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“I always knew you were going to break out someday. I just didn't expect it to go down like this.”
“Mom, if you’re going to scold me, just go ahead and do it already. This passive-aggressive, you made a bad decision while expressing yourself crap isn’t cutting it.” I arch an eyebrow. “Pick a side.”
“Watch your tongue, young lady. You’re not too old for me to send you to your room.”
I laugh. “We are in my room.”
“I know.” Her lips twitch. “So when do I meet him?”
“Who? Hansley?”
“Hansley?” Mom mocks me with an amused glint in her eye. “You realize your voice sounds like one of those singing chipmunks when you say his name?”
I pull out my makeup bag. “That is not true.”
“I looked him up.” Mom scrambles to the edge of the bed. “Tell me… what is it like being the wife of a prince?”
“He’s a billionaire, not royalty.”
“That’s pretty darn close though.” She looks me over. “How does he treat you?”
“Really well.” An image of Hansley slipping the sneakers on my feet pops into my head.
“Is he kind?”
“Very.”
“Patient?”
“Not really.”
“Does he shout at you or turn over tables when he’s angry? Does he have a temper?”
“Not that I’ve seen.”
Mom rubs her chin. “Do you love him?”
“I—” The words stall in my throat. “I’m not sure what that word means anymore.” I plop to the bed beside Mom. “If you’re asking if I get fluttery feelings in my stomach when I think about him, then yeah. He’s amazing, intelligent and bold. I want him to be happy even if that isn’t with me. But love?”
“Did you love Thad?”
“I did,” I say quickly. “We had all the right ingredients to make the perfect marriage—compatibility, similar interests, matching world-views…”
“Why is one love and not the other?” Mom asks gently.
“Feelings don’t last, Mom.” I stare at my bare feet. “If it ends, then it wasn’t love. It was something else. A counterfeit. I want the real thing. And I won’t let some butterflies in the stomach distract me from what love really entails—commitment, integrity, sacrifice—”
“Why can’t you have it all?” Mom wraps her arms around me and gives me a hug. “Your father and I made mistakes. I’ll be the first to admit that. Maybe we should have slowed down. Maybe I should have tested him to make sure I was getting the real deal. If I’d waited, I might have seen through his facade. I might have spared myself a lot of pain.”
I chuckle. “Mom, are you agreeing with me or—?”
“I have a point.” She laughs and tucks her forehead against mine. “I would endure the pain, the heartbreak and the anger again because it gave me you.” She squeezes me into her. “I understand why you’re being careful, but we can’t always make the perfect choice because there are no perfect people. If he treats you right, protects and honors you the way you deserve, then he’s the kind of man I’d want you to be with.”
“You haven’t even met him.”
“You know what my dad taught me?” Mom takes my hand. “You can always tell how a man is doing by looking at his wife. A woman will take and multiply whatever a man is giving her and give it back to him.” She winks. “If he gives her hell, she’ll take it, multiply it and give hell right back to him.”
I snort.
