“I didn’t tell her I met Milos.” Her mother shut her eyes. “I suppose I just loved my father so much, and once I met Milos, I realized that maybe my father was always my mother’s second choice. It felt disloyal to pass on the message from Milos. I guess I was punishing her. It was terrible, I see that now. I was terrible.”

Joey didn’t quite have a response for that.

“You know, Joey.” Her mother sighed. “There’s this quote by Diane von Furstenberg. I read it once in Oprah’s magazine. Oprah asked Diane who her hero was, and Diane said, Most people, because most people are just doing their best.”

Joey didn’t know what to say. She wanted to say something kind. She really did want to. But instead she said, “So you’re saying you’re a hero?”

“I know I can’t win with you, Joey,” said her mother quietly. “You’ve made that clear. I’m just saying I’m human. I’ve made mistakes.”

“You’ve made a lot of mistakes.”

“Indeed, I have.” Her mother took a cherry from the bowl. She swirled the stem around in her fingertips. “But I’m hoping it’s not too late to make some of them right.”

Joey’s head was going to combust. It felt like a thousand years since she’d slept. She said, “Take care of G, please. I need to head home.”

She was halfway to the door when her mother said, “Joey, do you hate me?”

Joey stopped before the entry to the foyer. “Oh.” She closed her eyes. When she opened them, the only sound was that of her mother tapping her nails on the table. “I don’t hate you, Mom. No. But what hurts the most is feeling a little bit like you loved Lily more than me.”

“What…Joey, what in the world are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about.” Joey chewed on her lip. “You knew that Leo had found out about your affair. And Leo’s condition for keeping your secret was that you and Rand couldn’t be together anymore, but no…still you went to Taverna Salto like a couple! And then Leo ended it with me, and you knew why. For so many years after, I was broken, and you knew it. You could have protected me.”

“Jo—”

“No! You could have done something to prioritize me. Tried to figure it out. Tried to help me. It just feels like…it just feels like maybe you didn’t love me enough to do that.”

Her mother stared out the window onto the lawn. “Joey, I regret so many things, but trust me, sweetheart, not loving you enough isn’t one of them. Fifteen years ago, well, I was just trying to do the right thing.”