“Yes. Yes, I do know this,” she said with a wink. She jumped out of the truck, grabbed the blanket and box out of the backseat that held the vibrator and said, “Come on. I’m ready to get my naughty on again.”
I shook my head and laughed as I watched her skipping into the lobby of the hotel.
“Shit, I love that girl.”
I walked up and kissed Meg on the top of her head and said, “Be a good girl for daddy.” When I looked up into Brad’s eyes, all I saw was fear.
“I don’t think this is a good idea. What if…”
I put my finger up to his lips and smiled. “Baby, I promise. Everything is going to be all right. I’ll be fine. Please don’t worry, okay?”
He nodded his head and closed his eyes. “It’s just… Amanda, if she ever hurts you again… I just can’t move past all the things she did.”
“Brad. I know you love your mother.”
“I love you, more than anything,” he whispered.
I felt the tears building in my eyes and my heart dropped in my stomach. “I love you more than anything, too. Just let me do this and see what happens. It’s like something clicked in her when she saw Maegan. I saw it in her eyes. Let me just give her a chance. I promise if she crosses the line once I’ll walk away.”
He sucked in a breath of air and slowly let it out. “Fine. But one wrong thing and I mean it, Amanda.”
I took my index finger and gestured across my heart. I grabbed my purse and gave Brad a quick kiss good-bye before he pulled me back to him and kissed me so deeply and passionately.
“That’s to keep you thinking about me,” he said against my lips.
“Hmm…I will for sure be thinking about you,” I said with a wink.
As I made my way out to my car, I said a quick prayer that this wasn’t a set-up by Brad’s mom. When she called me last night and asked if we could meet for dinner because she wanted to talk to me and give me the baby pictures, I was reluctant to do it, but something inside me screamed that I needed to do this for Brad. I just prayed for Brad’s sake she didn’t ruin this.
I walked into the South Congress Café and looked around. I saw Carol sitting at a table near a corner window. Ugh. No easy escape. When she looked up and saw me, the smile that spread across her face surprised me. I gave a weak smile in return and headed over her way.
She stood up and gave me a kiss on the cheek and said, “Amanda, sweetheart, thank you for meeting me for dinner.”
Sweetheart? I’ve never been called anything but Amanda.
I sat down and decided to just cut to the chase. “Carol, I’m doing this for Brad. I’m doing it because I love him more than life itself and I know not having his parents in his life is hurting him. The last thing I want to do is hurt him.”
She sat back and smiled as she shook her head. Here it comes.
“Do you know the first time Brad brought you home, I couldn’t believe it? I was looking at a mini me.”
Huh? Well okay, I wasn’t expecting that. I’m sure the look on my face must have been one of shock, because Carol laughed.
“I know what you’re thinking. A mini you? Hell no. But you were, or rather, you are. I could see the spit and fire in your personality and see the passion for life in your eyes. I knew Brad must have really taken to you for him to bring you home. He never brought girls home.”
I wanted nothing more than to say, Gee…wonder why?
She reached for her wine and took a sip. She seemed to want what she just said to sink in. “I’m not going to lie to you, Amanda. I hated you the moment I saw you.”
And here we go…
“But I also fell madly in love with you.”
“Huh?” I said out loud, not meaning to.
She let out a chuckle and continued on. “Yep. I could see the love between you and Brad and each time I saw the two of you together, I saw it grow. I think a part of me was insanely jealous. Brad was my only child. He was my baby boy. No one was ever going to take him away from me. I decided early on that I was going to make it miserable for you. I wanted you to end up leaving.”
She slowly shook her head and gave me a sad smile. “But you were stronger than that. Your love for my son, I should say, was stronger. I didn’t realize at the time when I was trying to drive you away, that I was driving Brad away…from everyone.”
I sucked in a breath of air.
She closed her eyes for a good thirty seconds before she opened them again. “When I saw you standing there holding Maegan, and she was the spitting image of Brad, something just clicked. All the pain that I caused both you and Brad came flooding all at once. I thought I could just pretend it was you who was the problem, but in the end I needed to realize that it was me who had been the problem.”
She stopped and waited. I wasn’t sure what she expected me to say. Yeah, Carol you were the problem…can I have the baby pictures?
“I’m not really sure what to say right now, Carol,” I said as my voice cracked.
She sat up just a little straighter as the waitress walked up and asked what I would like to drink.
“Water, please,” I said.
She asked if we were ready to order. Carol asked her for a few more minutes.
“I just wanted to get this all out, and if you decide to leave after, I completely understand.”
I slowly nodded my head.
She took a deep breath and quickly let it out. “I don’t expect you and Brad to just open up your hearts and let me in. I know I have to earn that back and I’m very prepared to do so. I’d like more than anything to get to really know you, Amanda. I’d like more than anything to have my son back in my life again and get to know my grandchildren.”
My heart started beating a mile a minute.
“I’d like to ask you for your forgiveness. I know I don’t deserve it and I know I’ve never done anything to make you want me in your life, but I’d love to try and get there.”
I looked around and prayed that the waitress would get there with my water. My mouth was so dry and I needed a drink before I could talk.
Right on cue she walked up and handed me the water. I took a long drink and set it down before looking back up at Carol.
I gave her a smile and said, “Well…you can start by showing me Brad’s baby pictures.”
The smile that spread across her face caused me to let out a small laugh. When she leaned over and picked up a giant shoebox, I really started laughing.
“I went through all the albums and pulled them out. I wasn’t sure if you do that whole scanning thing or what but I sure had fun going through these.”
We both let out a laugh as the waitress walked back over. I let Carol order while I quickly looked at the menu.
The waitress looked at me next. “Oh um…I’ll have the mesquite-grilled pork chops.
“Good choice,” she said with a smile.
As the next hour passed by, we ate, talked about Maegan, talked about Brad as a baby, looked at baby pictures, and bonded like we never had before. I sent Brad a text, letting him know things were going good.
As we left the restaurant, Carol reached for me and gave me a hug.
“Thank you, Amanda. Thank you so much. I’ve had a lovely evening.”
I smiled and thought back to when I used to work for her. We actually had a few occasions where we got along so good and even laughed a lot.
“I’m really glad we did this, Carol. I think this will be great for Maegan to be able to know both her grandparents. But mostly, I think this will really help Brad to continue to heal and move on. He still holds onto a lot of pain and guilt. But with the baby, and now y’all coming back into his life…I think things will be even better for him.”