“He has money, and I needed some. I didn’t ask for more than I deserved.”
Teslyn put her sunglasses on before stepping out into the muggy sunshine of a late summer day. “What are we talking about here, child support?”
“Mostly.”
“If you want me to help you, you have to be honest with me.”
“So maybe I asked for a little more. He could spare it, believe me.”
“How much more, Mom?”
“A few thousand here or there. A little more sometimes.”
Teslyn had no idea what was reasonable for child support, but the guilt she heard in her mother’s voice said something wasn’t right about this. “And?”
Her mother sighed. “And if he gave me the money, I wouldn’t tell the news station about Ivy.”
Of all the things she’d been expecting, she hadn’t expected that. “You blackmailedhim?” None of Marilyn’s regular men had money enough to speak of. “Who is this guy?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is, he says he’s going to hurt me and take Ivy away, and I believe him.”
“If she’s his daughter, maybe that would be best.”
“Don’t you care about me at all? He said he’s going tohurt me, Teslyn. I’m afraid forour lives.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Come home. Help me get out of this place, get set up somewhere new.”
Teslyn jerked her head back, true concern coloring her voice for the first time when she asked, “You’re leaving the bayou?”
“I don’t have much choice.”
Her mother had always loved the bayou, the scents and the swamp, the animals and the dappled sunshine beneath trees draped in Spanish moss. “You really are scared.”
“What did you think, I was lying?” Exaggerating was more to the point, but Teslyn was no longer sure. Marilyn’s life was one emergency after another, but if she was willing to leave her home, something was terribly wrong. Marilyn loved that place, her trailer hidden among dense trees, and a thick, earthy smell permeating the humid air.
It gave Teslyn hives just thinking about it.
Her mother exhaled, clearly blowing out smoke. “Promise you’ll take care of Ivy if anything happens to me.”
Teslyn sighed heavily. No one could be as dramatic as her mother. “You don’t really think this guy’s going to hurt you, do you?”
“Just promise me.”
“If you’re really that scared, you should call the police.” Marilyn was usually the reason the cops were called, not the one doing the calling, and the irony wasn’t lost on Teslyn. But it sounded like this time their help might be needed.
Marilyn scoffed. “He owns the police, babydoll. A lot more than that, too. Just make your mother happy and promise me you’ll take care of your sister, okay?”
True concern seeped into Teslyn’s bones. She was aware of the seriousness of the request as she agreed. “I promise.”
“Good girl. Drive safe.”
The line went dead in her hand, and Teslyn stared at her phone.
What the hell just happened here?
She’d spent her entire adult life trying to separate herself from Marilyn Gleason, but with a single phone call, all the progress she’d made had disappeared. If there was a sister in the picture, how would she ever get away from her mother again?
