“What?”
“If your love was worth everything, then why didn’t Dad man up, leave Isabelle, and marry you instead?” I demanded. “If he loved you so damn much, then why didn’t he just divorce Isabelle for you?”
I knew I had stumped her. I knew I had backed her into a corner with my logic, but she was too desperate and too proud to admit to that.
“You don’t understand anything—”
“I understand more than you do,” I said bitingly. “Ted never really loved you; you were just a distraction from his mundane life. He liked having someplace he could go to when his life with Isabelle got boring. He knew you would look after him and cook for him and lend him money when he needed it. He’s been using you for more than two decades now, and he’s going to continue to use you for as long as he can because you refuse to open your eyes and see what’s really happening.”
There was silence on the other line. The breathing I could hear was growing a little erratic, and I knew that I had upset her badly. I didn’t care. She was trying to draw common ground between us, and I wanted her to know that I was nothing like her.
“What do you know about anything?” she said after a long silence. “You’re just a selfish brat who’s never had to struggle for anything in her life.”
“I had to raise myself,” I practically yelled at her.
“Excuse me?”
“You were too busy working to support Ted and doting on him anytime he deigned to give you the time of day—”
“Don’t,” Mom interrupted, and she sounded almost hysterical. “Don’t…”
“Have you even thought about the fact that Isabelle divorced him years ago, and he still hasn’t married you?” I demanded.
“I… I…” she could only stutter in response.
“Have you asked him why, Mom?” I demanded. “Have you asked him why he hasn’t married you even after this first wife left him? Have you ever thought about the fact that he’s doing to you the same thing he did to Isabelle?”
“What… What are you saying?”
“He probably has other women,” I said bluntly. “He’s probably got another mistress holed up somewhere. He probably goes to her whenever he disappears for a few weeks. Hell, he may have another child or two hidden away somewhere. Who the fuck knows?”
“What did I ever do to you?” she asked tearfully. “To make you treat me so badly?”
I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment. “I’m being honest,” I said. “If you don’t like the truth, then maybe you need to re-evaluate your life.”
I heard her scoff in anger. “You think you’re so much better than me, don’t you, Kristen?” she asked. “You look down your nose at me. But since you love the truth so much, I have another truth for you. You’re just like me.”
“I am nothing like you,” I hissed.
“You’re lying to Jake, aren’t you?” she continued as though she hadn’t heard me. “You’ve snuck yourself into his life, you’re spending time with his son, and you’re asking him to trust you… Do you really think you have a right to the high ground when you’re cheating Jake out of the truth?”
She had me stumped. I tried to defend myself, but I realized that I couldn’t. Was this really what my dream had been about? I wondered.
“Do you think Daphne will want to see you with her husband?” Mom continued. “Do you think she’ll want you raising her child?”
“I am going to tell him,” I said softly as a tear slipped down my cheek.
“When? After he’s put a ring on your finger? After you’ve well and truly trapped him?”
“I would never do that,” I said, trying to control my voice.
“And everything you’ve done up until now?” she demanded. “I bet you never thought you’d go this far, did you? And yet, here you are.”
“Well, I never really had anyone to look up to, did I?” I shot at her.
She laughed. “Of course, blame me,” she said. “Didn’t you just accuse me earlier in this phone call of blaming Isabelle?”
I felt the words dry on my tongue as I realized she was right. My dream had been pointing to this very thing. Maybe I wasn’t as different from my mother as I had always thought. Maybe under my veil of self-righteousness, I was just like her.