks. “Of course, you knew that.”
I’m not sure what that means, so I just wait.
“I’ve really done it this time,” she says, her voice breaking. “I thought I was doing the right thing by trying to keep you away from her.” She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “I also was … scared, I guess, that you were going to take her away from me. I know the dazzle of the Brewer name. I fell for it once. How can I compete with that?”
“You don’t have to compete with me.You’re her mother. She only gets one of those.”
She smiles at me through her tears. “Georgia said a bunch of things to me after you left and I haven’t been able to forget them. She said some terrible, awful …truths,” she says, spitting out the word. “And I don’t know how to act. I didn’t realize she felt this way.” Her lips quiver. “I didn’t realize I was acting that way.”
“That’s between the two of you. I can’t speak for Georgia, either. She has a voice that she’s capable of using.” I can’t help but roll my eyes. “And we know she doesn’t usually have a problem doing that.”
Felicity chuckles, still wiping her tears away. “Does she know you’re here?”
I shake my head. “She’s not talking to me much, either. A text here and there is really it.”
“Then why did you come?”
I slide my hands into my pockets and feel the twisting of my heart. My lungs burn from the struggle to breathe, and my stomach aches from being unable to eat much over the last few days.
“I came because putting Georgia in the middle of this is unfair to her,” I say. “She did nothing wrong. If you want to be upset with someone, let it be me. I’m a Brewer. Georgia’s just caught in this crossfire and is slowly becoming yet another one of my dad’s victims. And that is so wrong. It’s unacceptable. You have to see that.”
Slowly, she nods her head.
“I hope, and pray, that she’ll come back to me,” I say, emotion gathering in my throat. “And I also hope that the two of you can find a way to heal your wounds. In the meantime, if you guys need anything …”
“She deserves an apology from me.” Felicity stands taller, as if she’s accepted her fate. “But I don’t know how to do that.”
“Admit your mistakes.”
“I’m afraid she won’t talk to me. I wouldn’t talk to me.”
Her head falls forward, her body heaving with sobs. I suppress a groan as I reach for her and pull her into a hug. It only makes her cries louder.
It’s such an odd predicament to be in—comforting the woman who has caused the woman I love so much pain. I want to tell her to grow up, buckle up, and be a mother, but maybe she doesn’t know how. Maybe she deserves a little grace.
God knows I don’t always have the answers.
Finally, she pulls away, her eyes filled with gratitude. “I was wrong about you. I’m sorry, Ripley.”
I smile at her. “Thank you. Apology accepted.”
“Now I need to figure out how to do that with my daughter. It’s going to be a lot more complicated with her.”
I take a deep breath. “Would you like my help?”
“Would you do that?” She balks, stunned. “Would you help me fix things with Georgia?”
She looks as shocked by my offer as I feel.I need to learn to think before I speak.
“I can’t guarantee anything, obviously,” I say. “She has her own reasons and feelings, and they’re valid—even if they’re hard to hear.”
