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“I get it,” Judith continued. “I totally get it. It has to be hard for you seeing her knowing when she was conceived as well as how.”
Tears welled up in Katrina’s eyes. “Does that make me a bad person?”
“It makes you human.”
Katrina exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “You think so?”
“What is it that’s holding you back?”
“She should have been mine. Ours, I mean. She should have been my and Ren’s child, but instead she’s in that house with nannies and Emily and...” Katrina wiped a tear away as her voice trailed off.
“You’re right.”
“I am?”
“Not for pushing Lorenzo away, if that’s what you’re doing, but yes. She should have been yours.”
“I’m not pushing him away. It was...is a boundary for him. I have to accept his daughter. They’re a packaged deal.”
“Say Miranda didn’t exist.” Judith shifted, facing towards Katrina. “Say it was just Lorenzo and he was back in your life. What would be different?”
“Everything,” Katrina sobbed, her tears taking over.
“You’re in love with him.” Judith handed Katrina a tissue, then took a sip of her wine. “Love isn’t always easy, Trina. And it isn’t always enough. But think about what you’re walking away from, if that’s what you’re choosing to do.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“Yeah, you do. You could get over it. Put your big girl panties on and get the hell over it. This is total bullshit, Trina. She’s innocent; what happened isn’t her fault any more than it was Lorenzo’s.”
“I know it isn’t Miranda’s fault. I get that.”
“Do you? Because from where I’m sitting, all I hear is ‘oh, poor me,’ and that’s hardly you. You need to just march into that office and lay one hell of a kiss on that man and claim him before it’s too late.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“No, what wouldn’t be easy would be you watching someone else take your place. And trust me, it would eventually happen. I mean, look at you! You’re crying, but you love him, and I’m pretty certain he loves you, too. So cut the bullshit. Just cut it. Life’s too short.”
She was right; life was too short.
They’d almost lost Lorenzo on Willow Creek Road.
“You know what this calls for?” Judith asked when Katrina didn’t answer.
“What’s that?”
“An entire table of crab rangoon. It’s officially Chinese night.”
Before Katrina could answer, the front door opened, and her brother walked in, carrying a coat at an odd angle.
“Hey, you,” Judith said with an easy smile. “I wasn’t expecting...”
Justin dropped the coat.
In his arms was a beautiful French bulldog puppy.
Judith rushed over, squealing with glee, wine forgotten on the table, to hold the treasure close to her. “Holy shit! She’s perfect. She’s absolutely perfect.”
“I promised, didn’t I?”
