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“Hi, Mom!” I go out to greet her and lean down to give her a hug. “You look good,” I comment, relieved that she looks better than she sounds on the phone.
“Looks can be deceiving,” she grumbles, fidgeting in her wheel chair. “But I’m better than I was yesterday, I guess.”
“She’s had a lot of pain the past few weeks,” Dad adds, helping her to get comfortable. “Are you two hungry? I have a couple of steaks ready to go on the grill.”
“You two can have steak, I’ll just have one of my shakes,” Mom says, scrunching up her face.
“She can’t handle heavy meals,” Dad says, turning her chair toward the kitchen. “Do you still like steak, Amanda?”
“I still love steak. I don’t think that will ever change.” I sit down at the kitchen table excited that Mom and I will have a chance to talk while Dad grills the steaks.
“I never liked steak until your father started grilling,” Mom says with a sad, reflective look in her eyes. “He really is a good man, Amanda.”
Seeing the sincerity on her face, I nearly burst into tears. My tongue is tied and I have absolutely no response to that. Why did she have to open up with a line like that? I have been wrestling with my feelings ever since Dad picked me up. So far I’ve managed to remain cordial, but I’m not going to sit here and pretend that he has been a wonderful husband. My mind begins to churn as Mom leans forward, studying my expression.
“You know, don’t you?” she asks with a sad smile creeping across her lips.
“Know what?” I can’t understand how I am so transparent; I really need to work on my poker face.
“You get that from Ray. I can always tell what he is thinking before he says a word,” she says, setting her empty can on the table and moving her chair closer to me. “I’m sure you have noticed that I’m not the most loving person in the world.”
I can feel my mood lighten a bit as I nod my head in agreement. I have always loved Mom, especially after moving out here but I had often wondered if she actually loved Darla and me or simply tolerated us. It’s not that she was mean, but she just wasn’t very motherly.
“Well it’s been even worse for Ray,” she continues. “I honestly don’t have a romantic bone in my body and he has always been a man who has pretty strong needs, if you know what I mean.”
I can feel my cheeks getting warm listening to her discreetly talk about Dad’s sex drive. “You don’t have to explain anything to me, Mom.”
“Yes, I do. I want you to know the whole story.” She glances out the window to make sure that Dad is still occupied before continuing, “We used to have dinner with Victor and Silvia quite often when we lived in the city. But one evening I noticed the looks that your father was giving Silvia. I knew right then that he was in love, because it was written all over his face. I remember praying that Victor wouldn’t notice and he didn’t, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that something was going on between the two of them.”
“What did you do?” Now my cheeks are really getting warm! “Did you call him out on it?”
“No,” she smiles and shakes her head. “No, I was honestly a bit relieved. Victor was all business all of the time and Silvia was never one for spending time alone. I on the other hand loved my alone time, so I didn’t mind if he didn’t come home until after I had gone to bed.” She smiles again. “When we were first married I even tried to read some of those cheesy romance novels to figure out what I was missing.” She continues to shake her head from side to side. “I would cringe and roll my eyes until I finally decided that romance just wasn’t in my DNA. It happens I guess.” She shrugs her shoulders and looks out the window.
“So you never confronted him about it?”
“No. Everyone was happy, so I didn’t say a word,” she replies, looking down at her fingers which are busy doing circles around one another. “When the twins were born, Ray was a nervous wreck. He was probably worried that one of them would have that big old nose of his or his hazel eyes. That’s why he called you the other day. No one ever did a paternity test of any kind.”
“Well, he doesn’t have to worry anymore. Trey and I sent in DNA samples and we are not related. So that was a huge relief.”
“Good. He’s been nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof ever since you told him that you kinda liked the boy. I asked him several times what was wrong and he would simply say, I don’t like Amanda hanging around that Addison boy.” She giggles. “I would ask him why not and he would simply change the subject or give me a lame excuse.”
