Mad, Bad and Blonde - Cathie Linz [52]
This news took Faith by surprise. “Is it because of the wedding? Because that turned into such a mess?”
“This has nothing to do with you. Our problems were not due to your wedding.”
Faith wasn’t ready to let herself off the hook that easily. “Still, if I hadn’t been so wrapped up in the preparations, I would have noticed something . . . some stress between the two of you. But just because you’re having some trouble doesn’t mean Dad is having an affair. You know Vince just wants to create trouble. It’s his specialty.”
“I know, and if it was just Vince, I’d ignore it. But my instincts tell me something is very wrong. I’ve tried in roundabout ways to get your father to talk to me, but he avoids me. I’m only asking you for your help because I don’t know what else to do. That’s why I want you to see what you can find out. There’s no one else I can turn to. It was hard enough to come to you and admit there might be trouble in my marriage. I couldn’t face telling a stranger. And I can’t just come out and directly ask him. I don’t know that he’d . . . that he’d tell me the truth.”
Her mother never cried, not even when Aunt Lorraine would say something mean enough to test the patience of an angel, but her mother was crying now. Two big fat teardrops slowly rolled down her cheeks. “I shouldn’t be dumping this on you. It’s not right.”
“Let me do a little digging and see what I can find out,” Faith said. “I’m sure there’s nothing for you to be worried about, but you’ll feel better if I can prove that, right?”
Her mom nodded.
“Okay, then. Consider it taken care of.” Faith hugged her.
This time her mother hugged her back. “That’s what Jane Austen would do,” Sara said unsteadily. “She’d reassure her mother and hug her. Not that the mothers in Austen’s books were all that appealing. They tended to be self-serving and self-centered.”
“Not you.”
“I am being self-centered to ask you for help.”
“No, you’re not.” Faith handed her a Kleenex from the end table. “I’m the one who was self-centered when I took off for Italy and left you here to handle the mess. Helping you now is the least I can do. Everything will be okay, you’ll see.”
“Thank you.” Sara hugged her again, squeezing her tight, reminding Faith of the time as a child she’d gotten lost in the Marshall Field’s store, and her mother had hugged her when they’d found Faith asleep in one of the empty intimate apparel fitting rooms. Faith had forgotten about that episode until this moment.
It was funny how old memories sometimes came back. Her mom had never told Faith’s father that she’d wandered off, breaking a rule her parents had taught her practically from the time she took her first steps. It had been a secret between the two of them, kept all these years.
Faith couldn’t say no to her mom now. She’d prove that her dad was faithful, and that would be the end of that. So here she was for a second time trying to prove her dad was not guilty of something.
“Like I said, I’m sure there’s no cause for concern,” Faith reassured her mom. “But I’ll check things out and see what’s going on with Dad.”
“I knew I could count on you,” her mom said, dabbing at her tears with the balled-up Kleenex.
Faith handed her a new tissue. “Of course you can count on me.”
Her mom took a ragged breath before voicing her biggest fear. “What if . . . what if he is having an affair?”
Here’s where Faith’s worst-case scenario train of thought came up. What if her dad really was cheating on her mom? What if they got divorced? What if her dad took off to Bali to find himself like Alan did?
Okay, she was losing control here. And control was required to get through this tricky situation. She didn’t want to go borrowing trouble. Maybe she’d have to rethink that worst-case stuff and go with something else instead. “Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, okay? No use worrying about something that in all likelihood isn’t true. Let’s go with the plan that I’ll find out what’s wrong and clear this misunderstanding up. Think how relieved you’ll be knowing that Dad isn’t being