As Daphne sat down next to Holly at the bar and ordered her drink, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. Though she had only started getting to know Holly recently, she already was more comfortable with Holly than with most of the people she’d had in her life before.

  Daphne also could not ignore the pit of anxiety in her gut, knowing that inevitably, Holly would want to talk about her mother. Still, Daphne took a big swig of her drink in hopes of easing the burden of talking about her mother twice in one day, and to hopefully soften the blow, should Holly choose not to believe in Daphne’s stories about her mother.

  Daphne looked over at Holly, who was giving a dirty look. Daphne gulped and felt her heart jump into her throat. She laughed nervously unsure how to respond to Holly’s look.

  Holly’s face broke out into a smile, and she gently elbowed Daphne in the ribs, not enough to hurt, but just enough for Daphne to know that Holly was being playful and joking.

  Only some of the tension loosened in Daphne. She still felt as taut as a string on an instrument.

  “I know you and I are still getting to know one another,” Holly started, “But honestly, when your mother showed up yesterday, I couldn’t help but be surprised that you had never mentioned before that your mother was the famous Kimberly Woods.”

  Daphne shrugged, thankful that her friend was approaching the issue more delicately than others had in the past. “To be honest,” she stated, “I’ve been on bad terms with my mother for a couple of years now, so we have only recently started talking again.”

  Recently doesn’t even explain how recent it was, Daphne added to herself.

  Holly narrowed her eyes and looked at Daphne out of the corner of her eyes. “It’s hard for me to believe that Kimberly Woods, who’s been both on local and national television multitudes of times, has her name plastered on so many buildings throughout this town, been invited to national ribbon cuttings, and is a famous gardener who started out poor but made it to be the top gardener in the world, is on bad terms with one of her children.”

  Daphne’s heart sunk in her chest. It seems I’ve already lost this battle to my mother. Maybe it was a waste of time to come here and meet up with Holly after all.

  Holly seemed to notice the subtle change of Daphne’s expression. Holly’s furrowed her brow. “Is it all a fa?ade then?” Holly asked.

  Daphne had been looking down into the pool of alcohol in her glass, but her head snapped up at Holly’s words.

  Holly’s face looked triumphant. It was as though she had been expecting Daphne to react the way she had.

  “It is,” Daphne replied. “Or, at least, most of it is a fa?ade. Probably not all of it.”

  Daphne studied Holly’s face closely as Holly reacted to Daphne’s words. Holly narrowed her eyes, and Daphne still wasn’t quite sure if Holly believed her or not.

  Daphne chewed on her tongue a little and swallowed hard, unsure of what to say. I’ve never successfully convinced anyone that my mother is as bad as she is. I really ought to tread carefully.

  “What is she really like then?” Holly asked.

  Daphne had to purse her lips as to not let a smile burst through.

  “Do you mind if I tell you a few stories?” Daphne asked. “It’s really hard to portray how she really is without going into detail.”

  “Sure, that’s fine,” Holly replied before taking a sip of her drink.

  Daphne let out a heavy, shaky sigh. “I guess one story is the reason I didn’t talk to her for two years…Which is how she acted at my father’s funeral. I suppose I should give you a little background into their relationship first though,” Daphne said, scratching the top of her head. She glanced over at Holly.

  Holly nodded, suggesting Daphne could continue.

  Daphne took a quick sip of her drink before continuing. I’ll need some liquid courage to get through this.

  “My father bent over backwards for my mother,” Daphne began. “He did everything for her. If she wanted it, then you bet everything that he did it for her. If it was her life goal, he went all out to help her achieve it. It did not seem to matter to him how much he or us kids had to sacrifice, so long as Kimberly Woods got what she wanted.” Daphne sighed, shaking her head at her father’s foolishness and taking another swig of her drink before continuing.

  “You’re right that my family used to be poor. We were poor primarily because there was four children, and we were living off the meager money my father made at that point. My mother refused to get a job, and to this day, I’m not sure why she didn’t try to get one. It wasn’t until I was six years old that she really seemed to take gardening seriously. She got the lion’s share of any extra money we had, even if that meant her children were wearing tattered and holey clothes to school. She had always been trying to grow plants at home while my dad worked, but she realized that she could start trying to earn money by participating in contest that cost money to enter.” Daphne shook her head before continuing.

  “My dad had to start working overtime in order to pay for her entry fees, and even in those early days, my mother wasn’t exactly a good homemaker. Instead, us kids were tasked with taking care of each other, and the house, which was difficult for us. And there were plenty of times that we weren’t sure if we were going to have enough food to make it to my father’s next paycheck because of how close to the wire my mother was spending.”

  Daphne took stock of Holly’s reaction to the words she was saying. Holly was shaking her head and grimacing. Daphne’s heart skipped a beat. I don’t know if her reaction is good or not.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Despite his flaws,” Daphne continued, “I loved my father dearly because he was really the only parent that paid attention to us kids. He never chose favorites and tried to treat us equally, unless my mother intervened. So when he passed away, I was devastated.” Daphne had to pause and swallow hard to clear the knot in her throat. It had been so long since she had thought about her father.

  “My mother was positively jovial at his funeral,” Daphne continued. “She didn’t cry. She didn’t even speak about his life, she chose not to. I saw her flirting with another man immediately afterwards, and she completely admonished me for bring the wrong flowers.” Daphne thought of the yellow mums that she had saw moments before her death. They were the flowers that she should’ve brought. “I just couldn’t help but feel as though her behavior was inappropriate and disrespectful to my father, on top of all of the other issues she and I were having, so I stopped talking to her at that point.”

  Daphne looked over at Holly again, who’s eyes were as large as saucers. “I totally agree with you,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine acting that way at my husband’s funeral. Especially if he gave up pretty much everything for me.”

  Daphne nodded, her heart soaring at Holly’s words. “Right before my father passed away, he confided in me that he believed she may have had an affair at some point. I don’t know if she did or not, but I kept hearing those words in my mind at his funeral.”

  Holly whistled. “What a thing to drop on your child right before you die.”

  Daphne pursed her lips and nodded. “That wasn’t that uncommon in my family, though,” she said. “My mother once told me that she should have dropped me off at an orphanage because of how much I misbehaved.”

  Holly’s jaw dropped and she shook her head. “I can’t imagine telling my son that. I guess who people are on TV and who they actually are, have always been two different things,” she said. “When I was growing up and I saw your mother on TV, I was envious of whoever her children were, because I thought she would be the perfect mom.” Holly rubbed her forehead. “But I would take my own childhood, being poor and having a loving mother, over someone like your mom.”

  Daphne blinked at Holly a few times. “…you…you believe me?” she asked, feeling a little lighthearted at the thought.

  “Of course I believe you,” Holly replied. “Why would you lie to me? Obviously, you were hiding who your mother was for a reason. I could have never imagined the reason was something like this.” Holly shook her head again. “If all of that is true, you have some serious blackmail material on your mother. You could literally destroy her life and her public image.”

  Daphne took a drink of her alcohol. “I never thought of it that way,” she said with a shrug. “I’ve pretty much always just wanted as little to do with her as possible.”

  Holly nodded. “Totally understandable,” she said.

  “Still,” Daphne said, staring down into her glass of alcohol, as the ice melted a little, tinkling the glass. “To have you believe me…” she shook her head, feeling the familiar pinprick of tears filling her eyes.

  “Has no one ever believed you before?” Holly asked, surprised.

  “Never,” Daphne murmured softly. “My mother has a very good personality in the public eye, so it’s hard for people to believe that’s not who she always is. She’s such a charming person in that way.”

  Holly sighed. “No wonder you’ve never had any friends, and never lived.” She shook her head. “Take a shot of your drink, Daph,” she commanded.

  Daphne complied, feeling the alcohol burn against the tightness in her throat. “I appreciate you as a friend even more than I did before this conversation,” Daphne murmured. She sighed heavily, feeling the alcohol coursing through her, making her feeling much more lighthearted than the topic of conversation should have her feeling. “But enough about me,” Daphne said, looking over at Holly. “How are things going with you and your husband?”

  Holly let out a small giggle. “Things are going really well for us,” she said, flicking a braid off her shoulder. “We’ve been talking about maybe having another baby!”

  Daphne felt her eyes go wide and her mouth drop a little. “Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed. “That’s so exciting! Congratulations!”

  “Oh stop,” Holly said, with a coy smile. “There are no congratulations in order yet.”

  “You’ll let me know when you know, right?” Daphne asked, raising her eyebrows.

  “Of course,” Holly said, smiling warmly.

  Daphne let out a little giggle of her own. “Oh, I’m so excited for you!” she exclaimed.

  In spite of her genuine excitement for her friend, Daphne felt her mouth drying, and her stomach twisting around inside of her. When it is going to be my turn to be happy?

  “What about you and Asher?” Holly asked, switching the conversation back to Daphne. “Seems like there might be something going on between the two of you…” Holly squiggled her eyebrows at Daphne.

  Daphne felt her face heating up. Shit. Are my feelings really that obvious that Holly thinks that there is something going on between us?

  “There’s nothing going on,” Daphne replied, pursing her lips.

  Holly gave her a flirty look. “Are you trying to start something with him then?” she asked.

  Daphne let out a short laugh. “Not at this point,” she said. “Not since I just got out of that relationship with my ex.”

  Holly pouted at Daphne. “Were you really in a relationship with that…Gerald or whatever his name was? Or was it a relationship in name only?”

  Daphne let out a laugh at Holly botching Gary’s name. “What do you mean by a relationship in name only?”

  “Oh, you know,” Holly said, waving her hands. “Acting as if you were in a relationship with him and not doing relationship things. Was there physical affection? Did you feel like you could rely on him and talk to him about your problems and your everyday life? Did you sleep with him?”

  Daphne nearly choked on her alcohol on the last question, feeling herself flush all the way down to her neck. She cleared her throat before answering. “No…” she answered. “To all of those questions.”

  Holly shrugged at her. “What about after you guys broke up? Did you miss him at all?”

  Daphne thought back. She shook her head. “No, I’m pretty sure I was more upset about having to start over.”

  “Sounds like it was a relationship in name only, to me, then,” Holly said.

  Daphne felt weak and dizzy from Holly’s statement. Was it really that shallow of a relationship, all this time? Was I really betting that I could save and be happy from an empty shell of a relationship?

  She shook her head slowly at Holly. “I guess I never looked at it that way,” Daphne said.

  Holly nodded rapidly a few times. “Relationships are a two-way street,” she said. “You’re supposed to get out at least some of the effort you are putting in.”

  Was the benefit to me of being with Gary that low? Even though Daphne hoped the opposite was true, she could feel a small corner of her heart suggesting to her that she really had gotten nearly nothing out of her relationship with Gary.

  “So, in that case, I’d say you should pursue Asher if you like him,” Holly said. “It seems as though he might feel the same way about you.”

  Daphne’s heart skipped a beat. “You think so?” she asked.

  Holly looked at her sternly. “Absolutely,” she replied.

  Daphne felt her face heat up again. “I’ll consider it, then,” she said.

  “Please do,” Holly said. “It seems like you’ve spent a lot of your life being unhappy, so it would be lovely to see you happy, for once.”

  Daphne let out a small giggle, as her heart ached painfully in her chest. “Thank you,” she said.

  Despite realizing that her relationship with Gary may have been more empty than she realized, Daphne couldn’t help but feel a bit hopeful at the idea of allowing herself to experience her growing feelings for Asher without reproach.

  And if I’m lucky…. maybe Holly is right, and he will feel the same way as me.