Chapter Twenty-Six
The weekend without the company of her mother was exactly what Luna had needed.
At Nate’s apartment, Luna picked up her car to drive home. Despite what she’d told Karen, they had taken Nate’s car since he had chains and there was the possibility that they’d need them.
Luna held no shame for the white lie she’d fed her mother.
With promises of seeing Nate again on Tuesday when they were going over their final report for Marcus, Luna made her way back home.
Ten minutes to her front door and her phone rang.
“Hey, Miley.”
“Are you on your way home?”
Something was wrong. “Yeah, about ten minutes. What’s up?”
“Your mom has company.”
“She what?” Luna demanded.
“She introduced him as Ben. They’re in the kitchen making dinner.”
Luna put a death-grip on the steering wheel.
“What? Fuck no . . . She what? Do we know this guy?” Even as the words came out of her mouth, Luna realized how stupid they sounded.
Of course they didn’t know the guy. Her mother hadn’t visited in five years, so unless this was one of her ex-husbands, Luna and Miley wouldn’t know him.
“You did not just ask that. No, we don’t know him,” Miley half shouted.
“How long has he been there?”
“I didn’t ask. I’ve been home for ten minutes.”
Luna picked up the pace, pushing the speed limit as much as she could without gaining attention and getting a ticket. “Are they drunk? Is he belligerent?”
“Drinking, yes . . . drunk? I don’t think they’d pass a Breathalyzer. He was polite, shook my hand.”
“Fuck.” This wasn’t good.
“You’ve been warned. I’m gonna shower. I’ll come downstairs once you’re home.”
“Dammit, Miley.”
“I know. Deep breath. He seems nice, for what it’s worth.”
She disconnected the call.
Of course . . . of course her mother has a “friend” over. A male friend. The minute Luna stepped away.
Her mother was like an insubordinate child.
She’d told her not to burn the house down while she was gone but failed to say she couldn’t have a sleepover.
Had the man been there all weekend?
Luna hadn’t noticed any car in the driveway from the outside cameras. And after watching the few times her mother stepped outside to smoke, Luna had stopped pulling up the app to spy on the house.
Clearly that was a mistake.
Miley had gone straight to work from her friend’s place that day, so there was no telling how long this Ben had been there.
Luna pulled up the driveway, her headlights only catching Miley’s car where she always parked it.
Luna tucked the Lexus in the detached garage, gathered her suitcase, and rolled it to the side door.
A familiar sense of dread echoed with each heartbeat. Squaring her shoulders and stiffening her spine, Luna stepped inside to an unfamiliar voice.
“Is that you, honey?” Karen called out sugary sweet.
Textbook. When a man was around it was all “honey” and “sweetie.” Like they had the best relationship in the world.
“It’s me.”
Luna hung her jacket on a hook and pushed the luggage off to the side.
She’d deal with that later.
Stepping around the corner, Luna saw her mother first.
Standing behind the island, Karen had her hair pulled back and makeup on. And she was wearing a shirt Luna hadn’t seen before. Considering her mother had come with one suitcase and Luna had seen every article of clothing her mother probably owned at least twice, the new shirt stuck out.
Karen was ear to ear smiles. “Did you have a fun trip?”
Small talk? Luna dug her fingernails into her palm to keep her composure.
A man that stood a good foot taller than her had his back to Luna, his hands on a pair of tongs as he flipped what smelled like steak in a pan, and her mother was uttering small talk.
“I did,” Luna answered.
“We were just about to have dinner,” Karen said.
“We have plenty if you haven’t eaten.” Ben finally turned around and spoke in a slight Southern accent.
He had a mustache and a beard, not completely out of control, but GQ wouldn’t be calling him anytime soon for a photoshoot.
He looked like a rinse and repeat of every man Luna had ever known her mother to be with.
His smile displayed a back tooth that was missing, the teeth that were left were yellow, likely from the cigarette habit all of Karen’s men seemed to share.
Nobody wanted to kiss an ashtray unless you were an ashtray.
The worn-out jeans covered his slim hips, and he had to be a good eight years younger than her mother.
“I’m sorry . . . do I know you?” Luna asked him directly.
“No, honey. This is Ben. Ben, this is my youngest baby girl, Luna.”
Ben wiped his hands on a towel before taking a few steps in her direction.
Luna had no choice but to greet the man with a handshake.
“Your mother’s told me a lot about you. She said you liked red wine. I brought you a bottle. There’s a winery in Napa that I stop by every time I drive through.” Ben let go of her hand and offered his tarnished smile.
Luna glanced at the counter where the wine sat.
“You didn’t have to do that.” Luna kept a forced smile on her face.
“It’s the least I could do. I appreciate you letting me stay here tonight.”
Ben nodded once and turned back to the stove.
“Right . . .” Luna blinked . . . twice. “Mom, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Luna didn’t wait for an answer and started walking toward the hall.
“I’ll be right back,” Karen said to Ben.
Luna waited until they were deep in the house where voices didn’t carry.
“Really, Mom?” Luna said in a tight whisper.
“It’s not what you think,” Karen started.
“It’s exactly what I think.”
“He’s only driving through. I asked him over because I’m trying to get him to give me a ride back to Alabama. I know me being here isn’t easy on you.”
Every cussword swam in Luna’s head. Her mother was saying what she wanted to hear . . . that she was going to leave. But Ben? In the house?
“It’s only one night.”
“Is he going back to Alabama tomorrow?” Luna asked.
“No,” Karen said. “He has a job up and down the coast. He’ll be back around later in the week to pick me up.”
Luna looked up to see Miley standing a few feet away.
She’d heard Karen’s explanation.
Miley lifted her shoulders and mouthed the words one night and nodded.
Luna hated this. “One night, Mom. If there’s any indication of something shitty, he’s out.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Ben will be on his best behavior. I told him how much you like your privacy and don’t care for strangers in your home.”
Well at least her mother was remembering whose house it was.
Karen was smiling again and then extended hospitality as if she owned the place. “He makes a mean steak. You should join us.”
“I’m good.”
Karen made her way back to the kitchen.
Miley followed Luna until they were standing in the laundry room by the only downstairs bedroom.
“You sure you’re okay with this?” Luna asked.
“If this means your mother is going to leave in a few days, I’m totally good with this.”
And that was the bottom line.
They both needed their peace back.
Resigned to her mother’s will, Luna said, “Lock the door to your room tonight.”
Miley messed up her face. “Seriously?”
“My mother’s judgment in men sucks. He came with a bribe, he knew damn well I didn’t okay his stay and acted like it was a done deal. And you can see how she’s acting.”
“Women sometimes act different around the men they’re sleeping with,” Miley said.
“Only ones who are putting on a show,” Luna countered.
Unfortunately for her, she’d seen this act before and had memorized all the lines, knew how it ended.
“The only reason I’m letting this happen is to get my mother to go without a massive blowup.
I don’t think our relationship can stand much more. ”
Miley placed a hand on Luna’s arm. “Only a couple more days.”
“From your lips to God’s ears.”
Luna dozed off sometime after three in the morning.
By six thirty, she was wide awake again.
Ben was gone.
She’d heard her mother giggling in her bedroom and the occasional deep voice of a man the night before. Then there was quiet . . . and then not so quiet.
Neither Luna nor Miley had had sex in that house in well over a year, and yet Karen . . .
Luna’s morning coffee met the acid in her stomach and churned it.
Miley stumbled into the kitchen, looking just as sleep deprived as Luna felt. “Did you get any sleep?” she asked.
Luna pointed at her own face. “Does it look like I did?”
Holding herself up in front of the coffeepot as she poured a cup, Miley moaned. “My bedroom is closer to hers than yours.”
“That’s so disgusting.” Luna could practically smell the stale perfume of sex, cigarettes, and alcohol.
“The second the imagined image of the two of them going at it hit my frontal cortex, I couldn’t unsee it,” Miley said.
“Thanks for that,” Luna said sarcastically. That wasn’t where her mind had gone, but now that Miley led it there, that’s all Luna saw. A picture to go with the odor.
“I’m a giver.”
“He’s gone,” Luna said.
“I know. I heard him leaving.”
Luna felt guilty. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I agreed to him staying.” Miley moved to the kitchen table and took a seat opposite Luna.
“I get it now, though. All the things you’ve told me about your mom.
In full color and sound . . . sadly. I only saw the fake side with the occasional eye roll.
Not that I didn’t believe you about how she was . . . is.”
Luna lowered her voice. “She can only hide the bitter and ugly side for so long. Until you’ve lived with it, you can’t possibly understand its depth. There’s a reason why Harper, Ash, and I all lived in this house with Nana at one time or another.”
Miley glanced over her shoulder. “I think once she’s out of here, we need to set some clear boundaries about any future visits.”
“I’m one step ahead of you. If I’d called Ash last night and told him about Ben, he would have been here by midnight, and hell would have broken loose.
He’ll tolerate Mom, but not a boyfriend.
When he hears about this, he’ll go off. Putting Mom in her place is already a done deal, she just doesn’t know it yet. ”
“When are you going to tell him?” Miley asked.
“After she leaves. Unless there’s some excuse as to why she doesn’t. Or he notices something on the cameras and asks. I won’t lie to him directly.” By omission on the other hand . . .
“I take it you didn’t tell Nate.”
“No!” Luna exclaimed. “He would have called Ash. If Mom follows her normal pattern, she’ll be on her best behavior between now and the time she leaves.
That way when she gets home, she can rationalize any fault she carries about being here.
Tell us that we overreacted about Ben, or smoking in the house, or showing up unannounced and uninvited.
She’ll conveniently forget anything ugly.
She believes her own lies after she repeats them to herself time and time again. ”
They both turned to the sound of footsteps getting closer.
The subject of Karen was instantly dropped.
“How was Leavenworth?” Miley asked.
Luna lifted her voice to a normal volume. “Fabulous. Nate’s friends were super nice.”
Karen all but bounced into the kitchen. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Miley replied.
“Someone is up early,” Luna added.
“A good man will do that to you.”
Karen’s answer to everything.
“Or an early morning job,” Miley said.
“We all know that’s not me,” Karen said, some of that syrup in her disposition dripped with each word.
Stop it! Luna told herself. She really needed to take her mother’s good mood without standing in judgment.
“Luna, hon, do you have any time today to maybe take me to Supercuts or something like it? I really need to do something with this.” Karen pulled at the edges of her hair. “Ben gave me a little money to float me until I get back to work.”
Of course he did.
Stop it!
“Sure, Mom. No problem.”
“Great. And thank you both for making Ben feel so welcome last night. He thinks you’re something, Luna. ‘Beautiful and smart.’ When I told him you were working with an FBI agent, he about shit himself.”
Why? Does he have warrants?
Stop it!!!
There was so much wrong with what her mother had just said, but instead of calling it out or correcting her, Luna smiled and said, “That’s great.
Mom . . . you really did put Miley and I on the spot, though.
We both agree well in advance before we invite a man to stay over.
” Luna’s words were steady and as kind as they could be.
Karen nodded and smiled. “I know. And I am sorry to have done that to you, but . . .”
Luna bit her tongue to avoid rolling her eyes. I’m sorry, but . . .
“He surprised me. I figured if he didn’t linger it would be okay. And when he drives back through, I’ll give you girls your privacy back.” Her mom’s voice bounced on the word privacy.
“Did the bar open back up?” Miley asked.
“The what?”
“The bar. The one you work at that closed down because of the health department?” Miley clarified.
“Oh, uhm . . . yeah.” Karen looked away and searched for a cup. “One of the girls I work with said it’s all back up to speed. They really do need me there. These young kids make every excuse to avoid weekend shifts so they can hang out with their friends. It’s us old farts that they can depend on.”
Why did Luna have to spot a lie a mile away? Wouldn’t it be great if she could just hear her mother mutter on and believe her? Not one thing she’d just said affected Luna, but the fabrication of the truth grated on her every nerve regardless.
“That’s great, Karen,” Miley said.
“They were even talking to me about management before I left. I already do some of the scheduling, and inventory.”
“That would be good.” If it were true, Luna mused. “What’s the name of the place? Is it a chain?”
Karen shook her head. “Not a chain. It’s called the Roadhouse.”
Luna wondered if her mother knew that violations to health codes were publicly available.
Stop it!