Sometimes it means "I did not know "how" to love you". Some mothers genuinely don't know "how", they did not get it themselves. Some are afraid to love too.

Did you know often psychologist/therapists are actually the worst parents? Same thing with teachers too. Some often look at the world with too much perfectionism, instead of accepting and loving in spite of whatever imperfections are there, as there is no such thing as "perfect".

She did not want to sound "fake", that is "I did not know how to so I chose to avoid it, at the risk of not doing it right".

Keep in mind though, it never meant you were not worthy of being loved.