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Chapter 29
"That's a gorgeous necklace," Angie motions to the solitaire diamond pendant on my chest.
Self-consciously, I touch it. "Thank you."
"It matches your earrings." Her face is hard to read.
I lick my lips nervously, trying to think of a way out of this conversation. Brady gifted me the necklace Christmas morning. I should have realized the earrings and necklace were a matching set.
"How was your Christmas?" I change the subject.
Angie clicks her tongue. "Andre's family was in town, so not great."
"I'm sorry," I offer, noticing she's agitated.
Tread careful, Iz.
"You know what I don't get," Angie fumes, "is how that man can stand up to me any damn time he pleases, but when his mother tells him I'm a terrible wife, he freezes."
I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say here, so I keep my mouth shut.
"I make a decent living," she continues. "I pay the bills so he can live out his dream of being a chef. I do his laundry. I pick up his dry cleaning. I help out at the restaurant on my days off. I spend my nights in a booth, waiting for him. What more could I possibly do to make his mom see that I'm a great fucking wife?"
"Nothing," I say.
"What?"
"There's nothing you can do," I tell Angie. "People are going to have opinions about you. That doesn't mean they're right. It means...it means that they haven't taken the time to get to know you. If they did, they'd see how much you love Andre. And how much he loves you."
Angie blows out a defeated breath. "I just want them to like me."
"I know."
"It's Andre's family," she runs her hand through her long, dark hair. "I want them to love me the way I love them."
"I've spent a lot of years wishing people would love me the way I love them," I give her a sad smile. "Most of them couldn't, and it wasn't because of me. It was because of them."
"Are you talking about your ex-husband?"
"He's one of them," I hitch a shoulder.
"I'm sorry for unloading on you," Angie shakes her head. "It's just been 8 years. You'd think they'd accept I'm the woman he wants to be with by now."
"Maybe they will one day," I say.
"Maybe," Angie exhales before heading back to her office.
At the mention of in-laws, I wonder what Brady's mom is going to think when she finds out he got married. Given her state of mind, I wonder if he'll even tell her.
I finish sending an email, gather all the receipts for the company New Year's party we're having in a few days, and then twist in my chair.
Brady's standing in the doorway of his office with a goofy grin on his face.
"What?" My eyes widen. "Is there something on my face?"
"No," he laughs. "I was just watching you."
"That sounds creepy," I tease him as I stand and walk toward him.
