Page 7 of A Mother’s Love

“It wasn’t a political decision in my case, it was a practical one,” her mother said.

“Your father was married to someone else and by the time he wasn’t, you were ten years old, and none of us cared.

” It had only come up once or twice for the girls in school, where someone made a comment.

And by the time they got to high school, most of their friends’ parents were divorced.

So what would have been the point anyway?

Halley’s only regret was not marrying Robert before he died.

She would have liked to be his wife and they thought they had time and had relegated the plan to “one day.” And Robert thought he would get better, and didn’t want to get married while he was sick.

So it never happened in the end. It had taken Halley years to warm up to the idea.

What she had seen of her parents’ marriage, though only a dim memory, had made her leery of the concept.

But her parents didn’t love each other. She and Robert did.

Her mother had always made it clear that she and Halley’s father had to get married, and it was all her fault. Halley had paid a high price for it.

“What time are you coming by?” Halley asked her.

“Maybe in an hour. I’ll throw my things in a bag and come over.” It was an unexpected gift that Olivia had stayed in town for an extra day, and would spend the night at the apartment with her.

Olivia arrived at the apartment on Fifth Avenue an hour later, her long blond hair held up in a clip.

She was wearing jeans and a Yale sweatshirt with paint splattered on it, like almost everything she owned.

Halley had enjoyed seeing her meticulously put together the day before, and impeccably groomed, although there had been a little blue smear of paint on the inside of one wrist. She was wearing ballet flats when she got to the apartment, and carrying a big, battered Hermès red alligator bag that had been Halley’s.

It had a few paint specks on it too. After Halley hugged her they went to the kitchen and had a cup of coffee, happy to see each other.

And then Halley went back to her desk to do some work and Olivia went to her old room to put the bridesmaid dress away in the pristine white satin garment bag it had come in.

Halley had promised to store Valerie’s wedding dress for her too, and have her bridal bouquet preserved.

The wedding planner was taking care of it.

The bouquet Valerie had thrown was a smaller symbolic one.

They met in the kitchen again for lunch, and commented that Valerie and Seth would be halfway to Italy by then, since they had left that morning.

They were going to Rome first, then driving north to Venice, the perfect honeymoon spot, and from there to Portofino, a charming little port, with fancy shops, delicious cozy restaurants, and a harbor full of enormous yachts.

They talked about Olivia’s new gallery in L.A. over lunch. She liked it better than the one she’d been with in New York, and she thought her show in March would be exciting.

“Will you come out for it, Mom?” Olivia asked her, looking young and innocent.

Halley still couldn’t believe how fast they had grown up, how quickly they had become adults, their early years over.

She wished she could play that part of the film again, to savor every moment.

She had been so busy when they were young.

“I’ll come out if you want me to,” Halley said, as they put their dishes in the sink for the housekeeper to take care of, and Olivia stared at her.

“Of course I want you to.” She had never had a gallery show of her work without her mother and sister present.

She said they were her lucky charms. Halley felt that way about both of them too.

“What are you going to do to keep busy, like on the weekends?” Olivia asked her.

She worried about her mother being lonely without them.

Valerie said she’d be fine, when Olivia talked to her about it.

Olivia wasn’t so sure. Her mother had had a busy life with Robert, doing the things they loved to do, and they had had the literary world in common.

But without him or the girls, Olivia knew it wouldn’t be easy for her, although Halley hadn’t complained once about their moving to L.A.

She wanted them to be happy, and do what they wanted to do.

She just had to figure out her own life now, after she wrote the book.

Her writing came first, it had to be the priority or she wouldn’t get it done.

Olivia went to meet a friend that afternoon, to visit a gallery she wanted to see, and Halley went back to the mountain of research on her desk.

She was starting to make good headway, organizing it, when Olivia came back.

It was after six o’clock, and Olivia had brought Indian food home with her.

It smelled delicious as they unpacked it together.

They both loved Indian food, while Valerie hated it.

Olivia had gotten a text from her while she was out.

They had arrived safely in Rome, had checked into the hotel, and were strolling down the Via Condotti, admiring the shops, where they stopped at an outdoor café for a glass of wine.

The twins agreed to talk the next morning, before Olivia boarded her flight to L.A.

It would be afternoon for Valerie in Rome by then.

The time difference would be easier to manage from California.

Valerie said she was having fun. She texted a photo of Seth, at the table, with a glass of wine in his hand.

Just texting made Olivia miss her sister.

She was happy to see her mother when she got home.

They had dinner in the kitchen, and Olivia told Halley about the gallery she’d visited that afternoon, and her new house she’d rented in L.A. She was going to paint in the big kitchen. The rent was a fraction of what her studio and the twins’ apartment had cost Halley in New York.

“I’m going to have to work hard to be ready for the show in March,” Olivia said, as they ate the lamb curry she’d brought home.

They both liked it hot. Halley loved hearing how excited she was about her show.

They talked about the L.A. art market and how it compared to New York’s.

Valerie had already commissioned her to do two paintings for their new home.

She loved the work her sister did, and Seth did too.

And as they finished the meal, Halley told Olivia about her new book.

She was eager to get started, and Olivia liked hearing her mother tell the stories.

She had only read a few of them, as she wasn’t a big reader, and Valerie was always working and didn’t have time.

They were proud of Halley, but rarely read her books.

They each had their very different jobs, and worked hard.

Halley had taught them the importance of that while they were growing up, and they had taken it to heart.

She was proud of both of them, and happy they had careers they loved.

Halley was hoping to finish the first draft of her book by the time they came home for Thanksgiving, which was a little less than two months away.

The girls hadn’t figured out Christmas yet, but she assumed they’d be coming home.

The holidays were important to all three of them, and Halley had particularly loved Christmas ever since they were born.

The girls had changed everything for her.

Holidays that she had dreaded in her childhood and that were bad memories had become magical with the twins.

They baked cookies and decorated the tree together, even now as adults.

Halley took pride in cooking Thanksgiving dinner herself, and had a chef who came on Christmas.

Seth had joined them the year before, once he and Valerie got engaged.

They had spent a cozy evening together on Christmas Eve, and he had taken the twins skiing in Vermont for New Year, and had rented a fabulous chalet.

They hadn’t decided what to do this year.

All their energy had been focused on the wedding, and now they could finally get back to other things, like Halley’s book, and real life.

The wedding had been all-consuming for Valerie for months, while her mother organized it all with the wedding planner, who had done a good job.

Halley and Olivia went to bed early. They were both tired from the wedding. Olivia looked at the clock in her room before she went to bed. It was four in the morning in Italy, and Valerie would be asleep. They each liked to keep track of what the other was doing.

Halley was in bed with her computer, checking emails, and there was a sweet one from Valerie, thanking her for the beautiful wedding.

She said it was the most perfect one she’d ever seen.

Halley smiled at the memory of how exquisite she had looked as a bride.

Locke had taken some pictures of her, but they had also hired one of the best wedding photographers in New York.

Halley couldn’t wait to see the proofs, and hoped she’d have them to show the girls on Thanksgiving so they could look at them together.

She had told the photographer she wanted them by then.