Chapter 14 - Vanessa Finally Asked Elena the Question She Should Have Asked Before the Wedding
Almost two years after the champagne incident, Vanessa invited Elena to lunch.
Not at a Whitmore property.
That was intentional.
Small French restaurant.
Vanessa paid her own bill.
Elena paid hers.
Halfway through lunch Vanessa asked:
“Did you ever actually want me in the family?”
Elena put down her fork.
The question deserved:
more than diplomacy.
“Yes.”
Vanessa watched her.
“Always?”
“No.”
Vanessa almost smiled.
“When did that change?”
“Before the wedding, I wanted Daniel happy more than I cared whether I understood you.”
“That isn’t the same as wanting me.”
“No.”
Elena continued.
“After the wedding, I disliked you.”
“Fair.”
“Then I watched you apologize to people who couldn’t give you anything in return.”
Vanessa’s expression softened.
“That mattered.”
Elena nodded.
“And I realized I had reduced you too.”
“To what?”
“The rich bride.”
“The controlling daughter-in-law.”
“The woman who stole my son.”
Vanessa winced.
Elena continued.
“You are responsible for what you did.”
“Yes.”
“But you are more than the worst ten minutes of your wedding.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
Then she asked:
“Do you forgive me?”
Elena thought.
“Yes.”
Vanessa looked surprised.
Elena added:
“That does not mean I think what happened was small.”
“I know.”
Then Vanessa said:
“I forgive you too.”
Elena raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t ask.”
Vanessa laughed.
“I know.”
Elena laughed too.
For the first time, being together did not feel like:
a negotiation over Daniel.
It felt like:
May you like
two women who had finally stopped using him as a border.
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