The car came to a sudden halt. Alex, a serious young man, was not usually the type to offer a lift to strangers, especially a girl waving at the side of the road.
Alex’s charming and cozy home, where he lived with his mother, was nestled in a quaint village about 10 miles from the city. Spending summers there was pure joy for Alex. He’d leave for work around 7 AM, as the road was usually quiet, and the surrounding woods evoked pleasant thoughts and memories.
The girl ran up to the car and, smiling, peeked through the open window.
“Hello,” she sang cheerfully, “Can you give me a lift to the city?”
“Are you not afraid of getting into a car with a stranger in the middle of the woods?” Alex asked with an unintended smile.
“Why should I be afraid of you?” the girl replied. “You’ve got an expensive car and kind eyes. With eyes and a car like those, what harm could you wish on me?”
Alex laughed heartily. He hadn’t encountered such naïveté and honesty in a long time and honestly thought it had disappeared entirely from the world. Lucy was from the countryside, and she was open and trusting. When Alex proposed three weeks after their meeting, she agreed without hesitation. He seemed so stable and handsome to her.
“Just like Aunt Maggie predicted,” Lucy thought quietly to herself, holding Alex’s hand tightly and cautiously glancing at his mother, for whom the news of the upcoming event was akin to a mild earthquake.
After the wedding, Lucy and Alex moved into his city apartment. Country life wasn’t entirely convenient, and Alex’s mother wasn’t particularly fond of her daughter-in-law.
“I’m amazed, son,” Victoria often said when Alex visited her, “Was this country belle the only suitable choice you had?” She sighed and shook her impeccably styled hair.
Alex smiled, avoiding arguments with his mother. He didn’t want to explain how calm and content he felt in his small, cozy family. Victoria was a cold, reserved woman. For Alex, Lucy’s open, gentle nature was something akin to having both a mother and a wife.
Several years went by. Lucy and Alex had a delightful daughter, Mary. Lucy adored her, and even the grandmother began to warm up. She saw how Lucy loved and pampered her son, how wisely she raised their daughter. Although Victoria was a tough and somewhat cynical woman, she knew how to admit her mistakes.
Thus, Alex wasn’t surprised when one day, she replaced anger with kindness and invited Lucy and the granddaughter to stay in the country house for a few days.
“Alex, I’m afraid of her,” Lucy whined, trying to find any excuse not to visit her mother-in-law.
“She won’t eat you,” laughed Alex, gently kissing his wife on the neck.
“She will, she will,” moaned Lucy, “and use Mary as dessert. You’ll be left complaining and crying, but it will be too late,” she convincingly concluded, even shedding a tear for effect.
But nothing could stop them. Alex took the food basket from his wife, loaded cheerful, blue-eyed Mary into the car, seated his reluctant wife in the front seat, and the noisy family set off on their journey.
Victoria was genuinely pleased to see them. She smiled warmly at Lucy, who realized the feud was over.
Thus began their remarkable friendship. The relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law became closer and more trusting each day. Lucy returned to work, and Mary often stayed with Victoria, who read books to her, taught her to play the piano, and studied English with her. Victoria was a simultaneous interpreter, and the curious girl loved listening to her entertaining tales about foreign trips and fascinating encounters.
A few more years passed. One day, Lucy arrived at Victoria’s with Mary unannounced. Lucy had lost weight and seemed strangely tense and silent.
“Lucy, what’s wrong?” Victoria asked sympathetically, “You haven’t fallen ill, have you?”
But Lucy took a deep breath, sat down, and burst into tears.
“Alex hasn’t lived with us for six months,” Lucy finally managed through her tears. “He used to not come home sometimes, claiming he was working late. Then he started disappearing for days. He’d return, change clothes, kiss Mary, push me away, and leave again. At first, I thought he was having trouble at work.
We haven’t seen any money for nearly a year now, but it’s fine. I’m a nurse; I earn well enough. But then, one day, there was a knock at the door. I opened it, and there stood a beautiful, classy woman. Wearing a hat, carrying an expensive handbag—the kind you only see on TV,” Lucy calmed down slightly, took a breath, and continued.
“She told me, ‘You’re a nobody, and Alex deserves better. He’s moving in with me. You need to get out of the apartment and take that silly daughter of yours with you. We’ll have plenty to do without your ill-mannered girl.’
“I’m not silly and I’m very well-mannered,” young Mary suddenly declared, turning away in indignation. Victoria and Lucy hadn’t heard her quietly slip into the kitchen, where she had been listening to the adults’ conversation for several minutes.
“Of course you’re not silly,” Victoria affirmed, straightening up. “You’re a smart and well-brought-up girl. So, we’ll live together and take your mother along.”
Lucy wiped away a tear and looked at Victoria in surprise.
Yet, the iron-willed woman had made up her mind. And when Alex informed his mother that he was divorcing and hoped she would soon change the will for the house, she accepted it calmly and with dignity. The will had already been changed, after all.
Victoria simply hadn’t mentioned to her son that the new owners were his ex-wife and blue-eyed Mary, who at that moment was carefree, playfully tousling her grandmother’s beautifully styled hair.
