She closed the door and hurried inside.
Mason stared after her, his mouth hanging open. What the hell had he just agreed to?
* * *
Xeni walked into her aunt’s newly remodeled kitchen and set her stuff down. She looked around, her eyes focusing on the mug she’d set by the sink that morning. She looked over at the fancy new fridge, covered in photos and Christmas cards that were nearly a year old. Her high school graduation portrait was there, right in the center of it all. She stared at it, concentrated on its placement until her vision started to blur.
She blinked, then reached for her phone. More alerts were lighting up her LetsChat app. A few missed calls. She opened her contacts and called her Aunt Alice. The oldest of the Everly sisters, she’d had her own issues with Sable, but Xeni had at least witnessed her efforts to play peace maker. That always turned to the role of referee when she sent Xeni’s mom and her other sisters back to their respective corners to cool off. The phone rang and rang, but the voicemail kicked in. Xeni ended the call and dialed her step-dad.
She knew she should put the phone away and calm down. Take another deep breath, maybe a few dozen more. Gather her thoughts before she talked to anyone about any of this, but no. She wanted fucking answers.
“Hey Peanut,” Dante’s cheery voice came through after the fourth ring.
“I have to ask you something and you have to tell me the truth.”
“Okay. What’s going on?”
“Did you know that Sable was my real mother?”
Dante was silent for a moment too long before he spoke. “Peanut, I told your mother I was going to stay out of this—”
“So you knew. Thank you. That’s all I wanted to know.”
“Your mom is with me right now. Why don’t you talk to her.”
“I can’t. I have to go.” Xeni hit the bright red button at the bottom of the screen.
* * *
It was nearly ten p.m. when Xeni took a moment to count the different rooms she’d disassociated in over the last several hours. Four. She’d spent some time in the kitchen, just staring out the window, coming in and out of awareness, considering how much lying to someone for their whole life was worth. Millions and a house on Martha’s Vineyard maybe? She’d managed to draft one text to her mother.
Just really upset right now.
Can’t talk.
She was a fool to think that would work. After ignoring a dozen or so calls from her mother, she forced herself to eat something with the bottle of Chardonnay she’d cracked open. She’d come back to herself sitting at her aunt’s piano, cheese and cracker crumbs on her shirt.
She moved to the T.V. room and envisioned the conversation her mom had had with Dante all those years ago, while Jeopardy played in the background. She thought of what she had told him when she explained she was raising her little sister’s baby. She wondered how easy it was for him to keep that a secret. She wondered just how many of the fights her family had had over the years were about her. Mostly she wondered why.
When a commercial broke into some terrible family sitcom, she realized she wasn’t even watching the T.V. so she went upstairs to the newly renovated master bathroom. It was hers now right? Or it would be after a quick trip to the town clerk’s office and an emotionless walk down the aisle. Might as well take the massive soaker tub for a test drive. She filled it with piping hot water, remembering where she was just as the water came dangerously close to spilling over the edge.
She undressed and slid into the water, thatwhybeating at the backs of her eyes, begging her to cry so she could release some of the tension. But the tears weren’t coming. They might, eventually, but for now she chose numb over weepy.
She sat in the water, her body warm and wet, and still as tense as before. What was she going to tell her family about the money? Not a damn fucking thing. The angry part of her had a point. Why should she tell them shit? If they could lie to her about her whole existence, she could lie to them about millions of dollars.
She ran her finger over the rim of the tub and asked herself who the fuck she thought she was kidding. She was smart and knew how to keep her cards to her chest, but she wasn’t a liar and, unlike every other Everly woman she knew, she wasn’t selfish.
Her phone rang again and she ignored it. If she weren’t waiting to hear from Mason, she’d let it die and never charge it again. God, Mason. She’d meant to hit him with the important questions. Was he a murderer? Did he have a criminal record? Where did he stand on Brexit andThe Great British Baking Show? But what did it matter? This would be the sham marriage to end all sham marriages. She didn’t need to get to know him. She just needed him to say I do.
Xeni finally pulled herself out of the tub, lotioned up and got ready for bed in the guest room. She risked a look at her phone. More missed calls from her parents, texts from the girls checking in, a voicemail from her cousin Rosia. She glanced at the transcript, saw the words “your mom wanted me to call” and immediately switched to LetsChat.
All her girls were home from work, texting up a storm. She was three hundred messages behind. Her brain couldn’t do the catch up.
Heeeeeey!
Meegan:Xeni!
Shae:Hey boo, I was just thinking about you.
