Society Wives (28 page)

“This was great, honey. I'm coming to all of your events from now on,” Ryan said and smiled, watching Carmen from the corner of her eye.

For Carmen's sake, Ryan stayed glued to Anderson's side until she had to go to the bathroom. Inside the restroom, she relieved herself and took to the mirror to freshen up her lipstick. Carmen appeared in the mirror beside her.

Ryan swallowed hard, cleared her throat, and then snapped her purse closed. She didn't want Carmen to know how much her presence affected her.

Before she could walk away, Carmen closed the space between them. Her eyes bore into Ryan. She braced herself for whatever was to come. This wouldn't be the first time some bold groupie or green actress tried her. Things were finally better between her and Anderson so Ryan was ready to let her know that she didn't stand a chance.

With her hand on her hips, Ryan turned to Carmen. “What do you want?”

“For you to leave already.”

“Excuse me.” Ryan's race wrinkled in confusion.

“I'm tired of waiting on the sidelines so if he doesn't have the nerve to tell you then it would be my pleasure.”

Ryan felt her hands tremble, but she couldn't let it show. “Tell me what?” Ryan's hands were on her hips. She dared Carmen with her stance.

“That he wants a divorce. He loves me now. When the baby comes,” Carmen leered and delicately placed one hand on her flat stomach and in her other, she held up a sonogram picture before she continued, “he's going to put you out, but why should I have to wait?” She smirked and lifted her shoulders in a confident shrug.

This time, Ryan couldn't hide the trembling in her hands. She held her back rigid to keep from doubling over. Carmen's verbal blow felt like a punch in the gut and rendered her immobile. Seconds later, Ryan's hand connected with Carmen's face. She hadn't even realized that she'd slapped her until the she heard her scream and saw Carmen holding her cheek.

Before Carmen could respond in any other way, Ryan hastened out of the bathroom in search of Anderson.

“You bitch!” Carmen's words hit Ryan's back.

Ryan dismissed Carmen's cursing. Her only focus was getting to Anderson. Her skin grew warm as she scanned the crowd. She finally spotted him near the center of the room. Ryan sailed toward him.

“Anderson!” She blew out his name in a rush of air. Her chest heaved. Tears stung her eyes. “You bastard.” Once again, she'd struck before she realized it.

Anderson stood looking dazed. He held his cheek in the same fashion that Carmen had moments before. “What the—”

“Anderson!” Carmen came yelling behind them.

Ryan turned and shot Carmen a look so scathing, she halted mid run. Then she glared at Anderson. “Congratulations on the new baby, jackass!”

Anderson's mouth hung ajar. With that Ryan turned and walked out.

Chapter 43

Pearson

Pearson looked up, ready to scold the person who just burst through her office door and found Candice standing in the entrance. Her assistant peered around Candice as if she had just lost a battle. As annoyed as she was, she hoped to look up and see Niles standing there. She hadn't seen or heard from him since he walked out on her the other day and he wouldn't answer any of her calls. She tried her best not to drink herself into an incoherent stupor, but loneliness wrapped its painful hands around her neck. A drink here and there was the only thing that helped her breathe. She had at least made a conscious effort to monitor her intake.

“I'm sorry, Mrs. Day. I tried to tell her that I would notify you, but she just kept walking,” her assistant said.

Pearson's brows cinched.

“No worries, dear. I understand that you are just doing your job, but I don't need an appointment to see my own daughter,” Candice said, removing her gloves as she invited herself all the way into Pearson's office.

Nat shrank and started to back out of the door.

“It's, okay. I'll deal with my…” Pearson looked at Candice and noticed that she looked thinner than the last time she'd seen her. The realization gave her pause. After another beat, she finished her sentence, “…mother.”

Once the door closed, Candice eased on to the couch and paused to take in a labored breath. Making a noticeable point of glancing at her watch, Candice said, “It's lunch time. Shall we go out or have something delivered?”

Pearson folded her arms across her chest. “Who said you were staying?”

Candice's gaze swept around the office and then she yawned, apparently unaffected by Pearson's attitude. The creases in her worn eyes deepened.

“Tell me. What do you feel like having today? Sushi? I know how you love sushi. Try to decide quickly. I haven't eaten a thing all day.”

“I feel like asking you to leave. I have a lot of work to do. Getting ready for this benefit has taken up a lot of my time.” Pearson walked to the door and opened it for Candice to leave.

Candice looked at Pearson and chuckled. Pearson slammed the door shut, crossed her arms and cut her eyes toward the ceiling. Candice's appearance unnerved Pearson. Her tired eyes and thinning face were the visual indications of her debilitating condition thus far. The sickness was beginning to claim her normally polished and well-cared for skin. As familiar as Pearson was with loss, the last thing she wanted to witness was her mother's lingering demise. She was better equipped to manage anger as opposed to pain.

“Alright, Ma. What do you want? Let's make it quick.”

“I want to talk to my daughter.” Candice hid her smile behind her pout.

“We can talk another time. I have so much work to do now.” Pearson walked back to her desk and began shuffling files across the top.

“We can talk another time,” Candice mimicked and chuckled again. “You remind me so much of myself it's unbelievable.” Candice got up and moved toward the window taking in the mountains of snow still sitting in the parking lot. “We could talk if you would answer the phone when I called you or open the door when I tried to visit. If you would just stop avoiding me.”

“I'm not avoiding you.” Candice pursed her lips at Pearson. Her low cast eyes belied her words. “I mean.”

“Sweetheart, I know what you mean, but that's not what you are saying.”

Pearson looked baffled.

Candice sighed, walked over and sat on the edge of Pearson's desk. She lifted Pearson's chin and searched her eyes, watching them become glossy. Pearson jerked her face away. Candice touched her chin again. More gently than before. “Look at me, Pearson.” Sighing, Pearson turned back to face her mother. “I'm dying.” Candice's words sunk in. Pearson averted her eyes again so that Candice wouldn't witness the strain of her holding back tears. “I can't change that,” Candice finally added.

Tears belied Pearson's will. She wanted to pull away, but her mother continued to hold her firmly allowing the tears to tumble onto her hand.

“I hate it, but I have to face it.” Candice choked on her admission. “But it's a reality that we all have to face.” Candice let go of Pearson, went to her purse, pulled out a tissue and dabbed her eyes.

After a deep breath, she continued. “I haven't been the best mother. Woo. There I said it.” Candice blinked rapidly and sighed. “I didn't have the best example myself so I didn't know how to be a good mother.” Candice took a moment, crossed her arms and walked back to the window, looking out as she continued. “Facing the end of my life has made me reevaluate some things. There is so much that I would change if I could. There are some things that I wish I could still do, but probably won't get the chance. Of all of those things, there is one that I can't leave this earth without doing. And that's giving you the explanation that you deserve.”

“Mom.” Pearson wanted her to stop. Already unstable, Pearson teetered on an emotional edge. “You don't have to do this.” Pearson walked to the opposite side of her office putting distance between her and Candice's words.

“If I could have given you away, I would have, but I was too selfish to let you go, but too messed up to do you any good.”

Pearson's head snapped in Candice's direction as a lump lodged in her throat. Her lips parted, but only succeeded in trembling. She gasped and felt incapable of producing words. The weight of the pain in Candice's eyes, matched the pressure pressing down on her own chest.

“I didn't have a pretty childhood.” Candice shrugged her shoulders. “I didn't think I had anything to offer a child, but I loved you.” Swiping at a steady stream of tears, Candice shook her head. “Mama was…a mean woman…just mean.” Blinking rapidly, Candice pursed her lips and shook her head again. “Mm,” she added as she reminisced. “In fact, as a child, I thought she hated me. She's been gone for so many years now and it was just recently that I realized she loved me the best way she knew how no matter how it looked or felt. Her mama was mean, too.” Candice chuckled and punctuated her statement with a nod. “I remember being so scared of that woman.” Candice drew in a deep, sharp breath and let it out as she walked over to Pearson.

Taking Pearson by the hand, Candice looked into her eyes as if she were trying to reach her soul. The pressure of Candice's gaze made Pearson blink. She tore her eyes away.

“Your father knew this. He tried his best to love me enough to fill all of my voids. I loved that man more than my own life and didn't know how to show it… but he understood—he understood,” she said again, choking on her emotions. Candice didn't bother wiping the tears that flowed more heavily now. “He wanted a house full of children.” She tittered, her sad eyes glazed with memories of her lost love. “That crazy fool believed that having kids would help me learn how to love better. Instead, having you scared the Bejesus out of me.” Throwing her head back, Candice chuckled. “And when he died, I sent you away because I didn't want to ruin you.” She turned back to Pearson to search her eyes once again. “Not because I didn't love you. But then, once the distance settled in between us, I didn't know how to fix it so I let it remain there. The next thing I knew, you became a woman and that was that. I know now that it was entirely my fault, but I refuse to let my mistakes ruin what we could have in the time I have left.” Candice inclined her head toward Pearson and held out her hand. “If you're willing.”

Pearson got up and walked over to the window that her mother had just come from. Slow breaths helped to keep her calm. Her mother had just said things she'd wanted to hear all of her life and now she wished she could take them back.

“I know how you feel, Pearson.” Candice touched her back and she flinched. “It doesn't seem fair. Finally I come around, but now our time is limited. I will understand if you don't want me in your life now. I just had to get this out. You deserved to hear it.” Candice moved toward the couch and retrieved her purse. “I won't ask you for much. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me for being such a poor example of a mother, I'd like to spend whatever time I have left with you making up for what has been lost. If you don't want to...then...I understand.” Candice headed for the door.

Pearson heard her walking away. Letting her endless tears fall, she continued looking out over the parking lot. Her blurred vision prevented her from seeing anything clearly.

The doorknob turned. Pearson wanted to call out to her mother. Tell her not to go or even tell her that she was forgiven, but she couldn't get the words past her quivering lips. Pearson knew pain well and had learned to cope in it. Forgiveness and all of the other messy emotions that came along with it were foreign to her. She wasn't sure if she could handle that kind of freedom.

“I truly love you, honey. Always did,” Candice said. Pearson could tell by the slight tremor in her voice that she was still crying, too.

Shaking, Pearson held herself tighter while Candice walked through the door. Minutes passed with Pearson's gaze fixed on the stillness of the parking lot. She expected to see her mother make her way toward the car.

Closing her eyes, Pearson inhaled slowly, and then let her breath out in a rush. She had to get herself together. There was work to be done.

Her office door suddenly crashed open, banged against the wall, and seized her attention.

“Mrs. Day! Your mother passed out in the elevator!” Nat yelled, breaking into her thoughts. “Hurry.”

Pearson's heart clamored against her chest as she ran behind Nat, her pencil skirt limiting her stride. Guilt shrouded her at the thought of how she'd just treated her mother. How could she have been so selfish? Silently, she prayed that the Lord wouldn't let Candice die before she had a chance to turn things around.

Chapter 44

Nadalia

Once again Nadalia was in the dark. Daylight had fallen into the night as she sat in the family room of her mother's Long Island home. The only illumination came from the flickering embers of the fireplace, casting moving shadows along the walls. Nadalia had come to like the darkness, where she could wallow in her agony or avoid the lines that creased her tired face from all of the crying she had done.

Since she left home, she only journeyed to the office and back to her mother's house, moving through her days like a zombie. Cutting herself off from the world, outside of work, she wouldn't answer any calls. Eventually, she'd have to come out of the darkness, but right now, it embraced her and she liked it.

At first, she thought she was hearing things when the doorbell rang, followed by a knock on the door. She blamed it on her imagination. No one, including her mother, knew that she was there. Mina only ventured to her home on the Island in the summer so it couldn't be her. Besides, she wouldn't knock at her own door.

The knock came again and she knew it was happening outside of her head. Still, she didn't move to answer. Nadalia nudged herself deeper into the couch, stared into the dark and tried to think of something other than Sage's betrayal. She'd thought about that every way she could, turning the scenario over in her mind like a Rubik's cube. Every angle brought the same amount of pain.