Page 37 of The Homemaker

Our life will be … nice.

Chapter Fifteen

Alice

Moms don’t see their children’s flaws.

They see opportunities for growth

“Hey,”I say, calling my mom while staring out the window at the sunset over the lake. People and their dogs still milling around the grass and making a final effort to get 10K steps in for the day.

“Hi. How’s my girl?” Mom asks.

I put her on speaker and sigh. “I’ve been better.”

“Oh? What’s wrong?”

For the first time since seeing Murphy again, I get tears in my eyes. “Nothing,” I murmur.

“Doesn’t sound like nothing. Don’t keep it inside. You should know that by now.”

Again, I sigh. Everything about Murphy right now is onebig sigh. “The guy I was with eight years ago at the vacation rental, before I went to the facility …”

“The one who called us?” Mom asks.

“Yes.”

“What about him?”

“He’s the future son-in-law of the couple I’m working for. He and his fiancée are living with her parents for the summer.” I push back my emotions.

“Oh. That’s a small world. Does he remember you?”

“Yeah.” I bite my thumbnail, watching the Morrisons leave for dinner.

“Did you thank him for calling us?”

“Not exactly. Do you remember when I said I didn’t know if I’d ever be ready to share things I discussed in therapy?”

“I do. And I haven’t pressured you, have I?”

“No. I’m just bringing it up because I want to tell you something.”

“Alice, sweetie, you can tell me anything.”

I turn away from the window and sit in the recliner, tucking my feet under me. “I was romantically involved with him.”

“With who? The guy who called us?”

“Yes.”

“The one who’s getting married?” she asks, as if it’s ridiculous.

“Yes.”

“Alice, you were?—”

“I know, Mom,” I whisper. This hurts. The secrets. The lies. The hearts that were broken. So many wrongs that can never be righted. “It’s unimaginable,” I continue, “maybe evenunforgivable, that I did that so soon after …” I still hate saying the words, so I don’t. “I just needed an escape. I needed to pretend that it didn’t happen, that my life was different. So I painted a new reality for two weeks. It wasn’t planned. It just happened. And I didn’t feel dead inside. And that feltsogood.”