I walk into the reception area and see my mother, wearing her pink twinset and pearls, with her wrinkle-free pants and immaculately styled hair. I wonder, like I often do, how she managed to produce a kid like me.
She wrings her hands until her gaze lands on mine, and then her expression hardens. “You have some explaining to do.”
“This is my place of work. You don’t have to like it, but you’ll damn well respect it. Now, let’s take a walk.”
“No, I want to have this out now!” she snaps as I move toward her and gently take her elbow, steering her toward the door.
“Unfortunately for you, Mother, we can’t always have what we want. What I want is for you to keep your voice down. Butclearly, that won’t happen, so we’ll take a walk. If you’re going to air our dirty laundry, we might as well let all of Tempest know.”
I open the door and usher her out, stopping when Blake calls my name.
“You good?”
“Ask me when I get back.”
I close the door behind us and take her elbow once more, guiding her past the busy stores until we reach the park.
She whirls on me, her face a mask of fury. “You’re fucking your brother’s whore, his murderer?” she screams in my face, shocking the shit out of me. My mother is many things, but she tries to act like a lady always, or whatever she thinks that means. I think I’ve only heard her swear once before, and that was years ago.
“Firstly, watch your mouth. Sorrow is not a whore, and I’m not fucking anyone, not that it’s any of your business who I fuck.”
“It is if you want your inheritance. You clearly have zero taste, so we will pick a suitable bride.”
I hold my hand up. “I have no idea where that bullshit just came from, and I’m going to pretend it’s just something you said due to heightened emotions. I’m not planning on getting married, and if I were, it wouldn’t be to some Stepford wannabe you picked out. I don’t give a shit about my inheritance. All that aside, though, this isn’t why you came to see me.”
I take a deep breath and run my fingers through my hair, trying to put myself in her shoes.
“You had that…that girl in your home…in your bed.”
“I was doing my job. There is a lot of shit going down in this town right now, and she was hurt. The cops have singled her out. She?—”
“Deserves everything that happens to her. My son is dead because of her. It should be her lying in the ground, not Alec, not my baby.”
There is nothing I can say to make this easier on her, nothing that will change the outcome, so I say nothing and let her vent until silence falls between us.
“Get rid of her.”
“My job here is to keep her safe until she leaves, that is all.”
“Bullshit, I don’t believe you. I saw the way you sniffed around her when she was just a kid. Why do you think Alec showed a sudden interest in her? Anything to compete with his big brother. And look where that got him.”
“So it’s my fault now? Mine for liking a girl, Sorrow’s for a tragic accident. But never Alec’s for getting into the fucking car and not wearing a seatbelt.”
“Don’t you say his name and hers in the same sentence. Damn you.”
“You need to calm down and pull yourself together. None of this will bring Alec back.”
“You think I don’t know that? Everything is ruined because of her. And now I’m going to do everything I can to ruin her right back,”
“Grow up,” I snap. She moves to slap me, but I catch her wrist. “You leave her alone, and then she’ll be gone.” I keep my voice even and calm because my mom is far from rational right now. I didn’t realize how far off the deep end she had gone until this moment. Her hatred toward Sorrow is overriding everything else, and I’m not sure what that means for Sorrow or the rest of us. Until I have more information, I do the only thing I can think of—downplay everything.
“Like I said, she’s just a job, one I’m going to pass on to someone else. I don’t want her here any more than you do. But I also don’t want her to be an excuse good people use to go astray,like with Denny. How can the people of Tempest ever trust the police if they are willing to assault someone, whether deserved or not?”
I hear a sharp intake of breath and feel my stomach drop to my feet. Somehow I know Sorrow is here, and she just heard all that crap spew out of my mouth. I want to turn around and beg forgiveness, but I don’t want my mother’s attention on Sorrow for a single second.
“You’re right, of course. We shouldn’t stoop to her level. I…may have gotten a little overwrought.”
“I think you should head home and lie down. Perhaps have some of that tea you like.”
