“Things change,” Lexi heard herself saying. “People change.”
Her mother snorted. “Not Quentin Reddick. Even if youwerehis type—”
Lexi bristled. “Quentin doesn’t have a ‘type.’ He’s an equal-opportunity womanizer.”
Carlene’s brows shot up. “Why are you getting so huffy? It’s not likeyou’reinterested in Quentin.”
“Of course not,” Lexi snapped irritably. “But when you say things like that to me, you make me feel like I’m not even attractive enough to catch the eye of someone like Quentin.”
“Of course you are. But all the good looks in the world can’t keep a man who’s hardwired to stray.” A nasty, satisfied gleam lit Carlene’s eyes. “You know that as well as I do.”
Lexi flinched as the verbal dagger struck home. She should have been immune by now to her mother’s penchant for cruelty, but she wasn’t. After years of railing bitterly against unfaithful men, Carlene had felt vindicated when Lexi caught her husband cheating on her. Since the divorce, Carlene had never missed an opportunity to remind her daughter that they were more alike than Lexi wanted to believe.
“Just once,” she said in a low, strained voice, “could you at leastpretendto be sorry that my marriage only lasted two years?”
Carlene sputtered, taking umbrage. “Why would you say something like that to me? Ididfeel bad for you!”
“You sure have a funny way of showing it.”
“Don’t put this back on me,” her mother snapped. “Itoldyou Adam McNamara was no good, but you insisted on marrying him anyway! If you’d just listened—”
Lexi threw up a trembling hand. “Can we not talk about this tonight? It’s bad enough that the date of my wedding anniversary is coming up next week.”
Carlene faltered, something like pity softening her features. “I forgot.”
Lexi’s mouth twisted sardonically. “I wish I could.”
In the ensuing silence, her mother removed a pack of Newport cigarettes from the pocket of her robe. She toyed with it for a moment, then reluctantly set it aside. In a more conciliatory tone, she said to Lexi, “You haven’t finished telling me about your trip.”
Lexi hesitated, then admitted, “It was wonderful.”
“Really? What was so wonderful about it?”
“Everything. The food, the wine, the scenery.” She smiled faintly. “The balloon ride was definitely one of the highlights.”
“Come again?”
At her mother’s dumbfounded look, Lexi laughed. “Quentin convinced me to go on a hot-air balloon ride with him. Can you believe it?Me,the woman who’s so afraid of heights I have to take sedatives before getting on a plane. Shocking, right?”
“Not that shocking,” Carlene drawled in amusement. “That rascal can talk a woman into doing anything—and probably has.”
Lexi smiled distractedly. For the first time in days, she had something other than Quentin’s powers of persuasion on her mind. “You know, Ma, I’ve always wondered why I’m so terrified of heights.”
Carlene hesitated. “Some people have phobias. That’s always been yours.”
“I know. But it’s so damnparalyzing.It’s almost like…I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.”
There was a small silence.
Carlene was suddenly eyeing her pack of cigarettes like a junkie craving a fix.
Lexi smiled wryly. “If I didn’t know better, I would think something happened to me when I was a baby. Maybe one of the nurses dropped me, or—”
Her mother’s gaze swung sharply to hers. “Or what? What are you asking me?”
Taken aback by her reaction, Lexi stammered, “N-nothing. I’m just—”
“What the hell’s gotten into you tonight? First you accuse me of not being sympathetic enough about your divorce. Now you’re accusing me of, what, child abuse?”
