Part 7 (2/2)
”You okay, sweetie?” Jill reached across the table and rested her hand on top of Megan's.
”How do you know he stole the pads? You could have been wrong.”
Jill sighed inwardly. ”No, actually, we caught him in the act.”
”Really?” Megan asked, hushed.
”He was caught in the bas.e.m.e.nt, taking old pads out of the box. We left them down there, out of the locked cabinet, to catch the bad guy. We even set up a hidden video camera, which was my idea. I never thought the bad guy would be my own husband.”
Megan set down her fork, stricken.
”It was a terrible thing he did, embarra.s.sing to me, and worse, it could have ruined me and all of the docs in our group. My colleagues, my friends. We could've lost our licenses.”
”He didn't have to go to jail, did he?”
”No.” Jill felt touched, and saddened, that Megan was still concerned for William. ”The group didn't report it, out of kindness to me, but I had to leave the practice and I paid back every penny he took. I was lucky to get work anywhere else, after all the gossip. That's why I took the job at Pembey Family. They were the only ones who made an offer.”
Megan blinked. ”Do you think he cheated on you?”
”I don't know, and I don't care.”
”Really, Mom?”
”Really.” Jill squared her shoulders. She didn't bother to explain that the betrayal was worse. The deception was worse. That she hadn't known what was going on under her own roof, under her very nose, that was worse. ”I want to be with a man I can trust and believe in. So I took some time alone, and finally met Sam. End of story. Or beginning.”
Megan c.o.c.ked her head, mulling it over. ”I think William had a dream, but it wasn't the dream you wanted.”
”Okay, we can agree to disagree on that one.” Jill swallowed hard, knowing it was time to stop, if only to save Megan's feelings. The unsayable thing, the thing she was about to say next, the real truth of the matter, was that Jill didn't think William ever really loved her, he just married her for her money and to have a mother for his children. But if Jill told Megan that, then Megan would conclude that William had never really loved her, either, that he had only acted as if he had, that she had been used, too. And Jill sensed that Megan couldn't handle hearing that, despite her middle-school savvy. She was only thirteen, and inside, just a kid.
Megan was eyeing her. ”What's your dream, Mom?”
Jill was happy to change the subject, and almost laughed with relief. ”You,” she answered.
Megan laughed, unexpectedly. ”No, really.”
”What? It's true. My dream is having a wonderful daughter, like you.” Tears came to Jill's eyes, surprising even her, and she blinked them away. ”I never dreamed I'd be so lucky. I don't know how I got so lucky.”
”But for you, what's your dream? Like they say, your pa.s.sion?”
”Other than you?”
”Yes.” Megan rolled her eyes, but Jill wouldn't let go.
”Honey, someday you'll understand this, but every mother's pa.s.sion is her children, and there's nothing wrong with that. People don't say it enough. I see it every day at work, in all the mothers doing everything they can to help their babies get well, in all the panicky calls and emails, in all the things mothers do for their kids.” Jill thought of Padma and her three sons, and her own mother. ”Women sacrifice every day for their children, and they love it. They do it without question, second nature. That's pa.s.sion.”
Megan smiled, but still looked searching. ”Okay, but before me. Before I was born, what was your pa.s.sion? Did you have a pa.s.sion then?”
Jill thought a minute. ”Okay, well, I guess I would say that my pa.s.sion was helping kids. That's why I became a pediatrician. I'm a professional mother now.”
Megan grinned. ”Uh-oh. Watch out.”
”I know, right?” Jill smiled at her, happy they were back on an even keel. ”Let me ask you now. What's your pa.s.sion? What do you love doing?”
Megan frowned, slightly. ”I don't know. Is that bad?”
”No, not at all. You're still young, and you'll know when you know. Like love, because it is a form of love. It could be swimming, or becoming a vet. You're great in the school plays, and your pa.s.sion can be acting or singing. That will be your life's work. Money isn't a life's work. Love is.”
Megan sighed. ”So what are you going to do about Abby?”
”What do you mean?” Jill had to switch gears.
”What if she's right that William was murdered?”
”She's not. The police say it's not murder, just a reaction to the drugs and alcohol. He had some whisky that night, and you can't mix those.”
”I remember he liked whisky sometimes, he let me taste it. Ugh.” Megan wrinkled her pretty nose. ”I didn't know he took drugs, though. What drugs?”
”They found drugs for anxiety and painkillers.”
”Was he on them when you guys were married?”
”No, I didn't think he was, but he was stealing samples and prescription pads. When I confronted him, he said he sold them, so I didn't think he was taking drugs himself. I was wrong, I guess.”
”Were those the samples he stole?”
”No, he stole ADHD drugs, like Ritalin.” Jill didn't have to explain because Megan knew about a scandal at the high school last year, with kids arrested for selling their Ritalin as a study drug.
”If you took those drugs with alcohol, do you get a heart attack?”
”Yes, you can.” Jill picked up her fork and stabbed her salad. ”It's possible, and it's not suspicious that they did.”
Megan looked down at her food, untouched, and Jill could see she was struggling.
”Honey, this talk of drugs and murder is Abby's way of not accepting that William is gone. The police say it wasn't murder, and Victoria agrees.”
Megan looked up, her eyes glistening again. ”But I still wish you'd do what Abby wants. Help her figure it out.”
”Why?” Jill asked, dismayed. ”She's wrong. She doesn't know what she's talking about.”
”Then help her figure that out, too. Don't you love her, anymore?”
”Yes, I do.”
”She loves you, Mom. She always did. She acted like you were her real mom. She told me once, she doesn't even remember her real mom.”
Jill didn't know what to say. Abby's real mother had died when she was only four, in a car accident. She'd had money, too, but Jill didn't want to go there, and this conversation was supposed to be about Megan. ”Did that bother you?”
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