Chapter 21
Erica pulled the hair tight with the round brush, then used the blow-dryer to dry and set the style. She’d already finished the cut and color. She’d given Francis a few warm highlights to complement her thick brown hair.
Francis had been with Twisted from the beginning. She’d been one of Erica’s first hires. Twenty years ago they’d both been much younger and a lot less experienced. Erica had just bought out her mother and Francis was a single mother of two with a fledgling janitorial business. As the salon had grown and expanded, Francis had been right there, bringing in her team every night. When Erica had bought the third salon, Francis had sold her business to her brother-in-law and had come to work for Erica full-time. She’d put together the team that kept the salons clean and sanitized. The purchase of the fourth salon had required additional staff and Francis had managed it all.
When Erica finished blowing out her hair, Francis studied herself in the mirror and smiled. “You were right about the highlights.”
“They bring out your eyes and add dimension to your hair.”
“Yes, and now I’ll have to maintain them,” her employee teased. “It’s part of your master plan to get me to spend my paycheck in the salon.”
Erica laughed. “Hardly. You’ll need a little touch-up every five or six months. Until you start going gray. Then we’ll see you more.”
Francis recoiled in mock horror. “The women in my family don’t go gray.”
“Then you have a very lucky family.” She took off the black robe and folded it. “Thanks for letting me do your hair.”
Francis smiled in the mirror. “Anytime. My friends still can’t believe my boss does my hair every year or so and for free. A perk of the business.”
“I need to keep my hand in. I appreciate the practice.”
Francis stood, then shook her head. “I nearly forgot.”
She pulled out her phone and scrolled through it, then turned it so Erica could see the picture of a handsome nineteen-year-old lounging outside of Murrow Hall on the campus of Washington State University.
“Gus is doing so well,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “He’s the first in the family to go to college.”
Something she’d already told Erica about eighteen thousand times.
“I’m glad it worked out.”
Francis touched her arm. “It wouldn’t have, if not for you. All those years ago when I could barely pay the bills, you took a chance on me. You helped my business grow and later, gave me this great job. Because of you, Gus is going to college.”
“Francis, don’t. We’ve been over this. You’re successful because of your hard work. I was one of many clients.”
“You were more than that. I’ll always be grateful.”
“As will I.”
They smiled at each other. Fortunately the other woman seemed ready to let the topic go. They chatted for a few more minutes, then Francis left for the Kirkland salon.
As Erica cleaned the station, she reminded herself it wasn’t Francis’s fault she was tired of being thanked. Not two days ago, Allison had left her a heartfelt note of gratitude, which was lovely, but also uncomfortable. Erica simply wanted to move on.
When she’d put everything away, she returned to her office. She had several messages, including one from her financial planner. Dan didn’t call often, so she returned his call first.
“Erica, thanks for getting back to me.”
“Of course. I didn’t think we were doing any more trades this quarter.”
“We’re not,” Dan said, then paused. “I’m calling about Summer.”
“Why?”
He paused, then said, “You know I check in with her every six months or so about her trust.”
“Of course.”
Erica had set up a trust for her daughter, putting aside money Summer could draw on later in life.
“We talked a few days ago. She’s always surprised when I call, as if she’s completely forgotten she has that money coming to her.”
“When she’s twenty-five.”
“She called me half an hour ago. She wants to withdraw thirty thousand dollars. I explained the money wasn’t available to her yet and suggested she talk to you.” He paused. “I thought you’d want to know.”
Erica felt all the good drain out of the day. Worry and panic instantly took over as she wondered what Summer would need that much money for. Was she pregnant? Planning to run away? Was a friend in trouble? It couldn’t be for Allison—her situation was handled.
She pushed away the questions. “I had no idea,” she admitted. “Thanks, Dan. I’ll talk to her.”
“I didn’t know what else to do, but if she was my daughter, I’d want to know.”
“I appreciate that and you’re right. I need the information.”
When the call ended, Erica tried to figure out what to do. Summer didn’t want for anything so it was unlikely the money was for her. Then who?
She glanced at the clock. It was after four. Summer didn’t have a game so she should be home. She reached for her phone and typed out a quick text.
Let’s grab dinner tonight. Just the two of us. We haven’t hung out in forever.
Dinner with just the two of them would give them a chance to talk.
Three dots appeared almost instantly.
Raincheck. I don’t want to leave Allison alone. I’m ordering takeout.
Her response was a kick in the gut—more so than finding out Summer had tried to take money from her trust. It seemed at every turn that Summer preferred Allison’s company to her own and she didn’t know how to change that.
Erica worked until eight. She’d passed on the takeout, figuring she would eat the leftovers when she got home. She walked into the house and heard the TV in the family room.
“I’m home,” she called.
“In here,” came Summer’s reply.
Erica went through the kitchen into the open family room and found her daughter and Allison sitting close together on the large sectional, Mamma Mia! playing on the television. Summer paused the movie and looked at her.
“Hey, Mom. There’s Thai in the fridge.”
“Thanks.”
Erica tried to figure out if the teen looked any different than usual, but saw no sign of guilt or worry, which was strange considering Summer had tried to take thirty thousand dollars from her trust.
Allison smiled at her. “You work long hours. You must be tired.”
“I am.”
She was also confused and hurt and feeling left out in her own house, but she wasn’t going to talk about that.
“I’m going to change before I eat.”
She left before they could respond and hurried toward the stairs. After a light dinner, she would tackle the situation with her daughter. Or maybe they should talk first so the food didn’t sit there like a rock and make her feel sick.
She left her tote on the small table by the double doors leading to the main bedroom. In her closet, she pulled off her boots and unzipped her dress. She’d just pulled on yoga pants and a sweatshirt when Summer entered.
“Can we talk?” the teen asked.
“Sure.”
Erica stepped into a pair of Uggs, then motioned for Summer to lead the way. Her daughter went into the bedroom and threw herself across the bed. Erica closed the bedroom door, then took a seat on the bench by the footboard, hoping Summer was going to tell her about whatever was happening.
The teen rolled on her side, propping up her head on her hand. She sighed heavily. “I tried to get money out of my trust today.”
Erica told herself to keep quiet and let the girl tell the story in her own way before starting in on the questions.
“I mostly don’t ever think about it or remember that I have a trust.” She shifted into a crossed-legged sitting position. “Dan called a couple of days ago to talk about the investments, which is really boring, but he reminded me there’s like a million dollars waiting for me.”
“Which you can’t access until you’re twenty-five.” And even then there were requirements to be met before funds were released, such as having an approved purpose like grad school or buying a home.
“I forgot that part.” Summer looked at her. “I just need thirty thousand dollars. Can you release that for me?”
Erica struggled to keep her expression and tone neutral. “Why do you need it?”
Her daughter looked at the bedspread, then back at her. “For Dad’s lawyer. The retainer is thirty thousand dollars and Allison doesn’t have it.”
Instant rage burned away all other emotions. That bitch! Erica had talked to her about not dragging Summer into the mess that was her life and she’d done it anyway.
“Allison didn’t ask for the money,” Summer added with a sigh. “She didn’t say anything. I wouldn’t have known except I noticed she wasn’t wearing her wedding ring. She tried to lie about why but I knew she wasn’t telling the truth. So I ragged on her until she told me what had happened.”
Summer swallowed, her expression crumbling. “Mom, she sold her wedding ring. I know it killed her to do that. She loves Dad and it’s her wedding ring.”
All the mad vaporized, leaving Erica feeling foolish for jumping to conclusions. Thank goodness she hadn’t said anything so she didn’t have to apologize.
“She begged me not to tell you,” her daughter continued. “She said you’ve been generous enough. She’s going to sell her car. It’s just so awful. Everything bad is happening to her and none of it is her fault, you know? Plus this is just for the retainer. The lawyer will need more money later and where is that coming from? So when Dan reminded me about my trust fund I thought I could use some of that to help. If I’d thought of it, I would have given her money before, but like I said, I don’t walk around remembering I have it.”
Erica was torn between pride that her daughter had such a sweet, giving nature and feeling cut that Summer worried so much about her stepmother.
“It’s a lot of money to give someone,” she said quietly.
Summer waved that away. “It’s the right thing to do. We take care of our family. I was talking to Avery today and she said her mom would never let her dad’s second wife live with them. She said her mom would be happy to let her die on the streets.”
Tears filled her eyes. “You’re not like that. You’d never say that and that’s part of the reason I thought it would be okay to pay for the lawyer.”
What was that old saying? She was being hoisted with her own petard? The irony of Summer’s admiration for actions she hadn’t wanted to take didn’t escape her. There was also the matter of the current problem. The solution was obvious but she didn’t have to like it.
“I’m not changing your trust,” she began, then held up her hand. “Let me finish. I’m not changing your trust, but I will talk to Allison about the lawyer.” She held in a sigh. “I’ll pay the retainer. She can’t sell her car—she needs it. And tomorrow she can get her ring back.”
Summer threw herself at her, hanging on tight. “Mom, you’re the best. Seriously, I’m so glad I talked to you. Thank you for doing this.”
Erica hugged her back. “When all this is done and settled, I’m going to have a serious conversation with your father about some of the very bad choices he made.”
Summer drew back and smiled. “Right? Who does that? He’s made it so hard on Allison and on you.”
“We’ll get through it. Now I’m going to eat.” Not that she wanted the food, but she was interested in a glass of wine and couldn’t have that on an empty stomach.
Summer scrambled off the bed. “I won’t say anything to Allison. You should be the one to tell her.”
Erica knew her daughter was doing what she thought was the right thing, but she really didn’t want to have another I’m here to rescue you chitchat with Peter’s wife, although there didn’t seem to be any way out of it.
She went downstairs, circling around the family room on her way to the kitchen. She put a plate of takeout leftovers in the microwave, then searched the refrigerator for an open bottle of pinot grigio. She could hear the faint sound of Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep singing “SOS” in the movie.
Once she’d found the bottle, she poured a generous amount, then replaced the cork. The microwave beeped. She took a seat at the island and ate her dinner. When her plate was rinsed, she topped up her wineglass, then went into the family room.
Allison saw her and paused the movie.
“Sorry, is it too loud?”
“Not at all. I thought we could talk for a second.”
The other woman immediately looked wary. “Is everything all right?”
“It’s fine.” Sort of.
She took a chug of her wine, then set it on the coffee table and sat at right angles to Allison.
“I hear Peter found a lawyer.”
The other woman immediately flushed and looked away. “Summer told you.” She swung her gaze back to Erica. “I didn’t want to tell her. You were right before when you called me out on burdening her. She’s still a kid. But I had to sell my rings and she noticed and I tried to lie but she didn’t believe me.” Her head dropped. “I’m sorry. I love her. I would never hurt her, but that seems to be all I’m doing these days.”
“That’s certainly dramatic.”
“What?” Allison’s head snapped up. “I’m not being dramatic.”
Erica shrugged. “You have plenty of cause, don’t get me wrong. I’m just pointing out that the emotion is obviously getting to you. I’m not saying I would handle it better. I wouldn’t. For the record, you’re not hurting Summer. If you were, I’d be on you in a hot second. There’s just a lot of shit right now.”
Allison blinked as if holding back tears. “You’re right. There is. Sometimes it’s more than I can deal with.”
Erica eyed her glass but didn’t pick it up. Instead she said, “I’ll take care of the retainer. I want to meet the guy before I hand over the check, but unless he’s a moron, I’ll pay for Peter’s lawyer.”
The tears were immediate. Allison went from wide-eyed to choking sobs in less than two seconds. Erica grabbed her glass, figuring they could be there a while.
“You c-can’t,” Allison said, her voice thick with emotion. “You’ve d-done so much. You don’t even know me.”
“I know you better than I did. Besides, we’re sort of family.” A weird, twisted kind of truth, but there was no denying that they were linked through circumstances and her very idealistic daughter.
Erica got up and walked to the half bath, where she snagged a box of tissues and gave them to Allison. The other woman wiped her face and blew her nose.
“I want to say no, but I can’t. I need the money.”
“You also need to keep your car. Don’t go selling your only source of transportation just because Peter’s in jail. He did this to himself and to you. If he has to sit there a few weeks longer, then that’s on him.” She paused, thinking she might have gone too far. “Of course that’s easy for me to say. I’m not married to him anymore.”
Allison stared at her. “He said so many awful things about you. He said you were mean and thoughtless and only cared about business, but that’s not true at all. You’re the most caring, generous person I know.”
Erica chose to focus on feeling uncomfortable with the praise rather than dealing with the ugly things Peter had said about her. They weren’t a surprise but that didn’t mean they didn’t hurt.
“These are special circumstances,” she said lightly. “Don’t judge me by them.”
Allison shook her head. “I could never figure out how if you were so terrible, your daughter was so sweet.”
“Summer’s her own person. I can’t take credit for her.”
“You’re wrong. She’s the way she is because of you. I wish I’d known that sooner.”
“I’m not the good guy here,” Erica protested, reaching for her wine. “I’m the one who screwed up the marriage with Peter. I pushed him to start his own business when I was pretty sure he didn’t want to.” She paused, wondering how much truth to tell.
“I didn’t like that he worked for someone else. I never told him that, but I wanted him to be an entrepreneur like me. Driven and successful.” She stared at her glass rather than at Allison. “It was never who he was and he resented me for pushing him.”
“You’re wrong.” Allison shifted into a slightly more upright position. “He loves his business. He told me so many times. He was proud to own it and take care of his family.”
“He was proud to own it when he could take care of you,” Erica told her. “Then it was different because he was happy. You’re his princess. It wasn’t like that with me.”
She remembered how he’d fallen to his knees and begged her to help his wife. Something she still had trouble thinking about without the gut-twisting truth of knowing he had never loved her like that.
“Why did you two split up?” Allison winced. “Is that too personal a question?”
“Oh, I think we’ve moved well beyond things being too personal.” She paused, not sure how to answer, only to realize she couldn’t answer because she didn’t know.
“He never told me why,” she admitted. “One day he told me he wasn’t happy and he wanted out. There was no discussion, no explanation, no offer to get counseling. He was done and he wanted to leave.” She faked a smile. “I had no idea he was unhappy, so it was a shock to me.”
Allison stared at her. “So you were still in love with him?”
Ah, yes. That. “I was in love with who I wanted him to be. Not who he was. I see that now. We both wanted our partner to be different. Love for us was more like a theory.”
Which was total crap because of course she’d still been in love with Peter. He was her husband and she’d assumed they would be together forever. Yet one more time when she’d been wrong.
But saying that would upset Allison and wasn’t her life spiraling enough already?
She rose. “Finish your movie. I’m going upstairs to clear my calendar for tomorrow morning. We’ll drop Jackson off at day care and go see this lawyer together.”
“I can’t thank you enough.”
Erica held up her hand. “No more thanks. We had a deal.” She softened the words with a smile. “Have a good night.”