Forged of Steele Bundle (Books 1-4) - Brenda Jackson [189]
“Why, Emily did just fine with this being her first trip and all. But she had company. Her granddaughter and great-granddaughter went with us as chaperones. Did I ever tell you that she had six grands and two great-grands?”
Lena’s stomach tightened since she knew where this conversation was headed. “Yes, Mama, you told me.”
“And Emily agrees with me that it’s a shame that I don’t even have a grand. She said she can’t believe a young woman as pretty as you can’t find herself a man.”
Lena sighed deeply. There was no way she could tell her mother that men were out there a dime a dozen and she didn’t have to “find” one. The problem was hooking up with one who didn’t have stipulations that weren’t acceptable to her. Lena knew her mother’s heart would be crushed if she ever discovered the real reason men didn’t come calling and those who did usually stopped real quick, as if in a hurry once they discovered her role in her mother’s life.
“Mom, like I told you, my job keeps me busy.”
“No job should keep a woman too busy for a man. You’re thirty-one. I was married to your father before my twenty-first birthday and we were so happy together. That man was my life. You came along twenty years later and then the both of you became my life. A woman couldn’t have been happier. A husband and a child have a way of fulfilling a woman’s life.”
“I’m sure that’s true, Mom, but—”
“And take a look at Kylie. I love Tiffany dearly with her being your godchild and all, but a new baby is nice and it didn’t take Kylie long after her marriage to do her duty.”
Lena shook her head. Her duty. She didn’t want to think about what her mother figured her duty was.
“But I don’t want to talk about Kylie. You’re my daughter and I want to talk about you.”
Lena sighed. Her mother hadn’t been this talkative in a long time. A part of her was happy about it, but she would be even happier if they discussed another subject. “Mom, we’ve talked before. They don’t make men like they used to,” she said, coming to a stop at a traffic light.
She glanced over at her mom and met her gaze when Odessa asked, “Is that what’s bothering you? Are you figuring there isn’t a man out there like your daddy was? Probably not, but it’s the woman who usually makes the marriage and not the man. You just have to let him think that he does. Why, I can recall when your father…”
Lena pulled off when the traffic light changed to green as her mother relived pleasant memories. She was grateful for the change in subjects, because if they had stayed on their same conversation path, there was no way she wouldn’t eventually have lost it. Having lunch with Kylie and seeing how pregnant she looked made her unconsciously rub her stomach wishing more than anything a baby could be there.
She cleared her throat in an attempt to keep her tear ducts from working. For some reason she’d been in a melancholy mood lately, but she knew it would eventually pass and she would snap out of it.
Considering everything, she really didn’t have much of a choice.
Chapter 3
Lena glanced around when she entered the restaurant. She had been on her way to the Steele Corporation for a meeting with Morgan when she received a call from her secretary saying Morgan wanted to meet with her here instead of his office.
She sighed, feeling tired from a restless night. Her mother had had another outburst for her father and it had taken a while to get her settled back down. It always pained Lena to watch her mother relive her grief. After taking her mother to the day care this morning she had stopped by to visit with Delphine Moore, her mother’s social worker.
Delphine had explained that the reason her mother kept having her bouts of grief, even after six years, was that she hadn’t yet found anything to fill the void in her life left by her father. God knows it hadn’t been for lack of trying on Lena’s part. According to both Delphine and Lena’s mother’s family physician, Odessa’s issues, both mentally