Meadow. What would the girl like? Olivia had no idea. Well, she still had plenty of time until Christmas. She’d figure out what to get later.
“That was fun, Mom. Thanks,” Brooke said as they walked back into the lodge, laden with packages.
“Yes, it was,” Olivia agreed. The words were barely out of her mouth when she caught sight of Meadow on the first stair landing, looking down at them, the hurt plain on her face.
Oh, no. Olivia could feel her cheeks go hot with shame. She should have asked Meadow to join them.
Meadow whirled around and vanished down the hall and Olivia was aware of Brooke looking at her with concern. “I’d better ditch your father’s present before he returns from his errands,” Olivia said and beat a hasty retreat. There was going to be fallout from this.
Sure enough, she was barely done putting away her purchases when her son came to the apartment looking for her. It didn’t take a psychic to know why he was there.
She gave him a kiss and forestalled the unpleasant conversation by asking if he’d like a cup of coffee.
“No, thanks.” He wasn’t smiling.
“Were you and Eric able to fix those burned-out lights on the trees out front?” A silly question. She’d seen the two firs out front when she and Brooke returned and all the lights had been working fine.
“Yeah. Mom.”
Here it came. Olivia retreated to her kitchenette in search of coffee, Muffin, the cat, following in the hope of getting more cat food.
“Meadow’s feeling left out. She’d like to have gone shopping with you and Brooke.”
They should have gone back and invited Meadow. Wicked Mother-in-Law of the Year, that was her.
“It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, dear, and she was nowhere in sight.” Olivia took a mug from the cupboard, keeping her back turned to her son.
“Would you have asked her if she was?”
She wasn’t that awful. “Of course.”
He frowned. “Mom, I know you don’t like her.”
Olivia focused her attention on putting a pod in her Keurig. “Don’t be silly. Of course I like her.” Oh, what a whopper.
“Is that why every time you smile at her, you look like you’ve got gas?”
“Don’t be crude.”
The scold didn’t sidetrack him. “You spend time with Brooke. You’ve got her doing a lot of stuff around here. Meadow could help, too.”
Ah, now here she at least had a leg to stand on. “She did on Thanksgiving Day, and I had her help decorate on Saturday.” Not content with being a handicap in the kitchen on Thanksgiving, Meadow had managed to drop a box of imported glass balls the day they decorated, breaking several. She’d been quick to point out that they hadn’t been very well packed. “Really, Brandon, what more do you want?” Olivia hoped he’d realize that was a rhetorical question.
He moved to her side and put a hand on her arm. “I want you to give her a chance. Can you do that, Mom? For me?”
Of course, she had to. If she didn’t, she’d lose her son. She turned to face him. “I’ll try. But honestly, I don’t know what you saw in this girl,” she couldn’t help adding.
His eyes narrowed and a muscle in his jaw twitched. “Try harder—then maybe you’ll see.”
Okay, she deserved that. Even so, her son’s displeasure stung. She managed a nod.
Brandon’s expression softened. “She’s got a good heart, Mom, and she really wants to be part of the family.”
“I want her to be, too.” Another lie, but at this moment honesty would not be the best policy.
“Good, because otherwise it’s probably not going to work out for us to be here.”
The ultimatum made her blink, but she knew she shouldn’t be surprised by it. When it came to picking sides, a wise man sided with his wife. Sad for her, but that was how it should be. What God has put together, let no mother-in-law put asunder.
Anyway, a man shouldn’t have to choose. It was wrong of her to put her son in that position. “Darling, I really will make more of an effort, I promise,” she said with tears in her eyes. The thought of him leaving so soon after he’d decided to move back in with them was not one she wanted to consider.
He came around the counter and hugged her. “Thanks, Mom. I knew I could count on you.”
Theoretically. So far she hadn’t been very reliable. And that was hardly to her credit.
“I don’t think she’s got a good relationship with her mom,” he continued. “She could use someone in her corner.”
He was right. Olivia would do better. She’d try harder. “Maybe Meadow would like to help with breakfast. We only have a few guests checking in later today, so tomorrow will be easy.”
“Good idea,” he said, grinning.
That settled it, then. “Tell her to be in the kitchen tomorrow at six.”
“How about you tell her?”
After that moment in the lobby Olivia wasn’t particularly excited about facing her daughter-in-law, but she nodded. “All right.”
She didn’t exactly receive a warm welcome when she went to her son’s little suite at the opposite end of the lodge. The look Meadow gave her shot her back to an incident in her childhood when she and a friend had snubbed another little girl on the playground at lunch. The hurt had come off the child in waves and Olivia hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything the teacher said the whole rest of the afternoon. Those same waves were coming at her now.
“May I come in?” she asked.
Meadow nodded and moved aside, opening the door farther.
Olivia stepped in. The TV was on. Dr. Phil was working with a dysfunctional family. Olivia could almost hear him saying, You’re next, Mrs. Claussen. She cleared her throat. “Meadow, I’m sorry I didn’t think to invite you to come shopping with me today.” And sorry I didn’t want to think to!
Meadow studied the roses on the carpet. “It’s okay.”
Of course, it wasn’t, and the fact that Meadow was so quick to forgive only shone a spotlight on Olivia’s lack of kindness. “Maybe we can fit in an outing, just the two of us.” Penance.
Meadow’s gaze lifted and the gratitude Olivia saw in her daughter-in-law’s eyes made her feel small. “Yeah?”
“Yes. Meanwhile, I could use some help at breakfast tomorrow. Would you be up for that?”
The girl was beaming now. “Sure. What time?”
“We start serving at seven, so I need you in the kitchen
