I was startled by her words and came down off the ladder. “Sandy… Why would you owe me an apology for that? We screwed that up, not you. It wasn’t your fault.”
“It was just difficult, you know? It’s so hard working for family sometimes. I never know when to draw the line between being an employee and being a sister-in-law to him. I really try to separate the two, and normally, I do a good job of it. But that thing in New York… I just want you to know that I know I chose the wrong role.”
I sat down on the chair next to hers. I was touched that she was taking my life so personally, but I really didn’t want her to keep beating herself up about it. “You were only doing what Trip asked you to do. I wasn’t happy about it, but I never blamed you.”
“But I should have told him to get his head out of his ass. I should have told him to at least speak to you.” She played with the roll of streamers in her hands before adding, “You should know that I came right over here as soon as he got back and tried to talk some sense into him. But he said if I ever even so much as mentioned your name to him again, he’d not only fire me, but cut Claudia off as well.”
That sounded a bit extreme to me, but I was sure he was only lashing out at the world because I’d hurt him so deeply. It didn’t make it right, but I understood the feeling. All too well.
She put the streamers on the table and met my eyes. “I knew he didn’t really mean it, assumed he was simply too raw to discuss it at the time, and just figured I’d give him a few days to cool down about it. But then I made the mistake of trying to talk to him one day when he had a few in him. He shot me a look—God. I’d never seen that look on his face before or since—it just froze me in my tracks. I didn’t want to take the chance of riling him up if it meant he was going to make good on his threat. We’d just bought the house in Santa Monica, we were looking into adopting the baby… we knew we needed his help with those things. I’ve always been ashamed that I didn’t bring it up again.”
“Oh, Sandy. I’m so sorry you got mixed up in all that! You didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, you did exactly what he asked you to do. I’m so sorry I turned him into such a monster.”
“He really was,” Sandy snickered out. “It took me some time before I was able to figure out he was only taking out his hurt on us. I should have known that sooner and stepped in. I should have stepped in anyway.”
She looked so guilty sitting there, but I truly didn’t want her to hold herself responsible for Trip’s and my stupidity. “No. Please don’t question yourself about it another minute. Please stop being so hard on yourself! Really. Everything is working out exactly as it was supposed to. I just feel bad that you’ve been so stressed out about it all this time. If anything, we owe you the apology. Did he ever…?”
“He did. A while back. Took me out for dinner and apologized for being an evil ogre. Still didn’t want to talk about you, but he was in a better place by then, at least.”
We were in the midst of sharing a teary-eyed hug when Claudia came in with Mrs. Wilmington. She’d flown in for the occasion, and the two of them had spent the whole day house hunting. I guessed now that her husband was gone, Mrs. W. could make that long-anticipated move out west.
Sandy sobbed, “I’m just… I’m just so glad you’re here right now. We all are. Trip’s never been happier.”
I hugged her even tighter. Her words carried more weight than she could ever realize. “Thank you for that.”
Claudia stood in the living room, watching as Sandy and I swiped our eyes. She knew full well what we’d been discussing, because she put her hands to her hips and busted, “Sandy. What the heck did you do to the poor girl now?”
That made us laugh. Claudia threw an arm around my shoulders and said, “She really couldn’t get over it for the longest time. I didn’t really understand until I saw you two together, but I gotta agree; it’s good to have you around, kid.”
The approval of Claudia Wilmington. Jesus. Now I knew Trip and me were doing something right.
Mrs. W. came into the room then, bouncing Skylar in her arms and sing-songing, “Look who’s up from her nap!”
Claudia released her arm from my shoulders and said, “Yeah right, Ma. Like we don’t know you just went in there and woke her up.” She rolled her eyes and announced she was going to the kitchen to heat up a bottle.
It was really pretty awesome to have the Wilmington women in my life. I’d always been surrounded by men. And actually, after growing up with so many male relatives, it was a breath of fresh air to have some female family members around, even if they weren’t my own.
Chapter 21
BACK IN THE DAY