"Good morning," she said.
"Did I bother you?"Don't sound so meek,I scolded myself. Whenever I talked to Trisha, I always turned into the little girl eager to make her mommy love her.
"Hardly," she said. "I'm running this magazine. I never sleep. Have any more juicy tidbits for me? The advertiserslovedthe sample, by the way. Nicely done! I always knew you were my daughter. We already had several firms order million-dollar spreads in the magazine, which is good, because now I don't have to lay people off."
Crap. I was such a terrible person.
"Actually," I said, leaning against my desk, my stomach flip-flopping, "I don't think I can do the article. I'll send you the money back."
"Excuse me?" The rage bubbled in my mother's voice.
I just wanted to shrivel up and pull the covers over my head. "I am so sorry, Mom," I whispered.
"Don't youdare. No daughter of mine would renege on her promise. Are the Svenssons putting pressure on you? I thought you were better than that, but I guess you're just a weak little girl."
I looked over at the bed, still rumpled. I half imagined I could make out Garrett's form. "Something like that."
"They found out? You stupid girl! They better not have found out. I need to call the lawyers. Harrington isn't going to like this."
"No, they don't know, but I think they'll find out. I just can't do it," I said, fighting back tears.
My mother sighed. I felt terrible. I wanted to take back everything and tell her of course I'd write the article. But I would feel even worse if I hurt Garrett. I never should have sent the tidbit. I had just thought at the time that he didn't want me. But after last night, it was clear that he did.
"Fine," she said disgustedly. "I'll work something out,I suppose, since I have to do everything. Just keep the money. I bet you already spent it, stupid girl."
"Are you sure?" I said, tears leaking down my face.
"Yes. I mean at this point, what does it matter?" she snapped.
"Let me know if I can write anything else instead," I said meekly.
"That won't happen."
* * *
After a cathartic crying session,I felt as free as a witch flying on a broom. Even though I didn't want to disappoint my mother or cost all those workers their jobs, I could not hurt Garrett or his family.
I took a hot shower and thought back to how crazy I must have seemed to Garrett, throwing him out like that. Oh my god! What if he thought I was disappointed? I tried calling him, but there was no answer.
I'll go over there later, I decided.He might be asleep.
I didn't want to be like Bronwyn, just showing up at odd hours. Besides, it was still early for a Sunday, and they had small children there. I didn't want to disrupt the routine.
Instead, I baked. I decided to make an apple cider mousse cake. We had a lot of apples left over from the fall party at the Svenssons' and apple cider from the Halloween party last night.
Salem meowed while I prepped the cooking area for filming. It was overcast outside, and not much light came into the kitchen. I had to set up several light stands. I felt momentarily ill when I thought about how much I had spent on these lights.
Think about nice things, I scolded myself,like Garrett and this cake.
I was making an intricate layer cake. The base layer was a lightly sweet, lightly spiced sponge cake. I put it in the oven while I cooked the apple cider over the stove and mixed it with gelatin to make a translucent layer. I took the sponge cake out of the oven and let it cool while I made a vanilla custard. I carefully scooped the seeds out of a vanilla bean and saved it for later—to flavor sugar, for example. The sponge cake was cool enough, so I cut it to fit the springform pan.
Once it was in place, I scooped in the custard, smoothed it, and placed it in the fridge. While it set, I cut up the apples and made a compote. After about ten minutes of stirring, I tasted it. It was a little tangy and sweet.
I checked my phone. No response from Garrett. Maybe I would take the cake over to the Svenssons. That was a normal, nonstalker thing to do, right?
I checked the cake. The custard seemed set, so I made sure it was in focus in the picture. I carefully placed a second layer of sponge cake for the middle layer. Then I spooned on the compote and set another layer of sponge circle on top. I let it sit in the fridge for thirty minutes while I wiped off the counter and sliced bright-red apple peel for a garnish and made the buttercream frosting.
I texted Garrett again.
