Page 93 of Loving You

I nodded. “Yep, one sec.”

Sliding May a questioning look, I finished up the last few sentences of an email to Amanda. We’d become something like friends since the night of Ellie’s wedding, and it had a lot to do with the fact that we’d needed to talk more after Eric approached her about doing a story about us—as a couple—for her magazine.

It would be all about the opposites-attract, former frenemies romance that started when a bar owner and a woman who worked at the B&B next door decided to collaborate for a family member’s wedding.

Thankfully, she didn’t know anything about the psycho ex-boyfriend drama.

And while I hadn’t realized it at the time, she and her photographer had been there the night we’d gotten engaged, snapping pics and taking notes on the elaborate scene Eric had surprised me with.

The piece would be published next month, and apparently, my brilliant businessman of a fiancé had seen it as the ultimate win-win-win for us all. Publicity for both the bar and the B&B, and a romantic puff piece for the magazine’s love-and-marriage obsessed readers.

“Okay, done,” I said to my mom.

She smiled as I closed my computer and stood, and May made a face that screamedWhat the actual fuck?as I headed out from behind the reservation desk where I’d been working with her for the last hour.

It’d been so nice to be out in the world and feel like I could breathe again. One week had passed since Cliff was sentenced to six years in jail for that stunt he pulled at the wedding, and I cherished every day I spent in the sun without worrying about where he was or if he’d come for me.

Allowing myself to get close to my sisters again after finally putting the past behind me—or, more specifically, twenty-something miles away in a locked cell—was the icing on the cake.

“Pray for me,” I whispered low enough so only May would hear before following my mom down the hall to her office.

I wasn’t the only one weirded out by Mom’s sudden change in personality since the night of the wedding. Maybe healing the old wounds with Jenna was what’d made her so damnniceall of a sudden, but none of us knew if it was permanent or, if at some point, the other red-bottomed shoe would drop.

“What’s up, Mom?” I asked when I stepped into her tiny office and closed the door behind me.

“Well, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been making some changes in my life.”

I sat down in one of the upholstered chairs that faced her desk. “Um, changes?” That was a mild way to put it.

“Yes. Most importantly, changes to our relationship. Changes to the way I treat you, as well as your sisters.”

Of course I’d noticed. We all had. How could we not?

My mother had never been the kind of mom Jenna was, but after the shit hit the fan with our father, she’d become icier than ever. So, yeah, we’dabso-fucking-lutelynoticed how great she’d been lately, and we had no idea what to make of it.

“Yes, we’ve—I’ve—noticed. What’s this about?”

“I want to apologize,” she said without preamble.

I blinked. “You what?”

“You and your sisters didn’t deserve to be frozen out along with the rest of the world. I’ve been distant, and I see that now.”

Distantwas a bit of an understatement, too, but I nodded so she’d go on.

“It was a gradual thing. I hadn’t realized how far I’d pushed you all away until it was already done, and then I simply… didn’t know how to rebuild the bridges I’d burned. I still don’t, in fact. But this apology, I hope, is a start.”

My hands shook, so I clasped them in my lap. I wasn’t used to hearing my mom speak so candidly about her feelings. It just wasn’t her. Not the version of herI’dknown all my life, anyway.

“Wow, Mom,” I began, clearing my throat when my voice came out sounding hoarse. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you, I suppose. And, um, yes, talking about it is definitely a start. How did this come about? Was it fixing things with Jenna? Do you feel better now that everything is out in the open so you guys can move on?”

“Partly, yes. It took spending time with Jenna for me to realize the error of my ways, and I plan to apologize to all of you individually. But I wanted to start with you in light of the events of the last few months. Or, I suppose I should say for the last few years.”

I looked away, uncomfortable now.

But then she reached forward and tapped the desk between us. “April, I’m sorry that my actions caused you to believe I didn’t care about what was happening with Cliff.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it again.

---