When it was my turn, they both cheered at the shot I made.
“Are you good at everything?” McKenzie asked with a smile.
“My brother taught me all the manly things.” I smiled when I thought of him.
“He sounds like an outstanding man.” Ophelia clapped me on the shoulder and we finished the course. In the end, Ophelia kicked ass. She was an awesome golfer. So was his sister. I barely kept up. I was so glad Jeremy taught me a few things.
We had lunch at the club restaurant. We took our seats on the patio while the waiter served us. When I looked at the menu, my eyes widened at the prices. I hated taking money from Cash, but I was so glad I did. I couldn’t afford anything.
McKenzie left as soon as she finished her food. “I have yoga.”
“Have a good day, dear.” Ophelia gave her a kiss on the cheek.
McKenzie gave me a big hug before she left. “I’m sorry for my harsh words the other day.”
“Don’t worry about it. I completely understand.”
McKenzie smiled before she left. It was just me and his mom. I wondered how this would go.
Ophelia stared at me, her eyes lingering on my face. “You’re such a beautiful girl. I just can’t believe it.”
Making me blush ran in his family. “Thank you.”
“Where are you from?”
“I was born and raised in London.”
“Wow.” She seemed impressed. “Jack and I have been a few times. Beautiful city. They need better dentists, however.”
I laughed at her joke. Cash’s mom was pretty cool. “I was very lucky that I had straight teeth.”
Ophelia drank from her glass then returned it to the table. She had a natural poise about her. “Tell me about your brother. You two sound close.”
“We are. He’s my best friend.”
She smiled while she listened to me.
“We went to school together, and even went to college together. Now he’s a business investor. He likes it—most days.”
“He sounds very accomplished—like you.”
“My brother is amazing. He’s my hero.”
“Your parents must be very proud.”
Touchy subject. “Yeah…”
Her eyes narrowed. “Spill it.”
Damn, she was good.
“My parents were never married, so I didn’t grow up with a father.” I kept the emotion out of my voice, but I couldn’t hide my face. “He left us when I was born.”
“That’s terrible.” She seemed truly empathetic.
“He came back around when I started college, but the damage had been done. Jeremy and I didn’t want a relationship with him. But he offered to pay for our tuitions so we accepted that in exchange for some of our time.”
She nodded. “It sounds like he’s trying.”
“I know…but he told me my dream to be a musician was stupid. Now I have a degree in something I don’t really care about.”
“Why can’t you have both?”
“I said the same thing.” My voice came out quiet.
“Life is too short to live for someone else. I admire you for pursuing your dream. If it doesn’t work out, you always have your education to fall back on. At least your father gave you that.”
I couldn’t deny that. “I’m grateful he paid for my education. If not, I wouldn’t have been able to attend at all. The same goes for my brother. Now he has an MBA.”
“Too bad he doesn’t live here,” she said with a sigh. “McKenzie needs a good man in her life. She keeps running around with all these…boys.”
“Good men are hard to come by.” Cash popped into my mind.
Ophelia stared at my face. “Do you love my son?”
That came out of nowhere. What did I say? She continued to stare at me, waiting for me to speak. I couldn’t lie to her. She was too observant, too smart. I thought the truth was the best way to go. “I do.”
A smile spread across her face. “I don’t know why I even asked.”
I did love Cash and I knew it. It was something I didn’t expect to happen but I had to bottle it inside. Because our relationship was going to end soon. He’d move on with someone else and forget about me. But I’d never forget about him.
I’m not sure when the feelings started. We just got so close, so fast in the past two months. When I wasn’t with him, I missed him. And I always wanted to be with him. When he had to work late some nights, it was torture. I couldn’t get enough of him.
“And I know he loves you.”
She was wrong about that one. I smiled.
“I’m so glad Cash found you. I was so scared he’d never move on.”
She was talking about his divorce. Every time I thought about that stupid bitch I got angry. “I would never hurt Cash like that, Ophelia.”
“I know, dear. I’m just glad he finally got through it. It was hard on all of us. When your child suffers, you suffer. It’s how love works.”
And I knew that too well. Every time I imagined how Cash felt, it broke my heart. It hurt more than when Isaac betrayed me.
“Do you know the feeling?”
She was asking me a lot of personal questions. But I didn’t mind. It was nice talking to a parental figure. I immediately liked her when I met her. There was something motherly about her. “I had a boyfriend who did the same thing to me. I just wasn’t married.”
She took a deep breath. “Then you really are perfect for him.”
Yes, we were both really fucked up in the head. “I guess so.”
“Does your mother live in London?”
“Yes.”
“She must miss you like crazy.”
No, definitely not.
“You aren’t close to your mom either?”
How did she keep doing that? Was she a mind reader? “No…”
“What happened?” She gave me that sympathetic look again.
“My mom was…just not around much. She was depressed when my dad left, and she never recovered. She chose to stay in her room and watch TV. She knows I play music, but she has no idea what kind and has never even seen me play. And she didn’t come to my college graduation.”
“Oh my…” She grabbed my hand on the table and squeezed it. “I’m so sorry.”