The Merriest Magnolia (Magnolia Sisters #2) - Michelle Major Page 0,15
Carrie thought but didn’t say the words out loud. She wanted to understand what had happened between her parents, and putting her mom on the defensive wouldn’t help that goal.
“I pushed him to admit how many times he’d cheated over the years,” Vanessa continued. “Specifically, I wanted to know about the women from Magnolia. Despite what you might believe, it wasn’t easy for me to walk away, and that was before I realized you weren’t going to come with me. The understanding that if I stayed, I would have to continue to make nice with women who’d slept with my husband spurred me on.”
Carrie sucked in a breath. She hadn’t considered that part of the situation. “That’s a terrible position to be in.”
“I shouldn’t have let him get away with it for so long.” Vanessa nibbled on the edge of a sandwich. “More than that, I shouldn’t have let the choice you made impact our relationship the way it did.”
“He needed me,” Carrie said simply, then shook her head. “At least that’s how it felt. He was larger than life to me at that point. I wasn’t trying to sever ties with you, but leaving Magnolia seemed impossible at the time.”
“You don’t have to explain his allure to me. It’s part of why I walked away without looking back. There was too much chance of being sucked into his orbit again. He was like a black hole, Carrie, pulling in and warping everything and everyone that got too close. There was no escape. I still don’t understand why he revealed everything to you in the will. Such a cowardly thing to do.”
“Yes,” Carrie murmured, her chest constricting with the memory of that revelation and how it had felt like a bomb exploding the life she’d known, pieces of her heart raining down like shrapnel around her. So much good had come from learning about her sisters, but the betrayal had changed everything about her feelings toward her father. He’d been her hero, and the disillusionment made her fearful of trusting her instincts on anything.
“There’s nothing keeping you there now,” her mother said. “You could travel or move anywhere and start over.” She paused then added, “Raleigh is a lovely place to live and there’s always room on my staff.”
Carrie glanced around the stylish restaurant to the well-dressed patrons and formal waitstaff. “I don’t think I’d fit in here.”
“In Magnolia, you’ll always be Niall’s daughter.”
“I’ll always be his daughter no matter where I am.” Carrie shrugged. “I don’t want to run away from that because he’s part of me. Maybe I let him eclipse me too long but pretending he didn’t matter isn’t the answer.”
“What kind of answers are you looking for?” Vanessa asked, taking a dainty pastry from the tray.
“I’m still working on figuring out the questions I need to ask,” Carrie admitted. “I appreciate you making time for me today. I know you don’t like revisiting the past or talking about Dad.”
“Your father and I both made mistakes.” Her mother’s tone gentled in a way Carrie barely recognized. “Just know that one of my few regrets is that leaving Magnolia affected my relationship with you. You don’t deserve everything that’s happened, although I guess it’s good that you like these other women.”
“They’re my sisters,” Carrie said, some of the tension knotted inside her loosening as she spoke the words. She cleared her throat, knowing it was too soon to share with her mother how much Avery and Meredith had come to mean to her. Things were still too fragile with Vanessa. “I’ve started painting again.”
Her mother sucked in a quick breath. “Because it gives you the feeling of still being connected to your dad?”
Carrie shook her head. “We both know he didn’t want me to be an artist.”
“I hope you know why,” Vanessa said. “Petty, jealous man.”
Back in high school, when her father had derided her talent, Dylan had been the first one to accuse Niall of jealousy. She hadn’t believed him, of course, and her mother had stayed silent on the subject before she’d left. It still pained her to think that her father, whom she’d loved with all her heart, would have undermined her in that way.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with Dad.” She picked up her teacup and hoped her mother didn’t notice that Carrie’s fingers trembled. “I feel like myself when I’m painting.”
“You could move to New York City,” Vanessa suggested. “I have friends there who’d help you get settled. The art community there