“Nice.”
She eyed the small black and white gift bag with pink tissue paper. “What did you get your sister for her birthday?”
“A spa day. I figured she would appreciate it, given how stressed she’s been with school finally wrapping up.”
“Hard to believe, isn’t it? Our Gracie, a licensed therapist?” Her eyes lit up and she clasped her hands. “I couldn’t be prouder of her. Of course, I’m proud of both of my girls.” She set her own small gift bag on the table next to mine. “Of course, your choices regarding men leave a lot to be desired.”
I sighed. “Okay, Mama. Let’s get this out of the way before Grace arrives because I don’t want to spoil her birthday.”
She gave me a pointed look before reaching for one of the leather-bound menus. “I have no intention of spoiling your sister’s birthday. But you can’t expect a loving mother to just sit by and keep her mouth shut when she sees her baby making a mistake.”
I counted backward from ten, because that was often the only way to maintain my composure when dealing with my mama. “For the record, I never considered loving Mav a mistake. It was a learning opportunity, for both of us.”
She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Call it whatever you want, honey. It was destructive with a capital D.”
“We’re not together anymore.” I raised a finger in warning before she could gloat. “Because I encouraged him to focus on his recovery for a while. But make no mistake, Mama, I love that man and probably always will, so no trash-talking, please.”
I hadn’t always been able to stand up to my mama. When I was younger, I’d cowered in fear, in fact. But a lot of role-playing with my therapist helped me learn how to handle her without every disagreement spiraling into an argument.
She lowered her silver-framed glasses to peruse the menu. “I’m sure some gold-digger will snap him up in no time. He must be worth millions already, and I have to admit, he’s not too hard on the eyes.”
I narrowed my eyes, studying her. “Since when do you compliment Maverick?”
“Well, I was talking to the girls about it when I got back to the table that night.”
The fact that my mama referred to the sixty-something ladies in her book club as girls always made me chuckle. “And?”
She shrugged. “They helped me to realize you could do a lot worse than him. He’s obviously not the same dead-beat he was when y’all were teenagers. He’s made a name for himself.” She sat up a little straighter. “He’s somebody now.”
“Mav was always somebody to me. I didn’t care if he didn’t have two nickels to rub together.”
She patted my hand, clucking her tongue. “That’s because you were young and naïve, Codie. You didn’t realize then that money makes the world go ‘round. Besides, even if things didn’t work out with him this time, you wouldn’t be left high and dry. He’d have to give you half of his fortune if y’all married.” She wagged a finger at me. “Just, for the love of God, don’t sign a pre-nup.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. My strong, independent mama, who’d never needed a man, was encouragingmeto marry for money? “Who the hell are you?” I leaned in, whispering, “And what have you done with my Mama? The one who always preached about taking care of yourself and never needing a man?”
She waved her hand, diverting her gaze to an older couple at another table. “She got old, darlin’, and lonely. And tired of living hand to mouth, or having to rely on the generosity of her daughters. Believe me, when you’re old, independence isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
“Mama,” I said gently, covering my hand with hers. “I love being able to help you out. Please don’t ever feel bad about that.”
She touched my cheek affectionately. “You’re a good girl. But I often wonder what would have happened to me, and your sister, if you hadn’t made enough to help us both out.” She sighed. “It’s not fair to you. You deserve a little help too. And by coincidence, you happen to have a very rich man head over heels in love with you. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to give him a chance, Codie.”
I shook my head. “I can’t even believe what I’m hearing right now.”
“What? It makes sense, doesn’t it? It’s not like you’d be marrying for money. He loves you. You love him. You both want to have a family, I assume?”
“Well yeah, but—”
“And I saw that he just bought a big old house in Brentwood.”
“How do you know that?”
“Gladys—”
She smiled at the waiter who set down water glasses in front of us and inquired about the third person in our party.
“She’ll be here in a few,” I said to him. “We’ll wait for her to order, thanks.”
When he walked away, Mama said, “Anyhow, Gladys follows your boyfriend on Facebook, I think she said, and she sent me the link.”
