“Come on, babe, we need to talk,” he said as he lightly took hold of my arm and led me to the bedroom. “We’ll be right back, Mary,” he said.
As we walked into the bedroom, Luke pulled me into an embrace. “Listen to me, if you ever want her to leave you alone, then you need to talk things out with her. Just listen to her; ask her questions, get your answers, and then be done with it. If you still want nothing to do with her after you talk, then you can walk away with no regrets.”
“I can’t, Luke. You don’t understand,” I said as I began to tremble.
Instantly, he broke our embrace and placed his hands on each side of my face. “Close your eyes, and take in a deep breath, babe.”
I did what he said; then I slowly opened my eyes. “Feeling better?” he asked.
I nodded my head, and he kissed me on the lips. “I’ll be there with you. I’ll be there for you, and I’ll be there to catch you if you fall. You’ve suffered enough, and you need to do this. Ok?”
“Fine, I’ll go. Just let me get myself together,” I said.
“That’s my girl.” He smiled, kissed me on the head, and walked out of the room.
***
Luke pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant called The Garden Bistro. I was still unsure about this, but I had Luke there to help through it if things got rough. We walked into the restaurant and were promptly seated at a table. I stopped to see which seat my mother was taking because I didn’t want to sit next to her; then I took the seat across. As the waitress greeted us and handed us our menus, she asked us for our drink orders.
“I’ll have a melon ball, please.” I smiled.
Luke looked at me with knitted eyebrows and then looked at the waitress. “Doesn’t that have vodka in it?” he asked her.
“Yes, it does,” the waitress replied.
“No melon ball for her. She’ll have a glass of red wine.”
I looked at him, cocked my head, and then looked up at the waitress. “Just bring the bottle, please,” I said as I sighed.
I looked across the table at my mother as our eyes met and she took that opportunity to begin her sad attempts at changing my mind about her. “I miss you, Lily. You have no idea how hard this has been for me since you left.”
I felt the fire starting to rev up in my body. “This has been hard on you?” I asked as I raised my voice, and Luke grabbed my hand. I took in a deep breath because I wasn’t going to embarrass myself or him. I made a promise to him, and I was going to keep that promise. Just as I was getting ready to speak, the waitress set the glass and bottle of wine down on the table. Luke grabbed the bottle, pouring some into my glass. I took a sip and asked my mother the question that I’ve wanted the answer to, “Ok, mother. Why? Why didn’t you tell me about Brynn and Hunter?”
She looked down at her glass that held her gin and tonic. “They both promised me they’d end it, and I thought that they had. You already had trust issues with men, and I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Once a cheater, always a cheater. You of all people should know that!” I spat.
I could see the tears beginning to form in her eyes. Luke looked over at me. “Lily,” he said.
“What? It’s the truth. Dad promised you that he wouldn’t see other women, but he did anyway, and he did it until the day he died. I remember walking past your bedroom almost every night and hearing you cry yourself to sleep. How could you live like that? How could you want that life for me, your own daughter?”
Mary took in a sharp breath. “You put up with certain things when someone is your life and consumes you. I know Hunter loved you, and that’s why I didn’t tell you. You deserved to have a good man love you after what your father put you through.”
As I couldn’t comprehend where she was coming from, I blankly stared at her. “I have a question for you mother, and I want you to be honest with me... Are you on drugs?”
“Lillian Grace Gilmore! How dare you speak to me like that!” she spat in a loud enough voice that managed to turn a couple of heads.
“Lillian?” Luke smiled as he asked.
“I was named after my grandmother. Be warned that you are never to call me that!” I said sternly as I held up a finger to him.
The waitress walked over with our food and sat our plates down in front of us as I got ready to spit fire back at my mother.
“Brynn misses you; she’s torn up over everything that has happened,” she said calmly.
I finished the last of my wine, grabbed the bottle, and poured more into my glass. “She’s broken up? What about me? Don’t you even care how this has affected me? Why is everything about you and Brynn? What about my feelings and what happened to me? Jesus Christ, Mother, sometimes I think we aren’t even cut from the same cloth.”
She looked at me, and a single tear fell from her eye as she quietly spoke, “We aren’t.”
In that instant, every part of me froze. My pulse starting racing, and I felt my throat constricting.
“What the hell, Mary!” Luke said as he looked at her.
As I glanced at Luke, I got up from my seat. “I need to get out of here,” I said as I grabbed my purse and ran out of the restaurant.
I had only made it to the parking lot when I needed to stop to try and catch my breath. My legs felt like lead, and they didn’t want to move anymore. My stomach was tied in knots, and I wanted to vomit. Luke came up behind me, placing his arms around me, but I broke away from him.
“Don’t, because if you do, I’ll lose it, Luke, and I can’t lose it!” I started raising my voice.
Suddenly, I heard my mother’s voice in the distance. “She was only seventeen years old and a baby herself.”
As I started to take a few steps forward, I stopped and turned around. With sarcasm I responded, “Let me guess...you swooped in and saved the day!”—raising my voice—“Or better yet, her life!