Page 98 of Anyone But the Superstar

‘And when things got rocky between us, I should’ve fought for our marriage instead of ignoring my problems.’ She smiles sadly. ‘I wasn’t as brave as you.’

‘Me?’ I sit up on my elbow. ‘Brave?’

‘Oh yes.’ Her smile deepens. ‘I’ve always looked at you in awe as you sat at the dinner table, fighting your entire childhood for our family to get along. I was amazed by how you were mature enough to hold back but brave enough to move forward at just the right times.’ She stretches her hand out, capturing mine and squeezing it. ‘And when you set off for a whole year without the security of the Moore name or your inheritance behind you and still managed to blossom into the capable, strong woman you are…’

Her pink lips twist to the side. ‘Your brothers thought I didn’t want them chasing after you because I felt guilty.’ She tilts her head as if considering. ‘And maybe there’s some truth to that.’ She squeezes my hand again. ‘But I also wanted to give you space. Not because it was the easy thing to do, because it was most definitely the hardest, but because I respected your choice to leave, the choice I could never make.’ She lets go, lines creasing her normally smooth forehead. ‘Even though it killed me not to talk to you. Not to explain.’

I scoot forward, retaking her hand, waiting for her to continue.

But just when I think she’s said as much as she can, she clears her throat with a delicate cough. ‘I met your father, yourrealfather, after I finished hosting a charity luncheon. One of the many charity lunches I kept myself busy with once I became aware of Stanley’s affairs.’ Her sigh is half self-recrimination, half weary acceptance. ‘I was sitting in the hotel bar when he came in, looking handsome but a little unkempt with his tie hanging crooked and his hair windswept and uncombed.’ A small, wistfulsmile plays on her lips. ‘He was so unlike the men I grew up with. So passionate and real.’

I’m shocked by how young my mother looks remembering the moment. Her eyes bright, her cheeks flushed.

‘Though he had only stopped in the bar to wait for his room to be ready, we ended up spending the whole afternoon talking. He was in New York on business, his first trip away from his daughter after his wife had passed away from cancer two years earlier.’

I flinch, pained by the idea of the sister I never knew losing her mother so young.

‘And after we talked…’ Mom’s slim shoulders lift, unable to say the words. ‘And later, when I realized I was pregnant with you, I chose to pretend he and I never happened. To keep living the life of Eleanor Moore, wife of Stanley Winston Moore, head of one of the most prominent families in New York, if not the country.’ The lines deepen between her brows. ‘I told myself that it was all for the best, but I never asked myself who it was the best for.’ Her eyes, now watery, meet mine. ‘And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for not telling you sooner. I’m sorry for so many things.’

Slipping my hand out of hers, I scramble to my knees and hug my mom.

Squeezing me tight, she whispers in my ear, ‘I love you and I’m of proud of you, and I’m so happy that you’re my daughter. You’re everything I always wished I could be, and you did that all on your own.’

Head on her shoulder, I let the minutes tick by as I play with the soft cashmere fabric of her cardigan. Because of course Eleanor Moore wears cashmere even in the humid hell of south-east Texas.

‘I’m not sure if I’m really all that you think I am, Mom.’ I bury my face in her sweater.

She leans back, holding my face to hers with both hands. ‘And why would you say that?’

‘Thomas is a brilliant businessman and Chase is a savvy investor, both of them not only running the family business, but making it more successful than it has been in years.’ I drop my eyes to her pearl necklace. ‘I’m just someone who can draw.’

‘First—’ she kisses both my cheeks before releasing me ‘—I want to say that I love all my children equally.However.’ She eyes me, looking every inch the socialite matron she is. ‘Thomas is a bit of a dick.’

I choke on my next breath.

‘And Chase, well, he’s ridiculous, really.’ She looks down at her t-shirt between her open cardigan, which, like Mary, is flipped half Mike Hunt, half King Dick Moore. ‘And he has been an unfortunate influence on you and your sense of humor.’

We share a smile.

‘So don’t think—’ Mom reaches up, brushing back the hair escaping from my ponytail ‘—that just because they have good business sense that they are somehow more successful or better than you.’

Her words reach a part of me that has been lame and wounded since I found out I didn’t share 100 per cent of my brothers’ DNA.

Mom’s lips press together, a slight twitch on one corner. ‘And I’d pay serious money to see either one of them try and make it a whole year without their inheritance. Because don’t forget, Thomas was handed the business simply by being born first. And Chase’s principal investment came from his inheritance, even though he paid it back with the profits.’ She cups my cheek once more. ‘You, my dear sweet girl, walked away from all of that privilege to take on college loans and work part-time jobs, all so that you could be true to who you are and hone your extremelyimpressive artistic talent.’ She exhales a soft laugh. ‘Could you even imagine Thomas or Chase doing that?’

The question conjures up an image of Thomas and Chase leading one of my yoga classes, making me chuckle.

She laughs with me. ‘Thomas would’ve been fired for calling a customer an idiot.’

‘Oh my God.’ I laugh harder. ‘I cansosee that.’

‘And Chase would’ve spent all his money on trying to impress women rather than pay off tuition bills.’ She pauses, thinking over what she said. ‘That’s if Bell wasn’t in the picture.’

‘Alice too?’ I ask, thinking of the softening effect she has on Thomas.

Mom dismissing that idea with a wave of her hand. ‘Even with Alice’s saintly influence, Thomas still calls people idiots.’ She heaves a long sigh, the sequins on her t-shirt catching the light. ‘George is forever earning his yearly bonuses by smoothing things over for him.’

I chuckle again thinking of Thomas’ long-suffering secretary.

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