“I came all this way to spend some time with my girl, surely you can take some time off,” she said as we parked in front of the cabin.
I stuffed down my frustration as I faced her before getting out of the car. “I love you. To the moon and back, you know that. But I’m struggling a little with the curriculum this semester and I need to pass these two classes, or I might not graduate.”
She sighed. “Daddy mentioned that.”
I gave her arm a squeeze. “Are you okay? If you know I’m knee-deep in this crap, what possessed you to come all the way here when I can’t spend time with you?”
She dropped her head.
“Mama, what’s wrong?” I whispered.
She took a deep breath and met my eyes. “I’m being extorted.”
“What?” I squeaked as we made our way up to the cabin porch.
Her face flushed and she looked at the ground again. “A sex tape. Taken before your father and I got involved.”
Okay, I was gonna need a few more hours and a lot of tequila to process that.
Moving on.
“You need Tristan’s help, don’t you? So you used me being here as an excuse to talk to him.” I sighed. “Mom, you could have just called him. He’ll help you.”
She shook her head. “I can’t call him. My phone’s been cloned or hacked or something. He’s listening to everything.”
“He. So you know who he is?”
She nodded.
“Who?”
She blinked back tears. “Gary.”
I gasped. “UncleGary?”
She blushed even redder and my stomach roiled. Gary was my dad’s older brother and he’d always been a creep, which was why I had only met him a handful of times.
“Oh, my god, you slept with Uncle Gary?”
“He forced me.”
“He raped you?”
“Well, no, technically it wasn’t rape. I agreed.” She met my eyes again. “Baby, I do not want to go into detail with you on this. It was a bad time, and I will not be able to live with myself if your opinion of me changes.”
I pulled her in for a hug. “Mama, nothing you do will change my love for you. Well, unless you cheat on Daddy, of course.” I leaned back and met her eyes. “Oh, my god, did you cheat on Daddy?”
“I wouldnever,” she hissed out. “He and you kids are my world.”
The front door opened and Tristan stood in the doorway. “Hey. You okay?”
“Mom needs your help,” I blurted.
“Raquel,” Mom said on a groan.
“Uncle Gary’s extorting her,” I continued.
“Jesus,” Tristan hissed. “He always was an asshole.”
