“We’re just friends. That wasn’t supposed to happen,” Melanie replied.
“I guess you’re single now, you can do whatever you want,” Tilly said.
Tilly’s primness was irritating.
“I have my own life,” Melanie agreed. “Your father is moving on, and I’m going to, too. Eventually.”
Later. Much later. But it was better to be honest about these things.
“Whatever...” Tilly took a bite of the cracker. Her phone blipped and she reached for it, then sighed. “Are you going to sell this place?”
“It’s a possibility. I’ll have to think about it.”
“This lake house is special.” Tilly looked up at her. “This meant something to us.”
“To our family,” Melanie said.
“To me and Michael and Viv.”
Right—the siblings.
“But you guys spent half the time here upset that you were forced to come,” Melanie countered.
“We still came here every summer,” Tilly replied. “So, maybe me and Michael and Viv had some attitude, but it was still our childhood. And we hung out here. We grew up here. Now, you’re throwing it away.”
“I’m not throwing anything away. I’m trying to figure out how to start over, Tilly. I know you’re upset—things didn’t turn out the way either of us expected, but you’ve got to appreciate my situation, too. I thought I’d grow old with your father. I thought I’d help plan your wedding one day. I’m not getting any of that. I have to start over. I don’t actually have a choice here!”
“You left him,” Tilly said woodenly.
“It’s more complicated than that,” Melanie said. “When someone is cheating, they’ve made a choice, too. It changes things.”
Tilly was silent for a moment. “Yeah. I guess I can see that.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t stay, Tilly. One day, when you’re older, you’ll probably understand that better than you do now. But I’m truly, deeply sorry.”
Because the family that Tilly had kicked against had also been the family she’d relied on for stability and support. And Adam and Melanie had torn that apart.
“Do you miss my dad?” Tilly asked quietly.
“Yes.” There was no point in lying. “I do. I married him because I loved him, and I do miss him. He’s not going to stop being a part of my history. You don’t erase fifteen years of marriage. I’m heartbroken. I’m not a wife anymore, and I’m not a mom anymore.”
He cheated. He lied. He disrespected her. He thought his money made his behavior acceptable. But she hadn’t married him for the financial comfort. She hadn’t been willing to raise his kids because he was wealthy. She’d loved them all.
“So like, do you regret not having your own baby? Now, I mean. Looking back on it?”
Yes...with every breath, with every fiber of her being, yes! And she only realized now how much she wanted a baby of her own. She’d spent too many years convincing herself that she didn’t. But she couldn’t tell Tilly that.
“Tilly, it’s over. It doesn’t really matter anymore. The thing is, it’s possible for a guy to be lovable, to be smart, to have many good qualities and to still be completely wrong for you. You might keep that in mind. There is a quote I saw somewhere—don’t cling to a mistake just because you spent a long time making it.”
“So my dad was a mistake?” Tilly asked stiffly. Not to be derailed, apparently. Melanie was thinking of Simon now, and hoping Tilly would be smart enough to walk away before she wasted fifteen years on the wrong guy, too.
“I don’t know... Your father is a fine man in many ways. He’s a great father. He’s a brilliant businessman. He’s a loyal friend, a handsome guy...” She smiled sadly. “Your father has all sorts of good qualities, but in the end he wasn’t good for me.”
“Because of the other women,” Tilly clarified.
“Yes,” she said. “I think that blindsided us all.”
“Not really,” Tilly replied.
Melanie blinked. Tilly’s reply had been so quick, so flippant. “What?”
Tilly crunched into another cracker. “We all knew he was doing it. He didn’t hide it very well.”
“You knew?” Melanie felt the air seep out of her lungs.
“Of course,” Tilly said. “It was going on for years, from before I understood what was happening. There were a few of them that I even met. His secretary—she was extra nice to me, and I saw them kissing in his office. There was that journalist, too, who did the story on our house and the decor and stuff.”
“No...” Melanie shook her head.
“Yeah, her, too. Mind you, it was Michael who pointed that one out. I had no idea for her. There were others.”
So the kids had talked about it together—pointed out which women their father was cheating on her with...and no one had let her know! Melanie had sacrificed so much for them, devoted her entire life to raising them, done her very best to give them the love and support they needed, and this was how they’d repaid her?
The truth hit her right in the heart. They hadn’t told her because she hadn’t been their real mom... Or maybe it was their father’s treatment of her that solidified that into their minds. She hadn’t been worthy of their father’s fidelity, so why should she have been worthy of their love and respect?
“You didn’t tell me,” she said, her voice choked.
“Dad would have been furious,” the girl said with a shrug. “Sorry.”
Their father who had seldom punished them for anything, who was lenient to a fault...
It wasn’t fear of their father. It was their loyalty to him. The sorry didn’t sound sincere.
Melanie turned back to the kitchen, her heart hammering. These were the children she’d sacrificed for. This was the tiny little blond toddler who had stolen her heart all those years ago...the little mite who needed a mother.
“Melanie, I’m sorry!” Tilly said. “I was a kid! What was I supposed to do?”
And she was right, she’d been a child, an innocent onlooker. Her father had been in the wrong. So maybe Melanie was more upset with herself for being the last one to notice
