“You are! And after you were kidnapped and abused by two of my children.” She’s looking at my black eye.
“Oh, you mean this?” I point to it and wince. “Okay, so full disclosure—this is a bachelorette party casualty. Got hit in the face by a magic dildo.”
“How is it magic?” Aurora is confused.
“Because the man who pulled it out of thin air was a magician. It’s a long story, but the short story is that my life is a shit show. That’s the reason I was even around you. Yes, Graham kidnapped me, but—”
Her face falls.
“He had to.”
“Don’t justify my son’s terrible decisions, Dani. We women need to stop giving men the benefit of the doubt.”
“I’m not making excuses for him—well, not any more than I’m making for myself. See, I know what it’s like when people automatically assume that you’re useless and a failure when you’re held up to impossible standards that you can’t hope to meet,” I tell her in a rush.
“You’re talking about Frank.” She sags.
“I mean, far be it from me to criticize anyone else’s parenting, considering that my mom will often check my purse to make sure I’m not sneaking food home—and I’m a grown adult woman, mostly adult anyway—and I could just tell her no, but I let it happen.” I take a deep breath.
“But Frank was weird with Graham. Like, he literally showed up in the middle of the night to try and inspect that Graham wasn’t lying, that he and I were actually in a relationship, and that I wasn’t, like, I don’t know, chained up in his kitchen or whatever.” I wonder if she’ll believe me.
“God, I’m so sorry, Dani. I had no idea. I’m sorry for the men in my family.” She looks up at the house. “Well, maybe some idea. Frank was always hard on Graham, but we were just so worried. That he would end up—”
“Like his dad,” I offer.
“Yeah.” She twists her hands in her lap.
“I think when you’re constantly worried and stressed out about disappointing the people you love, you can do some crazy, out-of-character things. Because”—I take a deep breath—“well, I blackmailed your son. After the brunch, he snapped out of whatever desperation led him to snatch me in the first place. He apologized and offered me twenty-five million dollars and a condo to make it up to me.”
“He did?” she asks in a small voice.
“And I said no.”
“What? Why?” Aurora cries.
“Because I had lied to everyone and their mother—literally—that I had this awesome, amazing, hot, successful, tall boyfriend. And I did stress tall. And I had to materialize him, or else everyone would know I was lying.” I shrug helplessly. “I was desperate. My back against a wall of lies. Graham didn’t want to—he wanted me out of his house. He’s a bad kidnapper,” I add. “Just for the record. He didn’t even take all of my phones.”
She wipes her eyes.
“Well.” She pats her hands on her thighs. “Thank you for telling me, but I’m not making excuses for my sons’ behavior. He and Kraig both should be in jail, but I’m grateful that you didn’t… I just… I don’t know if I could have survived the trial, to be honest. I just keep thinking about the trial with Stuart, how horrible it was. I just… I can’t believe I raised kidnappers. How did this happen?” She looks like she’s going to pass out.
“Let me go get you some tea.”
Frank’s in a bathrobe in the kitchen. He looks rough.
“You should be in bed,” I tell him.
“Dani.” He almost drops his glass.
“Let me get that for you.” I hurry over. “Why don’t you go lie down?”
“What are you doing over here?”
“Just going to get Aurora some tea—she’s not feeling well.”
“Kraig has been sent away to his birth mom’s family,” Frank informs me as he trails me out into the yard. “In Texas. So he won’t ever bother you again.”
“Frank.” Aurora starts crying. “Please go back to bed.”
