Page 81 of The Twelve Months of Christmas
“No, it’s just Tansy. I know she’s the one who started this.”
“She’s got a boyfriend, though, so why keep it up?”
Sunny sighed. “Because she hates that Travis had the nerve to find someone and be happy after they split.”
“You’d think she’d be too busy being happy to waste time trying to make you guys miserable,” Arianna said.
“That’s not how she operates. She’s a narcissist. She can’t settle for her side of the bed being warm. She has to make sure the person on the other side is freezing.”
“What did he ever see in her?”
“A facade. When she first met Travis, she pretended to be so... I don’t know, everything. But when he began to see through her and started pulling away, she conveniently had an ‘oops, I’m pregnant’ moment. Travis loves kids and he wanted a family, so he ignored the warning bells in his head and married her.”
“I take it the baby never came.”
“No, then it was oops, I miscalculated. Who does that? Anyone can manage a home pregnancy test. Within months he was ready to end things, but then she really did get pregnant and begged him to stay. He thought he could make it work, but in the end, she was just too selfish. After Dylan she got bored with the whole mommy thing. The final straw came when she started making regularruns to the storeorvisits to his momand then wound up going out with her girlfriends. She doesn’t really love those kids. All she loves is herself.”
“Sounds like Wyatt. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Until he didn’t. Why do people say they want a committed relationship when they don’t?” Arianna mused. Wyatt had claimed he was ready for one.
“Because that’s what everyone is supposed to want. Until they realize how much work it is. And now that she has to share the kids, she wants them all the time and wants them to love her and only her. I could have ended things when I began to see what I was getting into but darn it all, I loved Travis like crazy. I still do.”
“It all seems so unfair,” said Arianna.
“Yeah, well you know the saying that goes with that.”
“I do,” said Arianna, and they both quoted, “‘Who said life was fair?’” then exchanged sour smiles. “Still, I’m sorry she’s using the kids as a weapon,” Arianna finished.
“Same here. Travis is convinced that things will work out eventually because we’re the good guys, and the good guys always win.”
“You are, and I hope you do.”
“I’m not holding my breath. Arsenic never stops being deadly,” Sunny said.
It was a crappy thought.
Ava had made plans to take Molly to the Bloedel Reserve, a 150-acre forest garden on Bainbridge Island, and a draw for flower and nature lovers all over the county. It had been meant to be a surprise, but Molly found out after telling Ava that Reggie wanted to take them all out to eat for Mother’s Day.
“No,” Ava said firmly. “And no, he’s not invited to go to Bloedel with us. He’s not part of the family and he doesn’t get to horn in on Mother’s Day.”
“Horn in?” Molly repeated. Honestly her daughter’s unwelcoming attitude was getting old.
“He’s already coming to our monthly Christmas parties. He doesn’t get to be part of this. It’s called Mother’s Day and it’s for kids and their mothers.”
“Okay, fine,” Molly said, backing down.
“And you’re rushing things with him,” Ava added sternly.
“I’m not rushing. We’re just spending time together.”
“Well, he can go spend time with somebody else this Sunday,” Ava snapped, and that was the end of that.
Molly saw her daughter’s point. Mother’s Day had always been special for them. It had been only the two of them when Ava was growing up, taking on life together. Then they’d added Paisley and Mother’s Day celebrations expanded to accommodate the three of them.
Would that rule hold true if Ava found someone? Molly decided not to raise the issue.
“I understand,” Reggie said when she told him. “I didn’t think when I offered.”
“It was a sweet gesture,” Molly assured him.
