Shelley Galloway - The Good Mother

Desperation set in. If she didn’t have Jenna as a buffer, Evie was going to have to deal with this cruise as an actual date. Even though she knew it was a lost cause, she started thinking bribery might be in order. “What if—”

“Evie, honey, stop.”

In unison, Evie and her daughter turned to Jan in surprise.

“I didn’t see you there,” Evie mumbled.

“Obviously not.” Pointing to the kitchen table, her mother said, “Come sit down for a second, dear.”

As obediently as when she was ten, Evie crossed the living room and sat down at the kitchen table next to her mom. Jenna watched her with a glint of satisfaction, then clicked on the remote, smiled when she saw Dora the Explorer was on and went back to playing with Neena.

After opening the Tupperware cabinet for Missy, Jan pressed her hands on her thighs. “Here’s the deal, Ev. Jenna and Missy don’t want to go sit on a boat. I can’t say I blame them, either. Boats and children really don’t mix. They’re going to want to get off after twenty minutes and that won’t be an option.”

“Jenna might really enjoy it.”

Her mother laughed. “Jenna might really enjoy having pizza for dinner. She might really enjoy making a new dress for her doll. She will not enjoy a cruise.” Leveling a look at Evie, Jan said softly, “You know I’m right.”

She knew. Her mother was absolutely right. But that didn’t mean she had to give in gracefully. “Maybe.”

“You’re a good mother, and therefore you know what I mean when I tell you that all good mothers need to pick their battles. You could force your eldest to go, but I think you’d regret it. Jenna in a power play isn’t pretty.”

No. No, she wasn’t. Jenna in full battle mode was pretty much a remake of The War of the Worlds, complete with chaos, destruction and unceasing screeching at high decibels. It wasn’t for the faint of heart. “I guess you may have a point.”

Jan didn’t even try to not look smug. “I know I do.”

All this maternal advice was wearing Evie out. It had been a long time since she’d had a heart-to-heart with her mother about anything, never mind raising her girls.

And all this advice made Evie uneasy—didn’t her mother realize she made decisions regarding her daughters all the time?

Unable to sit still for a moment longer, Evie hopped up from her chair. “I’ll go ahead and call August to tell him no, then.”

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.