AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cate shook her head slowly. “Well, I like ice and Jason likes elk, but I can’t imagine we’d have used that very often. It will cost a fortune to ship it back to the donor.”
“Not to worry,” Gillian said. “It came from someone in the neighborhood. I’ll just drop it on the porch.”
Becca lost interest. “If the two of you have this under control, I’m going to meet some friends for coffee.” She hugged her sister. “Hang in there, Cate. Somebody will have an affair or run off to South America with his nanny. You’ll be old news soon.”
“Thanks, I think.”
When it was just the two of them, Cate looked at her mother. “I really am sorry, Mama.”
“About what, dear?” Her mother’s smile was kind. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Maybe I did. Maybe Jason was right. He thinks we got carried away with the whole idea of a wedding and marriage, and the situation got away from us. He said I might have some growing up to do.” Her jaw wobbled.
“Oh, Catie. Come with me. Let’s go out to the lanai where we can relax. There’s no place here to sit down.”
On the screened-in porch, Cate curled up in her favorite chair with the view of the goldfish pond. The day was hot, but with the ceiling fan overhead and a slight breeze, the veranda was comfortable. Her mother had always called it a lanai, perhaps because the word was more exotic.
After a few moments of silence, Gillian grimaced. “I will admit, I had a few reservations when I heard you and Jason were engaged.”
“But why? I thought you loved him.”
“I did and I do. But when I watched the two of you together, you sometimes acted more like brother and sister.”
Cate cringed. “I wouldn’t sleep with my brother.”
“Fair enough. Maybe I explained that wrong. You seemed...” She hesitated, looking for the right word. “Comfortable.”
“I don’t understand. Shouldn’t a married couple be comfortable?”
“Oh, Cate. Not at first. Comfortable is the last thing you should be. More like passionate...horny.”
“Mama!” Cate’s blush scalded her cheeks.
“My goodness, Cate. You’re a grown woman. I think we should be able to talk about these things.”
Cate wanted desperately to invent a reason to disappear, but her mother looked at her expectantly. “I thought Jason and I were happy,” Cate said, feeling those stupid tears well up again. “Everything was perfect.”
“But it wasn’t,” her mother replied, “or dear Jason wouldn’t have called things off. I’ll admit, he should have spoken up far sooner, but I imagine it was a very hard thing to do.”
“I have nightmares,” Cate admitted quietly. “About that moment. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forget it.”
“Probably not. But the memory will lose its sting eventually.” Gillian cocked her head and smiled. “One last personal question. How many men did you sleep with before Jason?”
Five
Oh, my God.
“Does it matter?” Cate’s mortification was complete.
“Humor me.”
“Only Jason,” Cate muttered.
Her mother sighed. “Your father and I were very protective of you. Even during college, you came home three out of four weekends. I’m sorry, Cate. Maybe I should have pushed you out of the nest more firmly, but I loved having you around. You’ve always been my golden child, the easy one, the girl who made everyone smile.”
“I don’t feel very golden right now.” It was true. Cate felt like a failure, but worse than that, she felt stupid and clueless. Like a caricature of herself.
“Tell me why you chose Jason in the beginning,” her mother said. “What drew you to a man you had known almost your entire life? We should have had this conversation a long time ago, but you and I haven’t been ones to discuss intimate topics. Our family prefers yelling to talking things out, don’t we?”
