The Escape Collection: (The Escape Collection) (25 page)

“Thank you,” she said, and leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. “It is a good thing.”

“It is. And of course you’re nervous. But soon that won’t matter. The important thing is you’re moving forward and that little girl is absolutely going to fall in love with you and soon, it will be like no time has gone by at all. You’ll see.”
 

***

Patty still wasn’t convinced of anything by the time she picked up the phone to call her mom. But she did know that afraid or not, it was the one thing she wanted most in the world. Patty waited until seven to make the call, because it may have been a few years, but she still remembered how obsessive her mother was about dinner times and it wouldn’t do any good to interrupt that.
 

Stan was just outside the bedroom, giving her the privacy she needed to make the call. With shaking fingers, Patty punched in the numbers and held her breath as she listened to the ringing. It was only three rings, but it might as well have been thirty. Her heart was beating hard in her chest when she finally heard her mother’s voice come over the line.
 

“Mom?”
 

Silence. And then an exhale. “Patricia. You got my letter.”

It wasn’t a question, but Patty answered anyway, “I did. Thank you.” She couldn’t be sure what she was thanking her for. For reaching out? For the pictures? It didn’t matter; it was the right thing to say.

“You don’t have to thank me, Patricia.” Her mother’s voice shook just a little, not much. But enough for Patty to know she was nervous, too. “Whitney’s your daughter. I think it’s time.”
 

“But, I’m still—”

“Dancing?” The word sounded dirty. “I know.” There was another sigh and when her mother spoke again, her voice was softer. “But I also know she’s your daughter. And I was wrong.”
 

Patty sucked in a breath. “Pardon?”

“I was wrong, Patricia. Your daughter needs you, no matter how you choose to live your life. As long as Whitney is out of harm, she deserves to know you and you deserve to be part of her life. I shouldn’t have tried to do otherwise.”

“Mom, I—”

“I said I was sorry.” The edge was back in her voice. “I will not repeat it.”
 

Despite herself, Patty smiled. She knew it must have pained her mother deeply to admit any fault and it had been unnerving hearing her so apologetic. “Of course,” Patty said. “I don’t expect you to. Besides, the important thing is we’re moving forward.” She surprised herself to hear Stan’s words come out of her mouth.
 

“Yes,” her mother agreed. “Whitney has been asking a lot of questions about you and I’ve tried to fill in the details, but I was thinking we could meet at the playground and start slow. No presents.”

Patty shook her head, remembering the last present she’d given Whitney. “No. No presents. I can come this week.” She scanned her work schedule in her head, but she knew it didn’t matter because whatever day worked for her mother, she’d make it work. “And Stan can get someone to cover his shift so—”

“Not Stan.”
 

“What? Yes, of course Stan. He’ll be able to take time off too. It won’t be a big deal, he just needs—”

“No,” her mother interrupted her again. “I meant no to Stan. Just you. He’s not invited.”
 

Patty glanced to the closed door and pictured Stan sitting on the couch, waiting for her to open the door. It would break his heart to know he wasn’t allowed to come. “Mom,” she said. “Stan needs to come too. He wants to meet Whitney so much and—”

“Is Stan the father?”

Patty blinked hard, not sure she’d heard the question properly. “Pardon?”
 

“Is Stan Whitney’s father?”

She knew the answer. Patty knew her mother knew. She was only asking to be mean. “No,” she whispered.
 

“Then he’s not welcome,” she said in a tone that closed the subject for discussion. “Wednesday at five,” she said. “The playground down the street from the house. Do you remember the one?”

Patty’s head spun, and something in her chest squeezed tightly. “I remember,” she said. “But I—”

Her mother let out a long sigh, before saying, “Patricia, I’m sure you would agree that meeting you after all these years will be a big enough adjustment for Whitney. We’ll discuss the introduction of your…your friends at a later date. I’m trying to do what’s best for Whitney, but if you don’t agree with my terms then perhaps this wasn’t a good idea after all. I can definitely change—”

“No!” Patty jumped up from the edge of the bed and clutched the receiver tightly in her hand. “Don’t do that,” she said, softer this time.
 

Stan opened the door and mouthed the words, “Are you okay?”
 

She nodded and then turning away, so she wouldn’t have to look at him, she said into the phone, “It’ll just be me.”

***

Wednesday came, and Stan said he understood but Patty saw the hurt in his eyes, and she hated herself for having anything to do with putting it there. But they both agreed it was best to start slowly and if it meant Stan stayed home, that’s what he’d do.
 

Before she left, Stan brought up marriage again. And instead of laughing it off the way she usually did, Patty said she’d consider it and for the first time allowed herself to imagine a life with Stan, one that included her daughter. Patty let her imagination go as she drove to the playground, and by the time she got there, a full twenty minutes early, she’d done a pretty good job convincing herself that a happily ever after ending just might be possible.
 

She waited at a picnic table and watched the other children playing with their parents. Would Whitney want to play with her like that? Would she even talk to her? She wiped her sweaty palms on the legs of her jeans and adjusted her jacket. She hadn’t known what to wear, so she’d settled on basic jeans, a tank top and denim jacket. Surely her mother couldn’t have a problem with that.
 

“Patricia?”
 

Patty turned around at the sound of her mother’s voice and her heart stopped. Whitney was beautiful, wearing a dress that had obviously been selected for the occasion; her hair was parted in two long pigtails with red ribbons tied in them. When she smiled, Patty’s heart resumed its beat and she found her voice. “Hi,” she said, dropping to her knees on the grass in front of them. “I’m so happy to meet you.”
 

Whitney released her grandmother’s hand and took a few tentative steps toward Patty. “Hi.” Patty bit her lip to keep from crying at the sound of her daughter’s voice. “Grams said you’re my mom.”

Patty nodded. “Yes.”

“You’re pretty,” Whitney said.
 

“I think you’re the most beautiful little girl I’ve ever seen,” Patty said and was rewarded by Whitney’s toothy smile again. “Do you think I can have a hug?”

With a quick look at her Grams, Whitney closed the gap between them, and Patty wrapped her in a hug. She inhaled the little girl’s hair, filling her senses with strawberries and the familiar scent of her mother’s laundry detergent. Without releasing her, Patty looked up through a veil of tears and met her mother’s gaze. She mouthed the words thank you but closed her eyes before she could see her mother’s response.
 

After a moment, Whitney squirmed so Patty reluctantly released her. Pushing up from the ground, she sniffed and swiped at her eyes.
 

“Whitney,” her mother said. “Why don’t you go play for a minute?”
 

Whitney nodded and looked at Patty before she ran off. “Will you swing with me later?”

“Of course.”

After Whitney went to join the other children, Patty turned to her mom and said, “Thank you, Mom.”

“I told you I’d bring her, Patricia, and I did.” Her mother sat stiffly on the picnic table and looked straight ahead.
 

“I meant…” Patty started. “I meant, just for everything. She’s a beautiful little girl.”

“Yes she is.” Her mother looked around the park. “You didn’t bring him, did you?”

“Stan?” Patty shook her head. “No. I told you I wouldn’t. But he wants to meet her, too, Mom. He’s a part of my life.”

Patty watched as her mother took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, she turned to Patty and said, “Patricia, you know that despite everything, I love you, right?” Patty nodded. “I know this hasn’t been easy. None of this has. I’m just trying to do my best by you and Whitney.”

“I know, Mom.”

She put her hand on Patty’s arm and squeezed. “It’s not too late, you know? You can leave him. You can stop this…this…”

“Dancing?”

Her mother made a face and a shudder went through her. “You can start over, Patricia. You’re still young.”

Patty looked over to where Whitney was sliding down a spiral slide. “He’s not making me do it, Mom. It’s not like he’s forcing me. I like dancing. I know you don’t understand it, but I do. And you can’t keep me from seeing her because of my job. Not now.”

Her mother sighed again. “I know,” she said. “And I won’t.” Patty’s heart lifted, but when her mother spoke again, it came crashing down. “But that man isn’t a good influence. And if you insist on being with him, I have to disapprove.”

“What does that mean, Mom?” Patty’s thoughts flashed to Stan and their talk of getting married, maybe even having Whitney live with them, or at least stay with them sometimes. “What are you saying?” Patty asked with a tremble in her voice.

“Just what I said. Nothing more.”
 

But there was a lot more behind her mother’s words, and Patty knew it. She would never marry Stan.

Chapter 11

“He did what?” Grams asked me for the third time.
 

Knowing how she felt about William, I probably shouldn’t have told her about our picnic and I certainly hadn’t planned on telling her about the sort of proposal. Especially since I’d only spoken to him once since then and I could barely look him in the eyes I was so confused about everything.

“I know. It was totally unexpected and it might have even been a little sweet.” I stretched out on her bed since Grams was settled into her chair, knitting while we chatted.
 

“Might have been?”

“Well, he had my favorite brownies.” What I really wanted to say was it might have been sweet if he’d bothered to listen to me or pay attention to me at all because if he had, he’d know that it was the worst possible time to propose such a thing.

“Um hmm.” She pursed her lips together, almost sucking them completely into her mouth the way she always did when she was trying not to say what she really wanted to.
 

“What?”

“Nothing, dear.” She clicked her needles together and I waited. “Except, well…never mind, it’s nothing.”

I sat up and rested on my arms. “Are you going to make me force it out of you? Just tell me.” I already knew what she was going to say.
 

Grams folded her knitting around her needles and put it on her lap. “I just don’t think that’s an appropriate way for a man to ask a woman to marry him.”

“He didn’t really—”

“Is it what you want?” She looked at me so intently I knew I didn’t need to answer. “Whitney,” she said gently. “Life is too short to marry a man you’re not madly in love with.”

“But he’s everything you always told me I should look for in a man. He’s got a stable job. He’s probably the most reliable person I’ve ever met. He’s—”

“Do you love him?” Before I could answer her question, Grams continued, “I’ve said a lot of things over the years. You know how important it was to me to keep you from making the same mistakes your mother did.”

“I know, but Stan—”

“I’m not talking about Stan. I’m talking about you.” Grams dipped her head for a moment before meeting my gaze again. “I was wrong to tell you that stability and reliability are the most important traits in a man.”

I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Ever since my first crush in grade two, Grams had been preaching to me about finding a solid, dependable, decent guy. “So, what is most important?” I was almost afraid of the answer.

“Love,” she said simply. “I just want you to be happy, Whitney. William isn’t a bad man I’m just not sure he’s right for you. You should have someone who complements who you are. A young man who can free you, not hold you down.” I tried to keep up with what she was saying. “Are you okay, dear?”

I nodded. “Yes. It’s just…Grams, where has all of this come from?”
 

Her smile was warm. “Let’s just say that the older I get, the more I’m figuring out. Now tell me, how’s Reid? Maybe he’s someone you’d like to—”

“I think we should go.” My stomach twisted and the room suddenly got very warm. I’d done nothing but think of the kiss we’d shared and how it sparked every single nerve ending in my body. How when he held me close, I was electrified in a way I’d never been before. But I couldn’t tell Grams any of that.

“Are you okay, dear? You look a little flush.”

“I’m fine.” I hopped off the bed. “Didn’t you say something about it being craft day in the lobby or something?” I paced in the tiny room. It was suddenly way too small. “Let’s go do crafts.”

“Really, Whitney? You want to do crafts?” She stuck her needles in the ball of yarn and dropped the project in the basket next to her chair. “Something must be wrong if you’re willing to do crafts with me.”
 

She pushed up from her recliner and winced. I didn’t miss how she grabbed her side and rubbed at her breast.
 

“Grams?” I was at her side in a flash. “Are you okay?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. Grams, let me see.”

She swatted me away. “I’m fine, Whitney.” The look in her eyes gave me pause, but I knew her well.
 

“You’re not fine. Have you told Dr. Abbott about the pain? He can shrink it, Grams. It won’t hurt and—”

“Stop.” Her eyes were hard. I backed off.

“We’re going to talk about this, Grams,” was all I said. “We have to.” I blinked back the tears that threatened, looked away and did my best to paste a smile on my face before I turned back to her. “Now let’s go before I change my mind.”