“I know I should’ve called. I should’ve said something, but I was afraid you’d convince me not to come, and when I got Dad’s letter, I knew I had to be here.”
Marie’s eyebrows drew together. “What letter?”
“At least I know I’m not the only one being kept out of the loop,” Emma muttered under her breath. “Look, the letter doesn’t matter. What matters is I’m here, and I want to make things better.”
She didn’t want to go back to the city with her tail between her legs and nothing to show for it.
Marie raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“There you go again, always trying to brush things under the rug and pretend like nothing is wrong. This is a different time, Mom. People talk about their issues now. Families do, at least.”
Marie grew as stiff as a statue, and her voice was like ice when she spoke. “I don’t need you to tell me how to deal with issues.”
Emma threw her hands up in the air, causing some liquid in her cup to slosh over. “Fine, but at least tell me something,anything. I’m your daughter, and I feel like this town knows more about you than I do, and ithurts.”
It hurt to learn things about them from other people, and she couldn’t bring herself to understand why it still stung to realize that she was on the outs, no matter how hard she tried.
Why was she still being punished for wanting a different life for herself? For daring to fall in love with a city man?
She didn’t want it to feel so small and unimportant, and she was tired of constantly having to defend her choices.
Why should she keep having to?
Hadn’t she suffered enough?
“Your father and I are not trying to keep things from you,” Marie replied in a measured tone. Her eyes were cool and blank as they moved over Emma’s face. “You’rethe one who walked away from us, Emma. Not the other way around.”
Was her mother seriously making it seem like it was her fault after the way they’d treated her and Andrew?
Her parents had all but thrown them out, andtheywanted to be the ones to lick their wounds and act like victims?
“Because you made it clear you didn’t approve of my choices!What else was I supposed to do?Was I supposed to sit around and continue to let you treat Andrew like a punching bag? Was I supposed to let you keep criticizing my job and pretend like I didn’t care?”
Because even now, she couldn’t do it.
No matter how much she wanted to have a relationship with them, it wasn’t worth her sense of pride or her self-worth.
Emma didn’t want to grovel for scraps anymore.
Marie’s eyes flashed. “Everything your father and I have done has been out of love. Because we wanted more for you, and you just…”
“I just, what? Did I throw it all away? I sold out. Yeah, you told me all of that already, but guess what, Mom? I made a good life for myself. I work hard, and I’ve got a good kid. Don’t you think that counts for something?”
Marie was interrupted by a group of carolers who wedged past them, laughing and calling out to each other. Once they were gone, Emma drew herself up to her full height and squared her shoulders. Her heart was hammering uneasily, adrenaline racing through her, but she didn’t want to back down.
Not now.
She was on the edge of a precipice, and she needed to know what was waiting for her at the bottom.
She had to.
Boston or Rockport.
Stay or go.
All of it didn’t matter if she couldn’t get through to them once and for all.
“We’ll talk about this some other time,” Marie repeated, her voice thick. “I have to get back home and make us some dinner.”
