The Sweetest Thing by Lilian Darcy

Author:Lilian Darcy
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Sagas, womens fiction, Genre Fiction, Family Saga
Publisher: The Tule Publishing Group
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Patty was still angry.

Sugar was over it, frankly. It was nearly four weeks since they’d first talked about Charlie and there was still a frost in the air that only went away when Patty let herself give in to exhaustion instead. Tully had been great, taking over the running of the household as much as Patty would let her, soothing her down. Sugar was the bad girl in the middle of a mother and daughter sandwich. She had a mother and a daughter, and she was a mother and a daughter, and she messed up all of it.

That message was clear.

Clear, and… yeah… she didn’t disagree with it. Not at all. Patty was right about her.

But this thing with Charlie was meant to be good. Why couldn’t Patty see it that way?

“How can you be so naïve?” Patty had said.

“I don’t think I’m being naïve.”

“You think this fixes everything? You’ve produced this son who might be wonderful and well-adjusted and successful, and that makes up for your not mentioning his existence for thirty years?”

“Doesn’t make up for it, but it’s a bonus, isn’t it? Would be worse if he wasn’t wonderful and well-adjusted and successful, right?”

“Just because he’s a doctor, doesn’t mean we’re going to love him, or he’s going to love us. You’ve had a couple of phone conversations, but they’ve been so short. He’s barely said a word, or not that you’ve told me, anyhow. You said he seemed distracted, as if his mind was on other things, or he had someone with him. What’s he thinking and feeling? What if he’s not really interested in us, or in making this work? It could get nasty and difficult, or just painful—”

“Which is part of the reason I’m going to New York, so the meeting can take place somewhere else, where you won’t be affected if it turns sour.”

“Where I won’t be a part of it if it’s good.”

“You can’t have it both ways, Patty.”

“I’m tired. Leave me be.”

“We’re going to eat some chocolate. Want to join us?” Tully had invited her.

“No, I do not! You and your candy. It’s just chocolate, and I’m not that fond of it.”

Sugar exchanged a look with Tully whenever Patty got to this point. She was tired. They all knew that. Somehow the revelation about Charlie had made her hit a wall she hadn’t reached in a long time, if ever. Sugar knew Tully was worried about her, and about leaving her on her own for four days to go to New York.

“I’m seventy-five, not ninety-five,” Patty had said. “I’ll be fine, if you’re insisting on this craziness.”

Sugar was the one who felt ninety-five, today. She’d tried so hard to get herself looking good for Charlie. She didn’t want him to be embarrassed about her or shocked at her. Patty had done a wonderful job with her hair, three weeks ago, snipping away with her scissors in a sharp, pointed silence until she’d created a layered, feathery cut that looked and felt so good.

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