Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
“So… are you two going to move in together?” Paisley sat on my couch, iced tea in front of her, and fixed me with a serious look.
I’d called her over to talk about the upcoming book release. She’d taken it better than I anticipated when I told her that I didn’t want her to travel with me for the media blitz during launch month. In fact, she’d immediately shrugged it off.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to spend time with Paisley.
I enjoyed hanging out with her. A fifteen-city tour in a single month was a lot, though.
We wouldn’t have more than a few days in each location.
More time would be spent in New York, less time in Chicago.
We would be on planes constantly, and there would be nights when it would be dinner and bed because we had to get up early for interviews the next morning.
I would feel guilty if I didn’t spend time with Paisley.
I knew myself well enough to know I would only want to spend time with Brody.
She hadn’t given me a hard time. Instead, she’d been intrigued at the idea of me being with Brody. She’d zeroed in on that information and refused to let it go.
“Why would you assume that?” I demanded. “We’ve been together for exactly five minutes.”
“Sounds like it’s been a lot longer than five minutes.” She cocked her head. “More like months, right?”
I shrugged, having no idea where she was going with this.
“My parents dated for two months and eloped,” she said. “They’ve been happily married for twenty-five years.”
I shot her a tempestuous look. “We’re not getting married.”
“Maybe not right this second.” Her smile was mischievous. “Something tells me you’re going to get married before it’s all said and done.”
She was a romantic at heart, a trait that had made me silently chuckle before Brody came into my life. I might have written romance books, but that didn’t mean I’d believed in romance in the real world. How wrong I’d been.
I opened my mouth, unsure what I was going to say, then looked over at the door as Hayley let herself in. She had a pastry box from a Savannah bakery. My mouth was already watering.
“Please tell me those are doughnuts,” I said.
“It’s doughnuts.” She dropped the box on the table and fixed me with a serious look before sitting. “Do you know that your mother is pacing the front yard?”
I nodded.
“Don’t you want to go out and talk to her?” Hayley pressed.
“Nope.” I shook my head. “She put herself in this position. She can get herself out of it.”
Hayley worked her jaw. “She looks deranged.”
Over the past few days, Brody had gently explained his theory regarding my mother’s mental health.
I’d waved off the possibility at first—my mother wasn’t mentally ill, though she was obnoxious—but I’d started doing some reading.
The internet was a bad place for researching symptoms. Everybody said so.
It was confirmation bias when you found what you were looking for.
I would have been lying if I said there weren’t some intriguing studies out there, however.
Perhaps it wasn’t just that she was a bad mother.
Maybe she’d never had a chance. That didn’t change the realities of my childhood or exonerate her of all the wrongs she’d committed, but it did make me wonder.
Unfortunately for me, when I’d brought up the notion of talking to a doctor, my mother had shot me down. She wasn’t going to do it. If I pushed further, she would disappear. She was right on schedule to do that anyway. Within the week, she would be gone.
“She’s melting down,” I explained. “Rufus has blocked her phone calls and messages. He’s not hanging out at his usual haunts. She can’t stalk him, because he lives in a gated community and she’s banned.”
Hayley’s eyes went wide. “That sounds like a lot.”
I shrugged. “The only thing that’s different about this situation is that Rufus has money. Like… real money. The other times she’s done this, the guys didn’t have the influence to get her arrested.”
“She hasn’t been arrested, though,” Hayley said.
She didn’t look as if she had a single iota of sympathy for my mother. I didn’t blame her. She knew the stories. Unlike me, she wasn’t emotionally tied to Mom. She was just my best friend in this scenario, and I was relieved to have her.
“Don’t worry about my mother,” I said. “She’ll be gone soon. She’s mad, but she’ll shift her attention to another guy just as soon as one comes along. Then she’ll leave with him, and I won’t hear from her for at least six months.”
Hayley pursed her lips, clearly debating if she should speak her mind.
“Go ahead,” I prodded, making things easier for her.
“Have you considered that your life would be better if you permanently cut her off?” she asked finally.
I managed a wan smile. “More times than you can imagine.”
“And…?”
“And she’s my mother. As much as I would like to be strong and cut her out of my life, I can’t. She’s the only family I have.” I held my hands palms out, frustration spiking. “She’s my mom.”
Sympathy rolled across Hayley’s pretty features. “Fair enough.” She opened the pastry box, grabbed a doughnut, and flopped onto the couch. “So, what are we talking about?”
“Brody and Bree living happily ever after,” Paisley replied, her lips quirking.
“Oh, yay.” Hayley matched Paisley grin for grin. “How are things going there?”
I pretended I hadn’t heard the question and rooted around in the pastry box.
Hayley had gotten my usual, a cake doughnut with chocolate frosting and sprinkles, but before I could automatically grab it, I considered my options.
Brody kept making me sample food items wherever we went.
He didn’t take my comfort entrées away. He just broadened my horizons.
Most of the time, I still preferred the food I ordered.
A few random times, however, I’d been delighted with the taste test. It made me realize that by being so regimented—which had been necessary for survival when I was a child but no longer needed to be part of the process—I’d missed out on a great many things.
On a whim, I grabbed a long john and sat again.
“Well, well, well,” Hayley drawled. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“I’m trying new things,” I replied, not making eye contact.
“Like going on her book launch with Brody.” Paisley gave a gusty giggle. “They’re visiting fifteen cities over the course of a month, and she doesn’t want me to go with her, because she prefers him.”
I pinned her with a warning look. “We talked about this. That is not why.”
“She’s not a girls’ girl,” Paisley whispered conspiratorially to Hayley, knowing it would irritate me.
“She’s always been a ‘pick me’ at heart,” Hayley teased, using the infamous meme line to eviscerate me.
“Ha, ha, ha,” I drawled. “You guys are so funny I can barely stand it.”
Paisley giggled at my discomfort. “I already told you it’s fine.
As much as I like the book-launch tours, I’m always exhausted at the end of them.
I get why you want to tackle this one alone.
It’s not going to be much fun for you if your romantic dates after three-hour plane rides include me and Brody. ”
“No, that definitely doesn’t sound fun.” My eyes went to the window as a shadow passed in front of it. “I wish she would just get over it and go,” I muttered. “I can’t tell her to leave, but I’m sick of her.”
Paisley leaned to the side for a better view of the lawn. “She really does look as if she’s losing it.”
“She’ll be fine.” I hoped that was true. “Let’s talk about something else.” I focused on Hayley. “I heard you’re traveling with Nathan on these book-launch things. How do you feel about that?”
She shrugged. “We get along fine.”
That was a very diplomatic response. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” I said. “It’s just… Nathan is notorious for picking up women at every stop. How are you going to entertain yourself if he’s busy balling melons at every turn?”
“Balling melons?” Hayley looked horrified. “I cannot believe you said that.”
“Actually, Brody referred to it that way once. It made me laugh.”
“Brody, huh?” Hayley crossed her legs and regarded me. Her stare was intense… and a little creepy.
“Why are you looking at me that way?” I complained, shifting on my chair. She was making me distinctly uncomfortable.
“You’re in love.” It was a simple, declarative statement, not a question.
“I didn’t say that.” I forced myself to look at the window again. Focusing on my mother was preferable to this conversation.
“No, you are.” Hayley laughed when I squirmed. “It’s okay to admit it.”
She was right—it was okay to admit it. Was I ready to, though? Ultimately, I was. All the fears I’d felt when Brody and I first started hooking up had slowly dissipated over the course of the weeks we’d spent together.
He’d been patient. He’d never pushed me.
He always included me in decisions about where we would go and what we would eat, and he never once rolled his eyes when I picked a topic of conversation.
He was game for whatever movie I chose to watch on television, and I’d tested him with some of the worst Lifetime movies I knew.
He’d been game for all of it. Because of that, I’d grown more comfortable with him. Weirdly, I’d grown more comfortable with myself too. I was no longer the woman who covered for her embarrassment at that first author event by making somebody else feel bad. I knew better now.
You didn’t have to direct negative attention at somebody else. You just needed to lift yourself up. It was one of those things I always should have known. I felt like an idiot for only discovering it now.
Better late than never.
I smiled and exhaled heavily. “I love him,” I admitted then held my breath to see if there would be an explosion. There wasn’t.
“We already knew,” Hayley said. “Nathan and I have a bet. I figured it would take you another month to realize it. This is his time period in the bet. I don’t suppose you could wait to tell Brody for another month, could you?”
I made a face. “You’re betting on us?”
She laughed as if I’d said the funniest thing in the world. “We’ve been betting on you since the golf cart incident.” She turned to Paisley with a conspiratorial smile. “There was a definite spark.”
Paisley laughed as I scowled. “So you’ve mentioned.”
“You guys suck,” I said, my eyes drifting to the window again. My mother was really active as she paced out there. Should I check on her? I was still considering my options when Hayley spoke again.
“You bring up a good point about Nathan and the book launch,” she mused. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to loan me Paisley for that month, would you?”
I jerked my eyes back to her, surprised. “You want to take Paisley with you and Nathan?” It didn’t seem like a good idea. Nathan was a pervert when he wanted to be, and Paisley was younger and impressionable.
“She can help me with the stuff that needs to be done,” Hayley said. “I’m between assistants right now. Plus, when Nathan inevitably hooks up with a different woman in every city, she and I can have nice dinners and drinks before turning in at a reasonable hour.”
I had to press my lips together to keep from laughing as I glanced over at Paisley. She would be polite and agree to go with Hayley whether she wanted to or not, because that was her way. But her big smile told me she liked the idea.
“It’s up to Paisley,” I said. “I think it’s a good idea, though. It will ease my guilt—”
“You mean because you only care about boning Brody now and not your friends,” Paisley teased.
“I never want to bone my friends,” I shot back.
“You know what I mean.”
I ignored her. “I plan on taking a break around the holidays this year. Brody and I want to do all the holiday stuff together.” I didn’t cringe, as I’d assumed I would, when I said it. I meant it, and I was happy.
“Oh, so cute,” Hayley cooed. “I guess things are working out for all of us.” Her eyes flicked to the window to my left. “Except for your mother. Seriously, what is going on out there?”
Sighing, I pushed myself to a standing position. “She does seem more worked up than normal. Just let me check on her. She’s probably preening like a peacock for whoever lives across the road. I’m pretty sure that’s a single guy.”
“The male peacocks preen,” Paisley said. “The females don’t.”
“Well, thanks for that unnecessary tidbit.” I headed toward the foyer. The big storm door was open, leaving only the screen door closed, and I could hear voices filtering in once I got closer to the porch.
“She’s not here,” Mom insisted, her voice higher pitched than normal. “It’s just me. You should go.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
The second voice took me a moment to place.
Unfortunately, I’d heard it more than necessary over the past few months.
I ultimately recognized it even though the owner of that voice had no reason to be here.
I thought about it, angled myself to get a view through the screen door without being seen, then forced myself to remain calm.
“Call the police,” I instructed in a low voice. “Call Brody too.”
Hayley’s expression was blank. “I don’t understand.”
“Call them.” I couldn’t dillydally. For once, this wasn’t my mother’s mess to clean up.
“What’s going on?” Paisley asked, alarm rippling through her voice.
“We have a guest,” I replied, my mind whirling. My tires had been slashed. Brody’s yard had been vandalized. Brody had shown me the video of our hearse tour, and we’d both been uneasy.
It was all coming together.
“What sort of guest?” Hayley practically exploded.
“The type my mother can’t handle on her own.” I was resigned. “I’m being serious. Call the police. Tell them there’s a dangerous individual in my front yard. I’m not sure if there’s a weapon to worry about. Then call Brody.” I swallowed hard. “I think I’m going to need him.”
With that, I whirled back and strode toward the door. Things were about to get weird.