Hypocrites.
The welcoming feel of the practice is totally different from our family home. The reception area is full of photos of families that Mom and Dad have helped over the years, beaming children with big, dewy eyes. But I know there isn’t a single damn photo of their own family in the entire place.
No one notices me as I walk through the wide hallway and head to Mom’s office. The door is open. I hear her voice, soft and warm and soothing. A tone that she only uses in the clinic, never at home. A pang of longing hits me. That used to be different too.
I pause in the doorway. Mom is alone and talking on the phone, probably to a patient. Locks of blond hair frame her delicate face, falling in perfect curls to her collarbone. Victoria Winslow is abeautiful woman, and I don’t just think so because she’s my mother and, at least at one time, my only ally.
I clear my throat, and she turns to look. A sharp crease appears between her finely arched eyebrows; she doesn’t look particularly glad to see me.
I wish I hadn’t had to come here either, Mom.
“Jase,” she says coolly after quickly ending her phone call. “What are you doing here?”
I step into her office and close the door.
“We need to talk.”
She stands up and smooths the skirt of her wrinkle-free dress. “You can’t just come here without telling me first. I have appointments.”
I bite back a snide remark and flop into one of the chairs in front of her desk without waiting to be invited. “I don’t plan to stay long. The payments for my tuition have been withdrawn. Do you know anything about that?”
It would be better if she did, because there’s only one other person who could have done it, and she doesn’t want to argue with him any more than I do.
She goes pale. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
So itwashis decision.Fuck.
“I suppose that means that Dad found out that you paid my tuition,” I say, unable to stop every muscle in my body from tensing. How the hell did he find out? Mom transferred the funds last year too, and he had absolutely no idea.
She stares at me silently, opens her mouth and closes it again, like a fish out of water. I wait for her to say something, to make things right.
Help me, Mom.
But she doesn’t. She says nothing, just stares at me as she gets whiter by the second.
“What can we do now?” I ask, clinging to my pragmatism in this impossible situation.
“I... I...” Mom stops and goes a shade paler as the door flies open and Dad rushes into her office.
He barely looks at her, his piercing gaze focusing immediately on me. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”
I grin at him, a stupid reflex and my own personal defense, because I know exactly how much it drives him up the wall. “Nice to see you too, Dad.”
“Stop playing games, Jase. What are you doing here?” He steps behind Mom’s desk and stands next to her chair, turning her office into his battleground.
“I thought you were expecting me. Then you should know why I’m here.” I pick at a loose thread on the seam of my jeans. It’s just my luck that I showed up at probably the only time today he wasn’t busy with a patient. There’s a reason I didn’t go to him directly.
His nostrils flare, but I know he won’t lose control. Not here. Never in the clinic. “I assume you’re here because I found out your mother is paying tuition for your ridiculous dance school.”
The thread breaks with a barely audible snap.
“Yup, looks like it,” I reply, though inside I’m asking myself what I actually am doing here. What do I expect to gain from this? After all, I know exactly where this conversation is leading.
“What do you expect to gain from this?” he asks, like he read my mind. He taps his toe impatiently, clearly ready to be rid of me.
I cross my legs in an attempt to make myself more comfortable while my heart beats out of time. Suddenly, it’s pounding far toofast, begging me with every beat to just disappear and spare myself the inevitable. But I can’t leave. Not without at least trying.
“Actually, I wanted to ask Mom to transfer the money again.” I ignore Dad’s condescending stare and instead look Mom directly in the eyes, trying to remind her that I’m still here and that I’m her son. The one she used to love.
