Sienna’s face heated, and she considered telling her mother that this was all part of her new exercise routine. “I-I was wondering if maybe you’d want to talk?”
“Sure. Let me just get my room key, and we can go downstairs for some coffee.”
“Actually.” Sienna forced her face into a smile. “I was thinking we could hang out in your room?”
A small line formed between her mother’s brows for the briefest moment before she nodded.
Sienna looked down the hall to see if there were any cameramen ready to follow her but didn’t see any. She crossed her fingers it would stay that way.
Sienna stepped into her mother’s room and all thoughts of being filmed vanished. This room wasnice. It was roomier than the ones given to the bridesmaids. It was even bigger than Audrey’s, and she was the bride, for crying out loud. There was a Jacuzzi tub sitting under a giant window that overlooked the wooded property.
Sienna whistled low. “Wow. They really set you up, didn’t they?”
Her mother lifted a single shoulder. “Did they? I wouldn’t know since none of my girls have invited me to their rooms since we got here.”
A pang of guilt ran through Sienna. She’d been so caught up in everything going on that she hadn’t considered that her mother would want to see her room. And it sounded like Audrey and Harper had been as thoughtless too.
“Well, I can promise you that you’re not missing anything. My room faces the parking lot, and my bed is a twin, not a king-sized one like yours. And I have a shower stall, nothing nearly as cool as this,” Sienna said, waving her hand at the tub. It was much easier to talk about her mother’s room than the difficult things that still hummed in the back of her mind.
A small smile touched her mother’s lips. “It is pretty amazing.”
“Tell me you’ve poured yourself a glass of wine, used bubble bath, and taken advantage of this gorgeous view.”
Her mother nodded. “Every night.”
Sienna groaned. “That sounds amazing.”
“It is.” Her mother paused. “But I have a feeling you didn't come all the way over here to talk about my room since you didn’t even know what it looked like until now.”
Sienna closed her eyes. “No, I didn't.”
“Do you want to tell me why you’re really here, then?”
No. Not really, she thought, but opened her eyes and nodded.
Sienna sat down on the edge of the bed, and her mother perched next to her. The silence that stretched between them was like a tiny hole that was pulled bigger and bigger with each passing second. Her mother sat patiently, her hands folded one on top of the other, while Sienna wiped her sweaty hands several times against her thighs.
Why was this so hard? It was her mother. Her mother loved her. Nothing bad would happen if she admitted her mistakes, right?
Just utter humiliation and shame, no big deal.
Sienna took a deep breath. “I lost my apartment.”
Her mother opened her mouth, but Sienna pushed on. To hear any criticism before she’d gotten it all out would crush her, and she’d never be able to finish. She told her mother everything—her three jobs, Lila’s ultimatum before she came to North Carolina, her fed-up landlord, how she had to pack her things and find a new place to live.
When she was done, her mother took Sienna’s hands. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.”
Sienna’s chest tightened, waiting for the other shoe to drop. “But…”
Her mother frowned. “But what?”
“But ‘I told you so,’ obviously.”
She shook her head. “Is that really what you expect me to say right now?”
“Yeah. I know you’ve been waiting for me to fail as an actor and now you get to tell me how you were right all along.”
“Oh, Sienna.” Her mother leaned over and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’ve never wanted to see you fail as an actor.”
