“You were the one who told me your mother is wary of well-off women. You said she thinks successful women look down on their in-laws and act superior. So I decided to see how you’d behave if you thought I was just an ordinary woman without money or connections.”
Allison laughed out loud and clapped once. The sudden sound made Tanya’s kids jump. “Honestly? That’s not a bad test,” she said through a grin.
“I might have done the same thing. These days people don’t look at character first. They look at the house, the car, the title on the business card. You found a way to see what mattered to people before any of that got in the way.”
Lydia suddenly started crying—not loudly, not theatrically, just real tears she wiped away with the edge of her apron. “Lord, and I kept pushing rolls at her,” she said in dismay.
“I thought, poor thing, skinny little thing, all alone.” She looked up at Marianne with red eyes that now held no suspicion at all, only warmth. “I’m sorry. I really did think life was hard for you and that you needed help.”
Marianne immediately went over, crouched beside her, and took her work-worn hands in both of hers. “Lydia, I’m not offended at all,” she said sincerely. “You treated me in a way very few people treat a woman they think is struggling.
You fed me, worried about me, welcomed me into your home like family. That means a lot to me.” Andrew was still standing in the middle of the kitchen as if his shoes had been glued to the floor.
“So you let me believe that for seven months?” he finally said. “I didn’t lie,” Marianne answered evenly. “I just didn’t tell you everything. Those are not the same thing.
I never once said I had no money. I just didn’t volunteer that I did.” He dragged both hands over his face.
“I told my mom you were struggling but proud. I said I was going to help you. I told her I’d take on more, maybe even borrow if I had to so you’d have a better place to live.” He looked at her, thoroughly shaken.
“And all this time you’ve had your own place near downtown. Two bedrooms. Paid off. Bought before prices jumped. All on your own.”
Tanya snorted, then gave in and laughed. “We were over here ladling out soup and saying, ‘Eat, honey, you’re too thin,’ and meanwhile she probably eats at nicer places than any of us have ever been to.”
Allison winked at her niece. “She’s taken me to a few, and yes, she usually grabs the check before I can.”
Lydia wiped away the last of her tears and, to everyone’s surprise, smiled. “Well, would you look at that. I was worried Andrew would marry some gold-digger after our money…”
