Marianne returned to the dining room with a warm smile and a tray in hand. The aroma of freshly baked garlic bread mingled with the lingering scent of the soup, filling the space with a comforting familiarity. She placed the basket on the table and straightened, brushing her hands on her apron.
"So," she asked, a hopeful glint in her eyes, "did your beau apologise?"
lody blinked, startled by the question. Then, shaking her head slowly, she gave her mother a confused look, her hands clenched under the table. "That was Collins..."
Marianne paused mid-motion, frowning. "Collins? Who is that? I thought I saw Adam’s na flashing on the screen."
lody hesitated for a fraction of a second before shaking her head. " It was. Collins. Mr Collins. lanie’s husband."
The effect was imdiate. Marianne’s expression shifted from mild confusion to complete astonishnt, her brows shooting up before her whole face lit up with delight, completely distracting her from Adam’s matter to lanie’s.
"Her husband? I had read about her being married!" she gasped, sliding into her seat. "Was he the one you were planning to talk to? Did you talk to him? What did he say? Is she willing to talk to us and et us? Tell , tell —is it good news?"
lody drew in a breath and leaned back slightly, her shoulders tense beneath her blouse. The excitent in her mother’s voice was hard to match and lody felt even more tensed. If she told her mother about his request, she knew they would not hesitate. And she might have no way out...
"Yes, I talked to him," she said carefully, picking up a slice of garlic bread though she didn’t bite into it. "And... I don’t know yet if he has spoken to lanie or not.. He said he wants to et you and Dad first. Before lanie does."
Marianne looked puzzled. "Why? What does he need to speak to us about? Is lanie unwilling"
lody hesitated, then gave the only answer that wouldn’t raise more questions. "He wants to understand a few things. Before she gets involved. I think... it matters to him that everything is clear."
Marianne nodded slowly, absorbing that, her fingers lacing over the table. "That makes sense. I like that. Protective. Serious. A good sign, don’t you think? I can’t believe my little baby already has a husband. It would be a double celebration, wouldn’t it? lanie returning to the family with her husband. I’ll talk to your father tonight and then you can arrange a eting for us and Collin."
lody managed a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Her mind was already racing with the next problem. If Adam t them, the risk of everything unraveling would only grow...
While her mother lost in thought of eting lanie, etc, lody sent a quick ssage to the casting agency, she needed to set up another eting with soone quickly so that her mother would not be doubtful about this...
"Mother, his na is also Adam."
Marianne frowned, and asked distractedly, "What was it you were saying, lody?"
But lody shook her head. She didn’t have the courage yet. So, instead she looked at her mother and asked," Why don’t you tell a little bit more about lanie, mother?"
Marianne grinned and gave lody’s hand a loving pat. Her eyes glead with mories as she leaned back in her chair, the garlic bread montarily forgotten. After so many years of silence, getting to talk about lanie—both her daughters together in the sa breath—felt like unlocking a part of herself she’d boxed away for too long.
"You know," she began, her voice soft, "the four-year-old girl we had back then was unusually calm. So quiet. You wouldn’t even know she was in the room half the ti because she never cried, never fussed. Just... there. Sitting on her own, flipping through books or lining up her little wooden animals with such care."
She chuckled, her eyes twinkling at the mory. "And then, there was you. Her two-year-old firecracker. A whirlwind with curls. While lanie could sit still for hours on end, completely content with her tiny tea set or sticker books, you were crawling across the house like a mission had been assigned to you. Grabbing everything in sight, making things fall, trying to pull yourself up on cabinets, yelling and crying when we tried to stop you."
lody smiled in spite of herself, the image forming in her mind with vivid clarity as she thought of this
"You never even spared your older sister," Marianne went on, laughing softly. "Whatever she had, you had to have it. And not just have it—hers, specifically. Even if the exact sa toy was lying next to you in a different colour, you’d reach out for the one in her hand and throw a fit if you didn’t get it. So much so that your father and I just started buying two of everything. Sa dolls, sa books, sa puzzles, sa cups."
She shook her head fondly. "But lanie never said a word. Not once did she complain or cry when you took her things. She’d just quietly move on to sothing else. Always like that, she was... too mature for her age, I suppose. And you, my naughty one—well, you would bawl your eyes out if she had sothing that even looked remotely different from yours. One ti she had a balloon in a different colour, and you scread so loudly, I think the neighbours thought we were under attack."
lody let out a small laugh, but her throat felt oddly tight. It seed she always did like what lanie had... even now she had started liking lanie’s husband.
Marianne unaware of her thoughts, gave a warm, wistful smile and reached for another slice of bread. "I used to joke with your father that if you had co first, I might never have dared to think of having two children child." She looked at lody, amused and affectionate. "But thank goodness I did. You two were such opposites—and yet, when you weren’t squabbling over silly things, you were inseparable. Like two ends of a string."
lody lowered her gaze, quietly absorbing that... had they really been so good?
"You must’ve been very proud of her," she said finally, not looking up, for the first ti feeling guilty about what all she was doing and feeling towards Adam.
Marianne nodded without hesitation. "Always. And I am proud of you too, sweetheart. I know things got complicated. But I see you trying now. That ans everything."
lody gave a tight smile. But deep down, the guilt was already beginning to rise. Because she wasn’t trying to reconnect with lanie. Not really. She was trying to prevent the whole lie from collapsing. And the more her mother smiled at her like that-the worse it felt.
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