Chapter 6 #2
I walk up the path, glancing down at the neatly mowed lawn, and take a deep breath, bracing myself for the shitshow that’s about to start.
I let myself in and head toward the voices echoing from the kitchen.
They’re not yelling, but I can hear the angry tones and sharp, waspish stings in their words as I step into view.
Surprisingly, I expected to see my mother and father.
Instead, I find my mom angry, snarling at Dora, the housekeeper.
“What’s going on?” I ask, not liking the dejected look on Dora’s face. She’s been a stable part of our lives for as long as I can remember. Calling her the housekeeper doesn’t begin to cover all the roles she has played over the years, ranging from cleaner and cook to tutor and nanny.
“Nothing for you to worry about, Jake. What are you doing here?” my mother asks, smoothing the invisible creases on her pressed pink blouse.
She has it teamed with a pair of white linen pants and her highlighted hair pulled back into a tight ponytail.
It doesn’t matter if she’s going to the grocery store, a PTA meeting, or just lounging around on a Sunday afternoon—my mother is impeccably dressed.
I’ve always thought it would be cool to see her let her hair down, maybe lie about watching cooking shows in sweats—or the reality TV crap Katy likes, in leggings—because she never seems to truly relax.
But, as an adult, I think it’s more than being unable to relax.
I think if I suggested something like that, she’d have a mini meltdown about what’s appropriate.
Yeah, I can see how that shit would be a nightmare for Katy to navigate if Mom feels the need to turn her into a mini-me.
“I called Dad and told him I was on my way. He said he’d be here.” I kiss her on the cheek before walking over and kissing Dora on the cheek, too. “Hey, Dora.”
She smiles at me, tapping my jaw lightly. “It is good to see you, Jake. It has been too long.”
“Dora, I’d like lunch served in the sunroom.” My mother strolls off as I turn sharply to look at her.
I look back at Dora, who isn’t quick enough to mask the sad expression on her face. I lower my voice and repeat my previous question, “What’s going on, Dora? Since when does my mother speak to you like that?”
She brushes me off with a fake smile. “It has been a strange day. Nothing for you to worry about. Go visit with your mother while I get the food ready.”
I stare at her. She’s stubborn enough not to say anything when she doesn’t want to, so I let it go for now.
“Chicken salad?”
“Always.” I grin because nobody makes a chicken salad sandwich like Dora. I have no idea what she adds to it, and she refuses to share her secret recipe with anyone.
“I’ll bring them through when they’re ready.”
“Thanks.” I walk to the door, turning before I get there. “Is Katy around?” I might as well rip the Band-Aid off and let everyone know at once.
“She went out earlier to meet a friend but said she would be back for lunch, so I would expect her soon.”
“Send her back when she gets here, would you?” I ask, knowing she might slip up to her room otherwise.
“Of course.”
I nod my thanks and head to the sunroom. When I walk in, I find my mother sitting in one of the chairs, tapping her fingers impatiently on the arm.
“Goodness me, did you get lost along the way?”
“I’m just putting my order in for lunch,” I mutter.
“You need to stop distracting the help from working. They know what they’re doing. And after all this time, I’m quite sure Dora knows what you do and don’t like.”
I blink, the urge to turn around and walk out riding me hard. If she’s in this kind of mood already, what I have to tell her will make her head explode.
“Dora is more than just the help,” I snap, turning when I hear footsteps heading our way.
My father walks in, placing his briefcase next to the chair before loosening his tie. “Jake,” he greets me. I take in his expensive navy-blue suit and pale blue shirt—one I’ve seen a dozen times before but never quite as wrinkled as it is now. It almost looks like he’s slept in it.
“Everything okay?”
I look between him and my mom, who hasn’t even looked at my dad.
“Yes, just busy. Sometimes, there are not enough hours in the day.”
“I understand that,” I mutter.
“Yes, well, I’m not sure it’s quite the same thing. I have many people relying on me—”
“And Banner literally saves people’s lives,” Katy huffs as she walks in behind him, rolling her eyes.
“It is rude to interrupt, and worse to eavesdrop, young lady,” my mother snaps at her.
“I wasn’t eavesdropping. I was asked to join you, and nobody was talking in whispers. I—”
“Enough. You will learn respect, or you will not like the consequences.”
“Funny how it’s okay to interrupt me,” Katy mutters under her breath as she backs down. I stare at my mom like she’s grown another head.
“I do have another meeting to get to, Jake, so could we hurry this along?” My dad sighs, taking a seat on the sofa after pouring himself a large scotch.
I glance at Katy, who has her arms crossed in an almost protective manner and wonder what’s going on in this house. I shake my head. One problem at a fucking time.
“Seriously, Jake, we have better things to do than—”
I cut off my father’s rant with a snarl. “I came here to inform you all that Sorrow is back.”
The room goes deathly silent, and nobody moves or breathes, it seems. I look at Katy once more to see if she’s okay and realize she doesn’t look surprised at all.
“You knew.”
“I saw her yesterday.”
“You stay away from that little whore.” My mother jumps to her feet and charges toward Katy.
I grab her and haul her back. “Calm the fuck down,” I yell at her.
“Do not tell me to calm down, Jake Bannerman. That whore murdered your brother, and I’ll be dammed if I let her get her clutches into Katy and turn her into a whore too.”
She reaches for Katy, but I back her up toward the door. “Go wait in my truck.”
“Don’t you dare leave this house, young lady,” my mom snarls at her, but Katy ignores her and leaves. “Katy!” she yells before glaring at me. “This is my house, Jake, you follow my rules while you’re under my roof.”
I look over at my dad, who is typing away on his phone, oblivious to everything going on around him, before turning back to Mom. “I’ll come back and talk to you when you’ve had a chance to calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to be calm.”
With a sigh, I turn and head down the hallway toward the kitchen, ignoring my mom calling my name. I poke my head in and see Dora wringing her hands. “Going to have to take a rain check on lunch, Dora.”
“Go get your sister out of here. I’ll make it for you another day.”
I walk over and kiss her cheek before jogging outside to my sister.
Katy is quiet when I climb in, staring out the side window.
“You knew she was back?”
“She saw me sitting on the steps of her mom’s place and came out to make sure I was okay.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“And what would I say, Banner? That the girl you hate is back because her mom is dead, and she needs to sell her house? We didn’t even talk about that stuff. She was just worried about me.”
I huff out a laugh, but she turns and glares at me. “She’s not staying anyway, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
Silence fills the truck, neither one of us knowing what to say for a minute.
“You know she doesn’t speak?”
“What?”
“Sorrow. She can’t speak. I don’t know if she got hurt in the crash or if it’s from something else. But yeah, she doesn’t talk at all.”
I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to say to that.
I’m finding it hard to have sympathy for her, though part of me reels from the fact I’ll never hear her voice again.
I shake my head, pissed at myself for thinking about her at all.
She’s barely been back two minutes, and she’s already causing problems.
“What’s going on with Dora?” I ask, changing the subject as I pull away from the house and head home.
Katy rubs her eyes with the heel of her hands. “When I leave for college, Dora’s leaving too. Mom’s pissed because she’ll have to do things herself or have to hire someone else, and she hates change. You know that.”
I sigh. “She probably thought Dora would work there forever. I’ll admit, I’ll be sad to see her go. But with us both gone, there won’t be much for her to do.”
“Oh, I doubt Mom would have any issue finding her things to do. But that’s not the reason she’s leaving.
She stays for me, so I’ve got some kind of constant in the house.
But things are not the same since…” Her voice trails off, but I can fill in the blanks.
Not the same since I left. Not the same since Alec died and Dad checked out.
I think about my mom’s almost manic reaction to things. “She always like that?”
“Dora?” Katy frowns.
“Mom.”
Katy chuckles, but there is no warmth in it. “That was nothing.”
“Katy—”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s my first week of school being out. I just want to enjoy it without all the drama Mom brings to everything.”
“Fine. I’ll drop you at my place and leave you in peace.”
“Thank you.”
“Mom’s right about one thing, though—you need to stay away from Sorrow.”
“Banner—”
“No. I’d give you the world, Katy cat, but I won’t budge on this. Just stay away from her. Like you said, she’ll be leaving soon anyway.”
She turns away from me. “Lucky her.”