“I was just reading this book,Letting That Shit Go.It’s about how self-doubt can hold one back from their greatest potential. I thought you could use it.” Faye pulled the book from her purse and held it out.
Elsie jumped back like it was a lit flamethrower. “I don’t need a book.” What she needed was a mom. But she’d known better than to hope.
“With that defeatist look, you do. I can practically smell your bullshit filling the room.” Faye held out her arms. “Can we at least agree that letting go is the healthiest way forward?”
“It’s not some problem reading a book can fix,” Elsie said. “You knew Axel wasn’t happy and you didn’t tell me. You allowed me to be blindsided.”
“The divorce was hard on the both of you.”
Elsie blinked—twice. “Hard on the both of us? Axel went behind my back, hid assets, and sold my house without telling me.”
And sold it to not just anyone, but a sexy and annoying someone with whom she may or may not have shared a moment with last night. Not that it mattered, since it would never happen again.
Once upon a time she would have done anything for a shot at a relationship with Rhett, but she was no longer that naive girl. She could only hope that he’d lock himself in the basement studio for the duration of his time in Portland.
“I didn’t want to be the one to crush your dreams.”
Elsie took a step back. “So you let him lie to me?”
“There are always two heartaches to every divorce.” She looked at her mom completely silent. Then Faye lifted her hands. “Switzerland.”
“You’re not supposed to be Switzerland, you’re supposed to be Elsie-land.”
“I still don’t understand how he justified not telling you about the extra line of credit?” Fay asked. “Are you sure you weren’t doing one of those things where you listen but forget to hear? You tend to do that when you’re emotional.”
“I’m allowed to be emotional and it’s hard to hear something that was never said. And how did you justify not telling me that he wasn’t happy?”
“I really believed that things would turn out how they were meant to.”
“That’s a cop-out. You didn’t tell me because it would mean getting emotionally involved and you don’t do emotions very well.”
“I’m a life coach, I do emotions for a living.”
“You dance conga line to ‘Simply the Best’and do trust falls. They’re clients, and growing up, you treated me like one. Warm but emotionally disconnected. When Dad left, you both left.”
Faye went into her life-coach tone, which was chipper meets news broadcaster. “It isn’t that simple. And as for Axel, he came to me seeking direction for a happier life. How could I say no?”
“Easy, you say, ‘My daughter comes first, so kindly fuck off.’”
“Dwelling on failures merely opens up the portal for negative space.”
“I didn’t fail, he cheated.”
“He made a mistake.”
“Nine that I know of.”
Faye took Elsie’s hand. “I know this is hard, but he’s been like a son to me for a long time. And your divorce doesn’t make that go away.”
She shouldn’t be surprised by how much her mom’s words hurt, but she was. “It still makes youmymom. Andyoushould have told me the moment you knew he wasn’t happy. You chose him over me.”
“You weren’t ready to hear the truth. I put the problem out there, really weighed the pros and cons, how it would affect your outlook on life, and I knew that the situation would resolve itself. And it did, just not in the way you expected it to.”
“He cheated and yet he’s the one who walked away the winner.”
“He cheated?” Huey’s voice came from the kitchen. “You might not want to add that to your dating bio. It might make you sound bitter.”
“Well said,” Faye agreed, and Elsie could practically hear Huey high-five himself. “That’s why I didn’t tell you that Axel wanted out of the marriage. That wasn’t for me to intervene.”
