“Does Eugenia Delphine want popcorn when she comes back?”
“Obi-Wan Kal-el will never turn down popcorn.”
His look of adoration was almost, almost as good as the words she’d yet to hear. He pressed a kiss to her palm and let her go. “I’ll make it and get the movie set up while you chat with your mom.”
“I may be a while,” Tess warned.
“Take your time.”
In their room, she made a nest of pillows and curled up on the bed to dial her mother’s number.
“Ciao, cara!”
Tess sniffed. “Hey Mamma.”
“You’ve been crying.” Maura’s voice was threaded through with iron, as if she’d reach through the phone to strangle whoever had upset her daughter.
“Steel Magnolias. I just finished watching it, and I was thinking of you. I miss you.” Her mother was really the only thing Tess missed about Denver.
Maura sighed. “I love that movie. And I miss you too. How are things in Mississippi?”
“Good. I’m starting on a new project that’s going to keep me here a while.” Settling in, she told her mom about the small business incubator.
“It’s a good direction. I think you’ll do well with it. And your father? How is he?”
Tess never knew quite how to answer such questions. Her parents had remained friends since their divorce, but she’d never really known how much of that was a front for her benefit. “He’s good. He’s happy.”
“Good. He hasn’t been happy for a long time.” The statement had the ring of truth rather than bitterness.
“When was he last really happy?”
“All the way happy?” Tess could hear movement and imagined her mother curling up in a similar position on the big white sofa in her living room. “When I was pregnant with you and those first few years after.”
Tess sat up, frowning. “Really? But I thought things were kind of rocky between you then. That you were about to break up.”
“We were. But when I turned up pregnant, he was elated. I’ve never seen a man so delighted to be a father. He loved you from the moment he knew you existed.” The smile in her mother’s voice came over the phone. “And, of course, you know I loved being a mother. That was enough for a long time. Until it wasn’t.”
Tess felt a ball of dread solidifying in her gut. This wasn’t what she’d expected to hear. It wasn’t what she wanted to hear. She’d needed to believe that she and Mitch were different. That they would overcome their circumstances to make this work. But now that her mother had opened the door, she couldn’t not walk through. So she asked the question she’d never been brave enough to pose before. “What really happened with you two?”
Maura was silent for a long time, so long, Tess wasn’t sure she was going to answer. “Things just…fizzled. We had passion, your father and I. You came from that. But it wasn’t the kind of foundation we needed for the long term.”
No proper foundation. Not like the kind of life-long love Judd and Autumn had. Not like any of the crazy-in-love couples she’d met since coming here. She and Mitch had blistering heat and a great deal of affection. And they had this baby. But did they have anything more than that?
As if realizing she’d left the conversation hanging at a low point, Maura continued. “Our lives may not have turned out as we expected, but that was fine. We both got you out of the deal. And you are our greatest treasure.”
She was loved. Tess knew and had never doubted that for a moment. But she’d wanted more for both her parents. She wanted more for herself.
“Anyway, I’m glad Gerald’s happy. I’ve never wished him ill.”
Maybe not, but Tess remembered the fights at the end. The tears. They always thought they’d hid it well, but she’d known. Maybe they’d gotten past it by now. Her father had moved on, finally. He’d found what he’d been missing. As uncomfortable as that might make Tess, she was happy for him. Now she only wished the same for her mother.
“Are you lonely, Mom?” The question slipped out before she could think better of it, but she didn’t pull it back.
“Sometimes. But I wouldn’t trade you for the world, la mia bambina.”
It made her heart hurt. “I love you too, Mamma.” Needing to shift the conversation, Tess forced some cheer into her voice. “So what’s going on with you?”
“I’m flying back to Naples at the end of next week to visit my cousins and stay for a while. Your Uncle Gio is talking about opening a vineyard. Can you imagine?” They talked a few more minutes, catching up on that side of the family, but Tess was only partly listening. She was too busy thinking about what her mother had said and wondering how she could’ve let herself get so caught up in the dream.