Page 19
‘Oui, I dropped them off,’ I told her, my car idling in the gridlock.
‘How was Deacon?’
My mother still had a soft spot for her ex-son-in-law.
‘He’s fine, Mom. A little tired from the tour, focused on his holiday. He’s packing their bags now. I said my real goodbyes to Raff this morning at breakfast so we wouldn’t have a scene on D’s porch.’
‘What kind?’ Théa huffed.
‘The sort where Raff gets emotional and makes me teary too in front of my ex.’
‘You still refuse to have Deacon see any weakness in you, child?’
‘He told me to get over my grief in the past; like he never had time for my emotions.’
Despite my lingering craving for Deacon, I still held a grudge from years ago and couldn’t let it go.
Théa was well aware of my desolation even after all these years of therapy.
‘Chéri, you’re going to have to forgive him one day,’ she sighed.
‘One day, not today,’ I muttered.
‘Child, you know that a lack of forgiveness is venom in your veins, don’t you? Hasn’t he done enough to show you his remorse?’
‘He hasn’t said the words.’
‘Does he have to?’
I frowned.
While I loved my Mum, she always took Deacon’s side, even after our breakup.
She never let me forget that in her view, I’d made a catastrophic mistake leaving my marriage to a man she adored.
‘Maman, can we let this go for now?’
She tut-tutted on her end.
‘D’accord, besides, mon amour, I’ve got to run,’ she said. ‘My body pump class starts in ten minutes. Let’s discuss Deacon when you’re back from your trip. When do you take off?’
‘My flight to Addis leaves at midnight.’
‘Make sure you’ve double-checked your gear and got it all. You can’t be forgetting your lens cases as you did on your last jaunt to Iceland.’
‘Oui, maman.’
‘Fly safe. Call me when you land in Ethiopia.’
‘I will, je t’aime.’
I disconnected the phone.
Still stuck in slow traffic, I made a few calls.
The first was to Sue, my manager at The King & Knight Agency, who managed all my professional bookings.
I left her a voice note confirming my flight details for my travel insurance.
