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When we finally went back inside, Mara's lips no longer had any lipstick on them. Luckily, I'd brought a handkerchief, so I wiped her lipstick off my mouth before we headed back to the table where her parents waited for us.
Sheryl seemed surprised when I pulled Mara's chair out for her and waited for her to sit down before I took my seat.
Yeah, I seriously doubted Nico ever held a chair for a woman or held a door for a woman or any other polite things nice guys did. Were all the guys in the Severins family's "level of society" as dickish as Nico? Nah, they couldn't all be like him. I'd met nice rich people. Maybe the Severins family liked hanging out with asshats. It was more likely Sheryl insisted they hang out with those people so they could be a part of that kind of society.
Whatever kind it was, I didn't want to go there.
I glanced at Mara. Could I stay with her and not join her world? She said she hated her life, but it was all she knew. I couldn't ask her to give that up for me. We'd known each other for such a short time. I already knew I wanted to be with her for the long haul, but maybe she didn't want that.
Sheryl cleared her throat. "Mara, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten short with you, and it's none of my business how you live your life."
Mara's eyes widened. "Mom---"
Her mother raised a hand. "Let me finish, please. I have a lot to say."
"Okay."
I laid my hand over Mara's on her lap, giving it a quick squeeze.
She flashed me a grateful look.
"Your father and I had a long talk," Sheryl said, "while you and Ollie were out on the balcony. I don't mean to make you feel unworthy. It's time I told you why I've been so hard on you and pushed you to be a proper lady, or what I thought was a proper lady."
Sheryl had her hands clasped tightly on the table.
Peter closed his hand over hers, giving her an encouraging smile.
"When I started dating your father," Sheryl said, "my mother disapproved. Peter wasn't an appropriate match for me, since his family was middle class." She looked at me when she said, "The Kandas have owned a string of high-end furniture stores for decades. When my great grandparents started the business, it catered to everyone, not just the wealthy. Over the years, as my family became more affluent, the business changed too. We lost sight of where we came from and stopped trying to appeal to anyone who wasn't in the right strata of society."
Why was she telling me this? Since she didn't want Mara dating me, she had no reason to explain herself to me.
But she kept looking at me when she spoke again. "I refused to stop seeing Peter. My mother put her foot down and threatened to disinherit me. I told her to go ahead and do it, because I would not break off the relationship."
Mara's mouth fell open. "Mom, you never told me any of this."
"I know. I'm sorry, Mara, I should have told you everything a long time ago." Sheryl bowed her head for a couple seconds, then met her daughter's gaze. "I stood up to my family, but it nearly cost us everything. Your father and I moved in together and got jobs. I worked as a cleaning woman, and he found work as a carpenter."
"What?" Mara said, gaping at her mother. "I thought---You always talk about the big check Grandma and Grandpa gave you as a wedding gift. Half a million dollars, that's what you said."
"And they did give us that gift." Sheryl glanced at her husband and smiled with genuine, deep affection. "Six months after we struck out on our own, my mother gave up. She agreed to accept Peter as long as we got married and both worked for the family business. The Kanda family business. You know your Severins grandparents aren't wealthy. My parents welcomed Peter and his parents into the family. It took a long time for the 'right' people to accept my new family, but eventually they did."
I still couldn't figure out what Sheryl was getting at with her story. Sure, I got that she was admitting she and Mara had more in common than Mara had thought. They both decided to be with men their mothers disapproved of, but I sensed Sheryl was trying to make some other point too. Damned if I knew what.
Mara's mom fixed her attention on me again. "I apologize, Ollie, for the way I've treated you. Peter has been telling me for days that I should look to my past for answers about the present. My husband likes to say cryptic things and then wait for me to figure it out. It's how he shows me what I've been doing wrong."
Peter patted his wife's hand. "You need a nudge in the right direction sometimes, that's all."
She nodded. "That's why I adore you, Peter. You're more than the love of my life. You're my conscience too."
"No, you don't need me for that. You always do the right thing, eventually."
"Because you show me the way." Sheryl turned back to her daughter, and her eyes glistened with what seemed like tears gathering in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Mara. I love you, and I'm more proud of you than you could ever imagine. Despite everything I've done, you have grown into a strong and capable woman. You run that apartment complex without any help from me or your father, and you stood up to me when I went too far."
Mara opened her mouth, closed it, opened it. She did that several times before she managed to speak. "Thank you, Mom. But I'm far from perfect. I've screwed up so many times---"
"No, don't do that. Do not dismiss your accomplishments." Sheryl leaned forward, and the tears pooling in her eyes shimmered even more. "You are a better, stronger woman than I could ever hope to be. Don't let anyone, not even me, tell you otherwise."
"You've never told me I'm not worthy," Mara said in a hushed voice. "I decided that's what you meant every time you told me how to behave like a proper lady. I was so afraid of screwing up and embarrassing you and Dad that I never did anything I really wanted to do. That's my fault, not yours."
