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“Mom, I….”
“Don’t even bother denying it. Zayden was all too happy to tell me that you two are seeing each other. He seems quite smitten with you, I must say.”
“He did what?”
On one hand, I’m instantly irritated. Telling my mother wasn’t his place. On the other, I can’t deny the way my heart does a little flip inside my chest that she thinks he’s smitten. Not that any of that really matters now. It’s not like he’s talking to me anymore. Hell, no one has heard a word out of him since Saturday night—not even Oliver.
“It was really kind of cute actually.” Mom smiles to herself. “Though, my feelings are a little hurt that I had to hear it from him and not you.”
“I had been meaning to talk to you, but it seems like we’re never in the same room longer than a few minutes at a time, and more often times than not, we’re not alone. Besides, I’m not sure how serious it is or if it’s even still a thing for that matter.”
“What happened?” Concern clouds her face as she clearly picks up on more than I intend for her to.
“Just drama with Oliver.” I wave my hand around, trying to blow it off.
“Is he giving you a hard time for seeing his best friend? I can’t imagine that’s easy for him. Out of everyone, I think he’s having the hardest time with this entire transition.”
“How do you know that?”
“A mother just knows.” She shrugs. “Tell me what happened.”
“I really don’t want to get into it.”
“Honey, if Oliver has done something….”
“He hasn’t,” I cut her off, not sure why I’m jumping to defend him after everything he’s done. “It’s just complicated between me and Zayden and having Oliver as part of the equation has made things a little hard to maneuver. That’s all. Everything will work itself out. Or it won’t.” I try to act indifferent. “But speaking of Oliver, I do have something I want to ask you.”
“Okay.” She nods, waiting for me to continue.
“I don’t really know how to ask this, so I’m just going to be as blunt as I can be.” I take a deep breath. “Did you and Paul start seeing each other while he was still married to his wife?”
I can tell my question catches her off guard, but she quickly recovers, her expression smoothing.
“Why would you ask me something like that?” she questions, shifting her weight on the bed.
“Just something Oliver said.”
“Which was?”
“He said that he overheard his parents’ arguing just before they split. His mom apparently mentioned the affair his dad was having. Then, after you two started dating, I guess his mom told him you were the woman that his father was sleeping with while they were married and that you were the reason they divorced.”
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Maria Conley would say or do anything to make herself the victim.”
“Wait.” Her comment makes me pause. “You know her?”
“Not well, but yes, we’ve met.”
“So then it’s true?” I ask hesitantly.
“Yes and no.” She lets out a heavy breath. “When Paul and I met, he was married to Maria, and we were just friends. And while I’ll admit, our feelings were bordering on more than platonic, we never acted on them. Paul and Maria had been having problems for years. In fact, when we met, Paul had just found out about her second affair. He was trying to keep things together for Oliver—hoping he could make it work until he was out of the house, but that second affair really took a toll on him. I was there for him, as a friend.”
“So you didn’t….”
“I won’t lie to you and say that nothing happened between Paul and me before they divorced. But I can promise you that I was not the reason that they did. Maria had done damage that couldn’t be undone. It wasn’t until Paul told her that he wanted a divorce and they officially separated that our relationship began to move into a more intimate direction. But I don’t think you want all the details where that’s concerned.” She smiles when I cringe.
“No, no details.” I shake my head, causing her to giggle.
“I didn’t realize that Oliver was struggling with this. I’ll talk to Paul and make sure he sits down with his son. Sounds like they need to have a conversation that’s a bit overdo.” She leans over, patting the top of my leg. “Let’s keep what I just told you between you and me for now. I think this is something that needs to be handled between the two of them.”
