Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Her eyes closed for a few moments before she opened them and met my gaze. My mother’s hazel eyes were filled with something that I could have sworn was regret. Growing up, I’d always been so grateful that I’d gotten my father’s blue eyes. Now, for the first time, I noticed how beautiful my mother’s were. Streaks of gold ran through the hazel, giving the illusion that her eyes were sparkling.
“That’s why I came here today, Vivianne. I wanted to apologize and tell you that I am so sorry for what your father and I did. We handled it all wrong, and if I could go back…” Her words faded off.
“That’s the problem. We can’t go back.”
She shook her head. “No, we can’t.” She stood up a bit taller and forced a smile. “But we can move forward. And your father and I would like to be a part of your life.”
Something was off. There was no way she was here simply because she felt bad. I moved to the front of my desk and leaned against it. “What do you need from me?”
Trying to look as if she had no idea what I meant, she asked, “What kind of question is that?”
“It’s a simple question, Emily. You’re here because you need me for something.”
Swallowing, gaze shifting away briefly, she replied, “I’m here because your father and I truly are sorry for the way we treated you. We want you back in our lives, Vivianne.”
“And the other reason?”
She looked down and dusted something nonexistent off her pristine coat. “As I’m sure you’ve heard, your father lost his bid for reelection to the Senate. But his name is in the running to be a vice presidential candidate in a few years.”
“Vice President. Wow. So I guess he needs his daughter by his side for that good family values image.”
Clearing her throat, she nodded slightly.
I pushed off the desk. “I’m sorry you wasted your time coming here. I have no desire, nor do I have any intention, of ever being a part of your lives again. Do you remember what you said to me the day I left?”
Her eyes closed again.
“You told me, as I was walking out the door, that you no longer had a daughter. That, as far as you were concerned, I was dead.”
“I didn’t mean that, Vivianne.”
“Let me give you some parting words, Emily. The day I walked out of your house, I lost the only two family members I’d ever known and loved. The only two people whose job was to love me. To care for me. To show me what family meant. Without strings attached. Vivianne Pennington died that day, and she is never coming back. As far as I’m concerned, my mother and father are Nellie and Gus Wilde.”
A look of hurt crossed her face. Or maybe it was anger…but I hoped it was hurt. Then she’d know just the tiniest fraction of what I’d felt the day she’d kicked me out of her home.
I walked back around my desk and sat.
Opening a notebook, I started to write. “If you’ll excuse me, Mrs. Pennington. I have work to do. And I’m sure you have more important places to be than River Falls Elementary.”
She stood there for another moment before slowly turning and walking to the door. She stopped, and I closed my eyes as I willed her to keep moving.
When she started to speak, I looked at her. Her voice sounded…defeated.
“I know you won’t believe this, but I’m going to say it anyway. The biggest mistake of my life was listening to your father when it came to raising you. I wanted to love you and spoil you the moment I held you in my arms. He told me I was silly and sentimental. That you’d be raised the way he was. I loved your father, and I was terrified he’d wake up one day and realize he’d married a nobody…so I did what he wanted me to do.”
Turning, she looked at me, and I nearly gasped when I saw a tear rolling down her cheek.
“I will regret for the rest of my life that I didn’t take you and leave when I should have. I will regret not loving you the way you deserved to be loved. I thought your father was the love of my life. But it turned out you were, Vivianne.”
I sat unmoving. Too afraid to even breathe.
She lifted her chin and smiled slightly. “I know you’ll be a better mother. You’ll give that baby you’re carrying the greatest gift of all. Love. And Vivianne…I’m sorry about your first child. If you ever want to know who adopted her, I have the information.”
Tears stung at the back of my eyes, but I refused to cry in front of her.
When it was clear I wasn’t going to say anything, Emily Pennington turned and walked away.