Page 234

“God knew my heart and some of them deserved a little hell.”

I laughed.

“But…” Her smile disappeared. “…they could only do what he allowed them access to do. The biggest betrayal was always inside my marriage. That didn’t make the women innocent, but I had vows with him.”

I nodded.

“He made commitments to me.” She tapped the counter. “And when I stopped focusing on them long enough to look directly at the man I married, I had to admit something.”

“What?”

“He wasn’t being stolen. He was participating.”

Mama sat back. “So yes. Women can hurt women. You hurt Ravenna, but Caleb betrayed Ravenna.”

I sat with that and after a minute I asked, “Did you ever forgive them?”

“The women?”

“Yeah.”

Mama laughed. “What? Forgive is a strong word.”

“Mama, I’m serious.”

She thought about it. “If a woman genuinely didn’t know… my heart goes out to her.”

I blinked. “It’s that easy?”

“Baby, some men lie professionally.”

I laughed.

“You can’t know what somebody intentionally hides from you.” She took another sip of her wine. “Would I still be hurt? Absolutely. But if she truly didn’t know, I can understand her being manipulated too.”

“And if she knew?”

Mama’s face changed. “That’s different.”

My stomach tightened. “How?”

“You know.”

“I just want to hear you say it.”

She looked at me. “Once you know everything, you have a choice. If you discover there’s a wife, discover he’s lying, and understand that another woman is being betrayed and you continue…”

She shrugged. “Then from that point, respect gets harder to give. Forgiveness too.”

My eyes burned.

“Baby. It’s okay.”

“No.”

“It is.”

I wiped beneath my eyes. “Ravenna doesn’t forgive me.”