The View from Alameda Island - Robyn Carr Page 0,57

she was a few inches shorter than her sister. “Frankly, I don’t know if I’m ready to talk to you yet. You said you weren’t sure Mama was telling the absolute truth, yet you saw the security video and you saw her poor face.”

“I hadn’t seen the video yet, I just heard about it. And I didn’t want to take sides,” Lacey said.

“There is only one side,” Cassie said. “You can’t make this go away. And you can’t ignore it.”

“I know, but I can’t help wishing this wasn’t happening...”

“I want you to ask yourself something, Lacey. If some man pummeled your face, do you think Mama would make excuses for him?”

“Don’t be so hard on me!” Lacey shouted. “I’m just trying to understand what went wrong!”

“You knew things were bad with them! We talked about it! We worried about it! Our parents fought a lot and Mama always lost!”

Lauren watched and listened. This will be the moment that estranges them, she thought.

“Sometimes!” Lacey shot back. “But I didn’t think it was any worse than anyone else’s parents!”

“Like who?” Cassie asked.

“Like most of my friends and probably most of yours! At least half of their parents are already divorced and the rest of them fight all the time!”

Cassie was quiet for a moment. “Wow,” she said in a near whisper. “Lacey, you seriously need new friends.”

* * *

My God, she’s just like me! Lauren thought suddenly. All these years she’d wanted to blame Lacey’s entitled nature on Brad. Had she just not wanted to acknowledge that it was in her shallow nature that Lacey took after her? Lauren hated to think of herself as selfish, but there was no question that years ago she had been like Lacey. Maybe not as obvious, but still, the similarities were there.

Her mind took her back to her engagement to Brad, how bossy he was, how hard to please, how willing he was to spend money to make things perfect. If he’d bullied Lauren or her mother or sister, he was quick with the gifts and excuses. Well, she’d grown up poor! She loved what she misinterpreted as his efforts to make amends for his thoughtfulness. She loved the status that he was a surgeon. He was difficult but rich and offered the kind of security she’d never known. Her mother and sister were even drawn into that state of mind. Brad represented safety. They wanted Brad as much as she did.

For a while.

Then Beth and Honey figured him out. They heard him say dismissive and unkind things to her. Saw that he was moody and angered easily. Pointed out how he made amends with money or that which money could buy. And he had an ego the size of Montana. They’re talking about me all over San Francisco. Some people are saying I’m the best young surgeon in the Bay Area. They warned her, saying, “Lauren, this does not bring happiness, it brings struggles. Rethink this. At least live with him first.”

“I love him,” she said. But it was a lie. She wanted to be a part of his world. She had seen the house he bought and helped pick out the furniture. She didn’t want to live in a rented room in some old lady’s house or jammed into an apartment with four roommates, just getting by until she could save enough money for something decent. Honey had never quite gotten there, though they scrimped their entire lives. Lauren had been trying to find a good job after college, one that had real career potential, but with Brad, she didn’t even have to work! She knew he had his rough edges but she believed she had the ability to provide him with the comfort and kindness that would smooth out their relationship. Soon, he would have no reason to be cross!

She had wanted life to be easy. She had ignored her mother’s warning, If you marry for money, you’ll earn every cent.

And that’s what Lacey was doing right now, defending a man who would beat a woman. Defending him because she thought that man held her perfect future in his checkbook. She was denying his character was dangerous because she had plans! Her plans included her dream life as the daughter of a semi-famous surgeon and it was wrong of her parents to mess it up with their bickering.

Lauren knew that she had been nearly the same way when she was younger. And she’d been managing to do exactly what Lacey was doing