Chapter 18
Chapter
Eighteen
ANABELLE
The moment I’m permitted to leave Midnight Manor, I do, driving past the iron gates as they slowly swing open.
I know that tonight is the night all the expensive cars stream through town and onto the manor grounds, and weeks ago, I had debated sticking around to see if I could suss out what was going on, but after everything that happened this week, I’m no longer interested.
In fact, I’ve decided I don’t give a shit what Asher Voss is up to.
I don’t even want to think about the man at all.
Tonight, I need some good news. I want to go home and see if my mother has made any progress in the past week. Maybe the shock of my father’s death is finally wearing off, and she’s ready to deal with her grief.
I pull up to the estate and rush inside, out of the June heat. It’s not terrible yet, but I sigh when the cool air greets me.
“Hello?” I call.
“In here,” Luke answers from the kitchen, which is weird because he’s never been known to cook a meal in his life.
I find him sitting on the counter, sipping a beer by himself.
“Where is everyone?” I ask.
“Grandmother is visiting with a friend. She said to apologize that she missed you but that her friend is only in town for the weekend.”
I wave him off. It’s no big deal. I actually think it’s good that she’s getting out rather than being cooped up here all the time. Before my father passed, she was a social butterfly.
“And Mom?”
The change in his expression tells me all I need to know. “She’s upstairs in bed.”
Disappointment threatens to crush me. “She had a bad week?”
He nods. “Yeah, hasn’t been out of bed since Monday.”
My shoulders sag. “What happened? What changed?” That little sprig of hope that had begun to grow inside me has just been plucked out of the ground.
He shrugs then brings his beer to his lips and takes a pull. “Don’t know. Nothing as far as I can tell.”
“I’m going to go see her.” I turn to leave the kitchen.
“She won’t even know you’re there, Belle. Save yourself the grief.”
I look at him over my shoulder. “I have to at least try.”
He doesn’t say anything.
Making my way through the house, I head upstairs to her bedroom and knock gently on the closed door. When there’s no answer, I push it open slowly, and I’m greeted by a dark room. I walk in and turn on a couple of the lamps so at least I’ll be able to see her face when I speak to her.
Everything in here is the same as it was months ago when my father died.
His expensive watch that he’d wear to social events sits on the highboy dresser, the faint scent of his cologne still in the air.
His robe hangs on a hook by the closet, and their wedding picture, taken so many years ago, still adorns his bedside table.
“Mom?”
Her back is to me, so I can’t tell if she’s asleep, but she doesn’t react to me saying her name. When I round the end of the bed so I can see her face, I realize she’s not asleep. She’s just curled up on her side, staring aimlessly out the window.
“Mom, it’s Anabelle.” I sit on the edge of the bed and take her hand.
She doesn’t react.
With a sigh, I use my free hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. “Mom, you have to get out of bed. You can’t spend all your time here.”
I need my mom, I want to cry out! She always gives such good advice, and it’s been a shit week.
I could use her support tonight. Unshed tears sting my eyes as I look at the woman who is a shell of her former self.
Her hair is dull and lifeless, she’s lost weight, and she’s almost catatonic at times.
I squeeze her hand. “Mom, we need you. Please…” My voice breaks.
She doesn’t move her head. Her gaze flicks in my direction, but there’s no recognition.
Still, it’s something. I have to try again. “We love you, and we need you. There’s so much going on with me, with the estate. I need my mother. Please.”
I feel like a little girl again. I’m desperate for her comfort, for anyone’s comfort. I’ve never felt so alone in all my life.
She just stares at me, unseeing almost, with no reaction to my words.
“We’re all grieving the loss of Dad, and I know you miss him terribly, but he wouldn’t want to see you this way.”
At the mention of my father, she rolls over, giving me her back.
My chest tightens, and a sob racks through my body before I can pull it back in.
It feels like the ultimate betrayal, as though she’s turning her back on her own daughter, and it takes me a moment to control my reaction.
I breathe slowly in through my nose and out through my mouth until I have myself together enough to leave the room.
“I’ll see you next weekend, Momma. Love you.”
She doesn’t say anything, not that I expected her to. I turn off all the lights I turned on and leave the room, closing the door behind me.
Luke’s on the porch, working on another beer.
“Has the doctor been by to see her?” I sit next to him.
“He was here a couple of days ago. Said there’s not much more he can do for her. Suggested that we might want to think about sending her somewhere for more specialized help.”
I whip my head in his direction, my mouth hanging open. “Are you serious?”
He nods and takes a pull from his beer. “He’s at a loss. Said there are people better equipped to help her.”
I slouch into my seat. “I don’t know that we could afford it even if we wanted to.”
“Probably not,” he says.
I’m quiet for a moment until a scream rips out of my throat, piercing the quiet night air. I let out a big sigh when I’m done. “That felt good.”
Luke looks at me warily. “I was going to ask how things were going at Midnight Manor, but I guess I have my answer.”
I roll my head along the back of the chair until I’m looking at him. “It was just a bad week. At least I don’t have to do manual labor anymore. Now I’m working directly for Asher Voss as his assistant.”
My brother sits straighter in his chair. “Is he doing something that makes you uncomfortable, Belle? Because if he is, you need to leave. We’ll figure some other way to keep the estate in the family.”
I blow out a breath. “There is no other way. And I’m fine. Or I will be. I just needed to come home and see some friendly faces is all. I miss you guys.”
“Miss you too, sis.” He looks like he doesn’t believe me, but he lets it go.
I push up off the chair. “Now what I need is a few drinks and some fun.”
“You heading to Black Magic?” He arches an eyebrow.
“Yup.” I walk toward my car.
“I haven’t heard of any of your friends returning to town,” he calls.
“Don’t care. My only mission is to get drunk and forget this entire week.”
And maybe to get laid. I don’t tell my brother that though. Maybe if I get under someone else, I’ll get over Asher Voss and how he delivered the best two orgasms of my life then tossed me aside like trash.