"Maybe I can build out the art path as a connection to ferry people between the strip mall site and the factory," I mused, checking the map on my phone with what I saw before me.
"Factory, check. Hotel site, check. Sexy curvy girl on my arm, check!" I said, whistling as I walked around the abandoned retail building to my car.
You know what wasn't on my list? My mother. The nice Mercedes that I had bought her was parked next to my sports car.
"Mom."
Merla Vee simpered, "Archer, honey, how's my favorite kid?"
"What are you doing here?" I hissed. I looked up. I didn't see any cameras on the light poles with the blown-out bulbs. But I knew Garrett was probably going to find out about the meeting somehow. Did he have drones in the sky? "You cannot be here," I told my mom.
"You haven't been returning my calls," Merla Vee said. I tried not to scowl. The voicemail messages she left were all thinly veiled attempts to ask for money.
"What do you want?" I asked harshly. "Money? I don't have any more."
"It's that girl, isn't it?" my mom hissed. The pleasant expression on her face fell and let me see the angry, rage-filled expression she wore most of the time we lived in the shack in the desert.
I flinched, half expecting her to throw something at me, like she used to when I was a kid.
My mother saw my distrust and relaxed her features. "Archer, baby, my favorite," she sang. "You know your mamma loves you."
I shook my head.
"There's this great business opportunity," Merla Vee began.
"No," I said.
"But, Archer—"
"No," I said more forcefully. "I'm done. I'm cutting you off."
"You can't cut me off," she snarled.
"Yes, I can," I said flatly. "I've given you a lot of money over the years. You've never once asked me how I am or showed any real interest in me. You just want me to support your lifestyle."
"I took care of you," she shouted. "I sacrificed everything for you boys."
"You were a terrible mother. Hunter did more than you. After Dad kicked me and my brothers out, Greg and Hunter lied to us and said we were on a fun camping trip. We were out in the highlands, basically hunting and fishing. I thought it was a great adventure—until winter hit."
"Greg is Athlyn's son," Merla Vee protested. "He's not my son. He's not my problem. I raised you boys right. I told your father not to take up with Athlyn. You think I wanted that life?"
"You sure kept around like you did," I said.
"Your daddy kept promising things were going to get better. I was a victim," she said, beating her chest.
"So were your children!" I shouted. "The kicker is that Hunter and Remy were only sixteen, and Greg was a few months younger. I couldn't imagine how they managed. They were kids. You escaped. You could have taken us all with you. You could have donesomething."
"My boyfriend didn't want that," my mom said, her mouth a thin flat line.
"Right, uh-huh. Well, maybe you can go back to him and beg him for money."
When Merla Vee realized I was serious, the anger consumed her face. My mom glared at me, and she wrenched her car door open.
"You're going to regret this," she said, wagging her finger. "I raised you better than this."
"Stay out of Harrogate," I told her.
I had been planning on surprising Hazel that afternoon, but now I was too worked up. Instead I drove over to the Mast Brothers' chocolate factory. I was building a better future for my younger brothers. The convention center was part of it. I wanted Hazel to be a part of it. I walked around the grounds, making notes for how I wanted the design to work. I smiled when I spotted a figure on the roof.
