“He always did.”
Vanessa heard the rueful tone in her mother’s voice.Good looks had never been Eric Nava’s problem.“He told me you had several miscarriages.Is that true?”
“Yes,” her mother said, after a pause.
“You never mentioned it.”
She clucked her tongue.“You were too young to understand.”
“And when I got older?”
“I didn’t want to worry you,” Lorelle said carefully.“It’s not a trait a mother wishes to pass on to her daughter.”
As a nurse, Vanessa was familiar with the frequency of miscarriages, and the possibility of a genetic predisposition toward them.“You didn’t think I needed to know about this before I started my own family?”
“It would have only caused you more stress.”
Vanessa suspected that her mother had protected herself from the painful discussion, in the guise of protecting Vanessa.
“What else did he say?”Lorelle asked.
“He said he went to other women because you didn’t love him.”
Her mother made a huffing sound.“You haven’t spoken to him in years.Now you believe his excuses?”
“I’m asking you if it’s true.”
“I stopped loving him because he went to other women.Not the other way around.”
“Did you stop sleeping with him before he cheated?”
She drew in a sharp breath.“That’s none of your business.”
Vanessa interpreted her mother’s chilly response as a yes.The truth probably lay somewhere between their two accounts.Her mother had spurned her father’s attempts at intimacy, after a series of failed pregnancies.Her father had refused to keep trying for more children.He’d been unfaithful, and she’d never forgiven him.Their love hadn’t been strong enough to survive the losses.
“You let me believe it was all his fault,” Vanessa said softly.
“Itwashis fault.”
She didn’t argue, because what good would it do to criticize her mother at this point?Lorelle had dealt with grief by turning to religion.She’d married a minister and immersed herself in a community of worship.“I’m sorry for upsetting you,” Vanessa said.“I just wanted to hear your side.”
“I’m not upset.Everything worked out the way God intended it.”
“Right,” Vanessa said, massaging her forehead.She wasn’t interested in her mother’s religious proclamations.She’d started this conversation for a reason, and she might as well get on with it.She’d already told the rest of her family about Bennett.Her mother would find out sooner or later.“Bennett cheated on me.”
“Oh, honey,” her mother said.“I’m so sorry.”
Tears sprang into her eyes at her mother’s instant defense.“He complained that I was too busy with work and the baby.”
Lorelle made a sound of disapproval.
Vanessa wiped the tears from her cheeks.“Do you think I should have tried harder?”
“Tried harder?To do what?”
“To make him happy.”
“Don’t be silly.He didn’t deserve you.”
