Page 86 of Meant to Be

She put the tray down, and said, “We don’t have limes, but should I get some salt?”

“Nah,” Joe said. “Let’s keep it simple.”

“I like your style,” she said as she handed him a “Big Apple” glass, gave me one with a British flag, and took a Vegas glass for herself.

“To having shitty mothers!” she said, raising her glass. “And lest you think I’m not in the club, Joe, mine is the shittiest of them all!”

I was taken aback that she’d just gone there with Dottie. “Joe’s mother isn’t shitty,” I said.

“Neither is yours,” Joe said to me. “But they both messed up.”

He then raised his glass. I followed suit, and the three of us threw back our tequila, returning the glasses to the tray in unison.

“So. Do you guys think I should call my mom?” I asked, glancing at the cordless phone resting on the end table next to me.

“Are you sure you’re ready for that?” Joe said in a gentle voice.

I nodded, thinking the shot had helped.

“Okay,” he said. “But don’t be too hard on her. She just made a mistake.”

“I disagree,” Elna said. “This was more than amistake. It was totally unacceptable.” She shifted her gaze to me and said, “Let herhaveit.”

“Whoa,” Joe said with a chuckle. “Elna, remind me never to get on your bad side!”

“Just don’t get onCate’sbad side, and you and I will be just fine.” Elna was smiling, like it was a joke, but I knew better, and I could tell Joe did, too.

He gave her a solemn nod, then said, “I promise.”

I took a deep breath, picked up the phone, and dialed my old home number. As I listened to it ring, I visualized the seventies green wall phone in the kitchen, willing my mom to answer it before Chip could pick it up. Instead, I heard his loathsome voice in my ear:Toledano residence.

“Hi, Chip. It’s Cate,” I said as calmly as I could, even as every muscle in my body tensed. “Is my mother there?”

“Yes. But she can’t come to the phone right now.”

My jaw clenched tighter. It was possible that she reallywasn’tavailable, but it was far more likely that she was standing right there, and he just wanted to control the situation.

“Okay,” I said. “Will you please tell her to call me as soon as possible? I need to discuss something with her.”

“Discusswhat?”

I took a breath and said, “Were you aware that my mother talked to theNational Enquirer?”

“Yep. I am aware,” Chip said proudly.

In that second, I knew he’d had his hand in this. Hell, he probably called the paper himself.

I took a deep breath to steady myself, but my voice still shook as I said, “So how much did they pay you?”

“Oh, it was a nice little chunk of change,” Chip gloated.

I bit my lip so hard it hurt as my mind raced for a retort.“Well, that wasn’t very smart of you,” I finally said. “If you had held out just a little longer, maybe a few more months, until Joe and I were evenmoreserious than we are now, that information would have been worth a lot more.”

Satisfying silence filled the airwaves.

“And also, fun fact: everyone knows theNational Enquirerdoesn’t pay as much as, say,Peoplemagazine. But, oh well! Live and learn—”

Before I could finish my sentence, Chip had hung up on me, confirming my victory. I put the phone down and exhaled.

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