Page 134 of The Deal with the Playboy

Being too nice has never gotten me anywhere.

“Go on and talk, Mother,” I tell her, folding my arms across my chest.

“You’re not going to invite me in?” she asks.

I debate whether I should let her into my place, but I have nosey neighbors who live across the hallway. Ms. Pott is a sweet old woman, and she brings me cookies all the time, but she sure asks a lot of personal questions.

I open the door wide and lead her to the living room. She glances around, noticing the gray love seat and couch, the light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, and the brick walls. It looks like an industrial-style home. The look I was going for.

She sits on the couch, a sad smile spreading across her face. “So, Sophia is right, you are getting a divorce.”

I shake my head. “I haven’t decided yet. Why are you here?”

Exhaustion overtakes me and I need to get more sleep, so I sit on the couch next to my mother, resting my head on a decorative pillow.

“I’m here for you.”

Her words shock me in more ways than one.

She never wanted to be there for me unless it benefited her. It was always sink or swim with my mother.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“You were right. I was jealous of you, but not in the way you think.” She runs her hand through her curls, and my eyes fixate on the movement because she hardly ever wears her hair down. “It’s not because Jasper loves you. It’s because you’re so comfortable in your own skin and I’m not. You always had this confidence about you and I didn’t. Ever since you were a child, you had this light that brightened up the room. When your father died, I couldn’t breathe anymore and you reminded me of what I had lost. You reminded me so much of him.” Tears run down her cheeks, but I don’t budge. I don’t know whether she’s telling the truth, or if this is her way of trying to get something out of me. “I didn’t like Jasper, because he loves you the way your father loved me.” She straightens her back, the pain in her face so raw. I feel bad for her. “I knew he loved you the minute he showed up on my doorstep two days before the wedding.”

I arch my eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

“He came by the mansion and threatened me. He told me if I didn’t show up to the wedding then he would not help us. I wasn’t going to show up, but I was desperate for the check he wrote me, and that’s when he asked me to see pictures of your father.” She sucks in a breath and exhales. “When I saw the pictures of you and your father painted on the projection screen on your wedding day, it tore my heart into pieces because I couldn’t be with your father anymore. I only married your stepfather for money, but the gambling addiction got worse over the years. Right before I came over here, I gave him two choices: put an end to his gambling addiction or I’d leave. He left for rehab this morning.”

Tears rush down my face. Hearing my mother speak about this causes me so much pain. I let it all out. I love my mother, and I appreciate her coming here and telling me how she feels. Confessing this to me… But I still don’t know if I can trust her.

“Jasper told me he had feelings for you. I could tell he didn’t realize how deep his love for you ran back then.”

Jasper never gave me the impression he loved me during the wedding, so I bite my bottom lip.

“It’s too late. We’re not together anymore, Mom. He did something to hurt me,” I murmur.

“You need to go to him and talk it out. The one thing I learned from your father’s death is that time is very limited on this earth. And you shouldn’t spend it being mad at each other. You need Jasper, and he needs you.”

“You’re not mad at me for leaving him?”

She shakes her head. “I have been too hard on you and putting too much pressure on you. Sophia told me she left Tate and that if I treat her the way I treated you, I would never see Bailey again. And that’s when it clicked that I can’t afford to lose two daughters and my grandkids. I want both of you in my life.” She places her hand on my belly. “Especially this little one growing inside you.” She kisses my forehead. “It’s crazy, after your father’s death I moved out here to get away from my family because they were toxic, but I became toxic too. I want to make up for it. What do you need from me? Are you hungry?”

“You’re going to cook—actually cook?”

“Yes, I cook for your stepfather every Friday.”

“I’m craving that meal you used to make for me when Daddy was alive. Cabbage and sausage.”

She nods. “I’ll order the groceries. You rest. You rest, my sweet child.”

I burst into tears. She hasn’t called me her sweet child since before my father passed away.

Maybe I can let her in. I still don’t trust her, but I’m willingly to allow her back into my life. If she’s changing like she says she is, I don’t want my child to miss out on knowing their only living grandparent.

I’m so glad me and my mother are on speaking terms now and I know I would be lost without her. I don’t know how our relationship will be in the future, but I’m glad she’s here with me and that we are willing to work on our relationship.

This is how I always envisioned our relationship would be.

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