Chapter 7 #4
After a moment of silence, she said, “I think a huge part of why she is so upset is because she still cares for you, and she buried it all under anger, knowing she was wrong to do what she did, but it was justifiable. And now, finding out that somebody else in her family also knew and also wasn’t willing to give her the whole truth has made her take an even harder look at all of us.
And believe me, none of us are looking very sweet right now. ”
Riley asked, “Will she do something crazy or stupid?”
“I want to think not, but I’ve never seen her like this.
I’ve just gotten off the phone with my mom—who barely speaks to me, mind you.
She is absolutely devastated, and I gather some very straight talk happened that left them both very upset.
She finally left at Gail’s insistence, and Gail has informed her that she’s not welcome back without an invitation. ”
“Which is probably a really good thing,” he noted. “Your parents are nothing if not dominant and controlling.”
“I think it’s the controlling part that Gail is now finally seeing, and that’s—that is one of the big reasons why I did what I did because I knew they would send Simon someplace very far away just to get rid of him. I couldn’t allow that to happen,” she admitted.
“But what I did in an attempt to stop it was unforgivable, and I know that. All I can tell you is that I’m not that person, and I have been standing up to my family, but I lost pretty much everything over it.
When I say everything, I lost all my family, although my grandmother might eventually come around.
I lost everything to do with the family business where I had been working for years, so I was kicked out of the company.
I was disinherited—which is probably for the best because I refuse to have my parents around my daughter.
I mean, the hits just kept on coming. My parents told everybody in town how I got pregnant and then lied about who the father was.
My parents told their clients. I was blackballed in town by my own parents.
And, before you say it, I know it was all my fault.
That’s the repercussions of lying like I did.
You saw the immediate fallout and paid a terrible price, which you didn’t owe, but the rest of it just kept coming for you too. I’m so sorry, Riley.”
Riley frowned, backing up to an earlier comment by Debbie. “You told your mom right off the bat that you were lying?” That was another whole layer of betrayal sitting right there, for both him and Gail.
“Yes, Mom got it out of me pretty fast, but she decided not to tell Gail. She told my father, but he had already decided it was a perfect opportunity to get rid of you, so, of course, Dad never told Gail. Yet Mom told Gail earlier today that Dad told Mom how he had already told Gail.”
“Yet everybody but Gail knew. Still, your dad almost killed me,” he replied. “Even now I’m not exactly whole, and I’m sure he would have a grand ole time smirking about that too.”
Silence came from Debbie’s end, and then he heard the tears clogging her voice as she whispered, “I’m so damn sorry, Riley.” And, with that, she was gone.
He stared down at the phone, wondering how the hell a return home had caused this much chaos. And that’s when his damn phone started ringing again. He almost didn’t answer it, only to realize it was Badger.
Badger waited a second and then asked, “Are you okay?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I’m not exactly sure. What do you need, or what intel do you have?”
“I’m actually checking up on you to make sure everything is okay. You went down in that tunnel and sent some strong messages, and I know we just talked, but then I saw the rest of the messages.”
“I’m fine. I’ll get back to you in a little bit. Things have gotten … ugly down here.”
“Personal?”
“Yes, personal,” he muttered, with a laugh. “I have Cain right beside me though, and we have some dog food now. I was at my brother Jeremy’s house, but I need to head to Mom’s, and, if you know anything about her at all, that’s a little difficult too.”
Badger hesitated.
“Don’t get me wrong. She loves me. Absolutely she loves me, but it’s not a love that you can live with,” he explained. “It’s a suffocating love that’s all about—” And he thought about Gail’s parents and what he had just told Debbie. “My mother is all about control.”
“Ah, well, … there’s control for manipulation, and there’s control out of love, trying to do what she thinks is best for you.”
“Yeah, and it would be that one in this case.” Riley sighed. “It still doesn’t make it very easy to deal with though.”
“No, it never is, but I have faith in you.” And, with that, he ended the call.
In the vehicle, he stared down at Cain and asked, “So where should we go?” Riley really wanted to go see Gail, but, if he didn’t respond to his mom soon, that would become a bigger issue. Deciding on the easier route, he chose to do what he wanted to do.
He sent his mom a text saying that he was delayed and that he’d contact her when he could. And then he picked up the keys, turned on the engine, and headed to Gail.