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After my shower, I headed downstairs to the kitchen. I found Maddie by the stove frying up some bacon. She did a double-take when she saw me.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m meeting Jade at the bistro in the town center.”
Maddison gave me a look. “Are you sure that seeing her right after the dinner is a good idea?”
“I owe her an apology. She did nothing wrong. It’s my brother and my mother who are the ones to blame.”
Maddison nodded. “Okay, then take my car. It’s cold out and I don’t feel like going out to find you. Don’t scratch my baby, or I will kill you.”
I grabbed her keys from the counter. Before I left, I rounded the island and enveloped Maddison in a hug. At first, she didn’t return my embrace.
“Thank you, Maddie.”
She pulled away. “Alright, no need to get sappy on me. Go before I change my mind.”
“Bye.” I headed out of the house and made my way to the town center.
I parked Maddie’s car on the side and got out. I could already see Jade through the window of the bistro. I breathed in and out, preparing myself for whatever I was about to walk into.
When I walked into the bistro, Jade’s head popped up and she found me. I braced myself and walked toward her table.
She stood from her seat. “Thanks for meeting me.”
“I figured I owe you an apology after last night.”
She nodded.
“Please, sit. We have a lot we need to talk about.”
I took the seat opposite hers. A waiter walked toward us to take my order, but I shook my head with a smile, and she quickly got the message and retreated.
My eyes went to Jade’s left hand, and sure enough, she was wearing the ring. My stomach churned. A sick feeling overcoming me.
“So first, I want to apologize for Grayson and Nora yesterday,” she started. “What they said and did was out of order. You didn’t deserve that.”
“Please don’t apologize on their behalf.” I looked out the window, trying to formulate my words correctly. When I looked back at Jade, I saw the vulnerability in her eyes. “I’m sorry for behaving the way I did. It’s just that…it’s just that…”
The emotion lodged itself in my throat, making it hard for me to continue. I blinked away the tears that were threatening.When I was sure I could keep composed, I looked to Jade again.
“My dad promised me that ring. He said that it would be mine to have when I came of age. Of course, I was meant to get it at 18, but my mother decided that she would wait on it because she couldn’t bear to part with it so soon after my dad died.When Grayson gave it to you as an engagement ring, I lost it. That is the last part of my father that I have left. That ring was meant to be mine, and not anyone else’s.”
Jade’s fingers went to the ring on her left hand. A look of sadness washed over her face.
“Look, Jade, I don’t want to make you sad or hurt your feelings. I’m only expressing what I am feeling in my heart. My feelings may not be reasonable, but they are valid because they are my feelings.I don’t want the ring back, it wouldn’t feel right to take it away from you, but I cannot sit here and tell you that it won’t bother me for a while. I will get over it eventually, but for now, it will take some time for me to get used to.”
Jade stared at the diamond on her finger. “For a long time, I thought I hated my own mother. She had constantly chosen drugs over me and Ethan. I had lost so much of my youth on her that I grew resentful. While other kids were going out to parties and living their lives, I was spraying Narcan into my mother’s nose. I hated her for doing that to me, to us. So I ran. I packed my things and left for Chicago and never looked back.”
I could see the tears welling up in her eyes.
“Years passed, and I learned to live without her. So when Ethan called me to tell me she had died, I had felt so numb. The first time I cried when I got Riverroad wasn’t even because of my mother.” She let out a sad laugh. “It was because of Grayson. I had gotten so detached from my mother that her death didn’t faze me. It wasn’t until I read the letter that she wrote for me that I truly realized she was facing demons that she could not overpower.”
“Why are you telling me all of this?”
She reached over the table and placed her hand on top of mine. “Because I understand you, Lily. You may think that we are two different people, but we are more alike than you realize. Now, I’m not saying that you need to forgive your mother. What she said was horrible and you should take it in stride when it comes to reconnecting with her.”
I waited for her to continue.
