“Alistair! Hi.” His deep voice was raised by the excitement of the call, causing me to smile.
“How’s it going, Kit?”
“Better now that superstar celebrity Alistair Finn is calling me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please. I’m still the same Alistair.”
“Well, yeah, but with a better bank account.”
His statement ripped the chortle right out of me effortlessly. “That’s definitely true.” After ending our laughter tied itself up and carried itself away, I prompted him by adding, “So, what was your text about?”
The fact that Kit sighed into the receiver made my pulse quicken. If he was steeling himself, the chances of it having to do with my family back home were significantly raised. I glanced down at my cats, both curled into round shapes by my feet, feeling more calm just by skimming over their forms. Fawcett and Thiessen were my family. Kit was my family. The people who’s blood I shared had lost the right to that title a long time ago, so why was I stressing? I fortified my mind. I could handle this, whatever it was that Kit was about to unleash on me. I could handle it. I had to.
“I know it sucks to hear about anything to do with your mom, but I figured you’d want to know.”
And there it was. It was about her. I could feel my body tensing up, but I was actively fighting against it. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of having a reaction, no matter if she was available to witness my reaction or not.
“What’s happened?”
“She’s moved.” Kit chuckled lightly. “She’s not in Phoebe anymore.”
My eyes flared. That hadn’t been what I was expecting. My family had lived in Phoebe for generations, and my mother had always sworn that she would never leave. There had to be a reason behind her departure and though I hadn’t prepared myself for it, I wanted to know why.
“Since when?” I’d start with something simpler to answer before I prodded into more details.
“Apparently, a few months. I hadn’t heard a single thing about it until I was showing a house to a friend of her neighbor. Apparently, she just up and left one day, leaving the trailer abandoned and empty.”
Abandoned and empty. Now my childhood home and I had one more thing in common, aside from having to share the trauma of living with Wanda Finneson.
“It’s just…sitting there?”
“Yeah.” Kit said with a scoff. “I thought you’d want to know that she’s not here anymore, and no one seems to know what prompted her leave from Phoebe.”
“Weird. That she left, not that you thought to tell me. Thanks for letting me know, Kit. I’m not sure what to do with this information.”
“I get it. I know it brings up a lot, but I thought you deserved to know. Especially since you have even less of a chance of running into her when you come down for Thanksgiving.” I could hear Kit’s smile at the mention of the holiday. “Youarestill planning on coming down for Thanksgiving with my family, right?”
“Of course.” Spending Thanksgiving with the McKendrick family had been a long running tradition for me, one I wasn’t keen on breaking. Even though things were different now that I was more instantly recognizable, I wasn’t going to alter my life just because of it. I loved Kit’s family. Mainly because they weren’tmyfamily, yet treated me like I was one of their own.They always had. “You know I wouldn’t miss a very McKendrick Thanksgiving for anything.”
“Glad to hear it.” Kit chuckled. “Mom’s making your damn cranberry sauce from scratch, and you’re the only one who eats it.”
“Hey, just because the rest of you don’t have taste.”
“It’s rancid!” Kit said with a boisterous ruffle of laughter.
“It’s awesome!” I shook my head, catching a look from Thiessen at my raised voice. She wasn’t enthused by my joy even a little bit, turning away from me. I could have sworn she rolled her eyes. “Don’t do Mama McKendrick like that.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I could hear the sound of gravel or something in the background as Kit moved. “Listen, I just got to a house I’m about to show, so I gotta go. I just wanted to let you know about your mom.”
“I appreciate the call, Kit.”
And I did. But that didn’t solve the mystery of where the hell Wanda had fucked off to. It made me uneasy, not knowing where she was. That was the great thing about her being stuck in Phoebe. I never had to worry about her showing up in my life randomly if I always knew her location. I didn’t have that luxury anymore, and that set my nerves on edge.
“Alright, Alistair. I’ll talk to you soon. Love you.”
“Love you too. Bye.”
Ending my second call of the day, I set my phone down. The joy of Van being my almost-official security guard was lost on the news of my mother’s suddenly unknown whereabouts.
