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It was as if Gloria had become a different person. Or maybe I’d finally seen her for who she really was—hypercritical. Negative. A perfectionist.
“You okay?” I asked Ellie after Gloria had gone outside to be with Dan and the kids.
“Yeah. I, uh—” Ellie blinked up at me in shock. “I can’t believe you spoke to her like that. No one…” She blinked a few times, and I knew she wasn’t used to anyone contradicting her mom. Because everyone in town was terrified of Gloria.
“She deserved it.”
“Yeah, but—” Ellie placed her hand on my arm and swallowed. “No one’s ever stood up for me. Not even…” She let the words trail off, but we both knew who she was referring to. Tessa.
I lifted a shoulder, not wanting to make a bigger deal out of it than it was. “Do you want to leave?”
“Yes, but I won’t. I wouldn’t do that to the kids.”
She gave my arm a squeeze before sliding her hand slowly down my arm as she walked away. It felt as if my entire body had come alive from that touch. And I stood there, staring after her.
The back door opened, and the kids ran in ahead of Dan. He called out a greeting, his attention focused on the large tray of food he was carrying. Gloria shut the door behind him. Her smile was tight, her back straight. I braced myself for a “fun” evening.
We served up the food and then took our seats around the table. Maddox sat on one side of Ellie, and I took the other. Flanking her, protecting her.
The kids provided a good buffer, and Savannah was more than happy to tell us all about her recent field trip to Alpaca Acres. Gloria updated us on town news and gossip. The longer we stayed, the more everyone seemed to have relaxed. Everyone except Ellie.
I hated it. I hated seeing her clam up like this. Withdraw.
From everything I knew about the past few years from Tessa, and even what I’d seen on Ellie’s social media profile, Ellie was a strong, vibrant woman. She should never feel belittled or small, especially not by her own mother. I leaned into her so our shoulders touched, wanting to show my support. She stilled briefly then relaxed, her body warm next to mine.
“So, we heard all about Eleanor’s and Savannah’s career plans,” Gloria said over dessert. “What about you Maddox? What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“I want to be an astronaut so I can visit Mommy,” he said without missing a beat.
Gloria’s attention swiveled to me. I gave her a subtle shake of my head, hoping like hell that she wouldn’t ask. But of course, she couldn’t just leave it at that.
“Why do you think you’d get to see Mommy if you were an astronaut?” Gloria asked, and Ellie and I tensed.
Maddox played with the edge of his place mat then said, “Mommy lives with the stars. So, if I’m an astronaut, I can go see her any time I want.” His little blue eyes were full of hope.
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work like that, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him.
“I’m going to space camp this summer,” he continued.
“Did you know that astronaut comes from the words ‘star sailor’?” Savannah asked, chiming in.
“I didn’t,” Gloria said. “That’s pretty neat.”
“And I’m going to shadow Bennett,” Savannah said. I was grateful for the change of topic.
“That’s nice, honey,” Gloria said, never taking her attention off Maddox. “But I’d like to circle back to this astronaut thing. You know that Mommy lives in heaven now, right?”
“Yeah.” Maddox took another bite of his ice cream. “That’s in the sky.”
“It might be, but it doesn’t have an address or what they call coordinates for space. We can’t—”
“Mom,” Ellie said around gritted teeth. It was a warning, and she’d uttered it before I could even fully process the situation.
She wouldn’t stand up for herself, but she was protective of my kids. Despite cowering in front of her mother, she’d spoken up for my son.
“I’m just saying,” Gloria continued, undeterred. “We can’t fly to heaven. It’s impossible.”
Ellie stood, the feet of her chair scraping against the floor. “You need to stop.Now.”
