Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111732 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111732 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
I’m too stunned to speak for a long moment. “Okay, well,” I finally murmur. “I’ll let you delude yourself about that in the name of motherly love. But regardless, I think we can both agree that Max and I would be a total non-starter, regardless, now that you and my father are dating.”
Gigi looks perplexed. “I don’t think that matters. Do you really?”
I’m floored. “Of course, I do. Who knows what will happen with you and my father, but you and Dad have dibs here. If you two wind up in a serious relationship, Max and I would be kind of like step-siblings. Maybe even actual step-siblings one day. We couldn’t possibly get together in that situation.”
Gigi snorts. “You and Max are adults. No matter what happens, it’s not like Henry and I would raise our children together under one roof, as one family. This isn’t The Brady Bunch. I honestly think you’re looking for reasons not to give Max a chance.”
“Max doesn’t want to be given a chance, Gigi. Trust me on that. Not in terms of what I’m looking for, which is something more than a casual fling. He literally told me today he doesn’t like me.”
Gigi looks shocked. “Really? How rude of him. Why on earth would Max say something like that to you?”
“It was well deserved.”
“Well, that can’t be true,” she says. “You’re a wonderful person.”
“No, I’m not. I’m a terrible person, actually. The worst.”
Gigi laughs. “In what way?”
I’m feeling drunk by now, which is probably why I’m feeling the thumping urge to confess my sins to Gigi, the way she confessed her sins to me.
“Have you robbed a bank?” Gigi asks.
I shake my head.
“Are you a bad mother to Ripley?”
“No. I’m a good mother. Not perfect, but very good.”
“Well, I can plainly see you’re a good daughter and friend, too. And from what your father’s told me, you’re an exceptionally gifted chef, as well.”
I can’t take it anymore. “Remember Mr. BDE?” I blurt. “The guy I was dating who turned out to be married?”
Gigi gasps. “You got involved with him again, even though you knew he was married?”
I lean back into the couch and pinch the bridge of my nose. “I figured out he’s your ex-husband, Geraldine. Max’s father. That’s why I can’t be with Max, ever, ever, ever. Because I’ve slept with his fucking father.”
When I dare to look at Gigi, her jaw is practically in her lap. “Mr. BDE is . . . Alexander?” When I nod, she processes that for a moment. “So . . . you were pissed to find out Alexander is married, so you befriended his ex-wife and had sex with his son as some kind of revenge?”
I burst into sloppy, drunken tears. “No, I promise it’s all been one horrible coincidence after another—the universe’s way of punishing me for being a horrible person. I saw a photo of Alexander in Max’s kitchen the morning after I met him at Captain’s. I swear on Ripley I had no idea he was Alexander’s son before then. And I had no idea until today you were Alexander’s first wife and Max’s mother. I saw your photo pop up on Max’s phone when you called him this afternoon, and I put two and two together then.”
In a non-stop ramble of sloppy words, I tell Gigi everything about how I bolted on Max a year and a half ago without telling him about my discovery. And then, about how I did basically the same thing again today after seeing her face on Max’s phone. And when I’m finally done talking, Geraldine does something that takes me by complete surprise. The same thing Lucy did when she first heard about all of this. She laughs. Heartily. The kind of belly laugh that has her throwing her head back and wiping tears.
“It’s not funny,” I insist. “It’s evidence that I’m a horrible person.”
“How?” Gigi asks. “It sounds like a comedy of errors to me.”
“It was until I hooked up with Max again today after knowing Alexander is his father.”
“Oh. Yeah. That was kind of bad of you.”
“It was very, very bad of me.”
Gigi ponders that. “Looks like we’re both going to have to come clean, huh? Like you said, honesty is the best policy.”
“But . . . I’m not dating Max, like you’re dating my father. Do I really need to be honest with someone I’ve only casually messed around with?”
Gigi flashes me a motherly look of disappointment. “Marnie.”
“Maybe you could tell him for me?” I squeak out.
“No, you’re going to have to do it,” she declares. “I’m sure Max has been deeply confused this whole time about why you ran out on him. I don’t think he’s accustomed to that. I know he’s my son, but I’m well aware he’s a lady killer.” She pats my hand. “Honey, I’m dating your father and things are going really well. The odds are high you’re going to have to interact with Max in the future, if only at family events. You need to do the right thing by him and tell him the truth, the same way I need to do the right thing by Henry.”