“Your mother has been difficult since the engagement.”
I blinked.
“Difficult?”
“You questioned everything,” she snapped. “The venue, the flowers, the guest list—”
“I asked why Daniel’s aunt wasn’t invited,” I said. “And why your cousin, who Daniel had never met, was giving a speech.”
Her cheeks turned red.
“This is exactly what I mean. You always make it about you.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Mom, what was in the envelope?”
I held my purse more closely.
“A wedding gift.”
“What gift?”
I hesitated.
Vanessa answered for me.
“Probably another guilt check.”
Something hardened in Daniel’s expression.
“Mom?”
I met his eyes.
“The lake house.”
The entire parking lot seemed to go silent.
Daniel whispered, “Grandma and Grandpa’s lake house?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you said you could never sell it.”
“I wasn’t selling it,” I replied. “I was giving it to you.”
Vanessa’s posture immediately changed.
