Chapter Seventeen #2
Her sister’s comment stung. But maybe she was being overly sensitive because Willow had a great father who was involved in her life and Sage’s father had abandoned his family and had no interest in knowing her. Or was that gnawing little ache just a symptom of burnout? She went with the latter.
Let me know when you’re off the phone, and I’ll come collect, Jake texted, adding a fire and an eggplant emoji.
She laughed, a warm, little flutter in her stomach offsetting the gnawing little ache in her chest.
“I can’t believe you think this is funny, Sage. This is serious. And I’m not the only one who’s unhappy about this. Cami thinks Mom’s using Flynn as payback for your father abandoning you both to be with her.”
It was funny how Willow’s perspective had changed, and not ha-ha funny, at least not to Sage. She’d had company in her abandonment when she and Willow had believed they were biological sisters. Somehow, it had made it easier to bear knowing her father hadn’t abandoned just her but Willow too.
Sage scrubbed a hand over her face. She’d thought more about her father in the past couple of days than she had in years, and she blamed Cami and her damn memoir. Which might have been why Sage’s response was sharper than she’d intended.
“That’s a pile of crap and you know it, Will. Maybe you should be spending more time with Mom than Cami, if you’re buying into her bullshit.”
“Sage!” Willow gasped.
“What? I’m not going to let you parrot Cami’s narcissistic crap about our mother and not call you on it. Do you honestly believe Mom would stoop so low, be so unkind and vindictive, as to use Flynn to get back at Cami?”
“No! I’m just repeating what Cami said.”
“Maybe instead of repeating what she said, you should call her on her lies. How do you think Mom would feel if she heard this kind of crap? Or Flynn, for that matter?”
“I’m pretty sure they’ve already heard it. Cami was calling them both.”
“And who told you and Cami about Mom and Flynn?”
“I told you already. Nonna did.”
“Of course she did,” Sage muttered.
“But it’s not just Cami and me who are upset, Sage. My sisters are too.”
The gnawing little ache grew, and Sage didn’t like that it did. She was happy her sister had bonded with her biological family. It was just that, at the moment, it felt like she was choosing them over Sage and Gia.
“I bet August isn’t upset, is he?”
“Please, he’s a guy.”
“Yeah, a smart guy whose only concern will be that his dad is happy. A smart guy who thinks our mother is the bomb. Did you ever notice how August spends half his time at family celebrations talking to Mom? And that he calls her at least a couple of times a month? And you know why he does, Will? Because she’s cool, and kind, and funny, and just all-around awesome.
And as much as I think Flynn is a great guy, he’d be damn lucky if our mother loved him. ”
“Why are you so angry about this? You make it sound like I’m choosing sides. I didn’t call you for a lecture, Sage. I called hoping you’d talk some sense into Mom.”
“Then you called the wrong person. Mom doesn’t need my opinion on her love life. She also doesn’t need yours, Cami’s, Flynn’s daughters’, or Nonna’s. And a word of advice, you might want to lower the temperature on this instead of fanning the flames.”
“I’m not…” Willow sighed. “I’ll let you go. It’s obvious I shouldn’t have called you so early. Feel better.” The line went dead.
Sage stared at the phone, in awe of her sister’s ability to blame Sage’s reaction on a lack of sleep.
Her phone rang in her hand. She glanced at the screen.
Nonna calling. Sage was in a bad mood now thanks to her sister.
No way was she talking to her grandmother.
She declined the call and kept declining them as fast as they came in.
“Tap your screen any harder, and you’ll damage it,” Jake said from where he stood in the doorway.
“Trust me, I won’t.” She tapped it again.
“It’s not work calling you, is it?”
She groaned. “How could I forget. If it weren’t for my nonna, I’d be back at my desk right now.” She tossed her ringing phone onto the bed. “The way it’s looking, it would be a lot less stressful for me to be at work than hanging out in Sunshine Bay.”
“What’s going on?” he asked as he picked up her ringing phone and turned it off.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” she asked, and she wasn’t being sarcastic. She honestly hadn’t thought about just turning off her phone.
“Did Willow ever get to the reason for her call?” he asked, lying down beside her on the bed.
“Oh yeah, which is probably why I didn’t think to just turn off my phone.” She repeated her conversation with her sister verbatim, including her side of it. She caught his wince. “Do you think I was too harsh?”
“I wouldn’t say harsh. You were standing up for your mom, and really, it’s no one’s business but hers and Flynn’s.”
“What aren’t you saying?”
“It’s none of my business.”
“That’s just a cop-out.”
“You sounded a little defensive, but I’m sure Willow understands how some of the things she said would make you feel.”
“Honestly, I don’t think she had a clue. It was so weird. We’re in our thirties, almost thirties in Willow’s case, yet when it comes to family stuff, you revert back to your teenage-self or kid-self.”
“I do the same with my mother. Or at least I used to.”
“When you saw that car outside the restaurant last night, were you talking to your mom?”
“Yeah. She was blowing up my phone.”
“How did she get your number?”
He looked up at the ceiling. “I gave it to her.” He glanced at her. “Aren’t you going to tell me that was a stupid thing to do?”
“I’m pretty sure you found that out all by yourself.”
He gave her hair a gentle tug and smiled. “I did. But it was right after I had learned my father died in prison, and I guess I was feeling guilty and wanted to check on her.”
“And obviously you still feel guilty since you haven’t gotten a new number.” She turned on her side to face him. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to say I’m sorry your dad died. He was an abusive alcoholic and didn’t deserve a son like you, but he was still your father.”
“Yeah, he was, and to be honest, I didn’t know how to feel when I learned he died. He’d reached out to me a few times not long before. Said he’d found religion and wanted to make amends. He’d asked me to come see him.”
“Did you go?”
“Yeah, I did.” He gave his head a slight shake. “His church needed money, and he thought I’d want to write them a big fat check because they’d helped him see the light.”
She rubbed his arm. “I’m sorry.”
He lifted a shoulder like it didn’t matter. “In a way, I’m glad I went. My last memories of him aren’t from when I was a kid. He was a lot less scary than I remembered.”
“Do you still have nightmares?” She’d stayed over one weekend at Alice’s and had woken up to Jake yelling, battling an invisible foe.
“No. I’ve dealt with my demons a long time ago.”
“What are you going to do about your mother? You can’t have her showing up here and scaring off your clients.”
“I told her I’d pay for her to go into treatment, but that was the only money she’d get from me. I also told her that next time she shows up and threatens you or me, I’m calling the police.” His eyes crinkled at the corners with amusement. “What are you going to do about your demons?”
“I don’t have—” she began, only to be cut off by her grandmother banging on the front door. “Sage, I need to talk to you!”
“So much for me collecting on my bet,” Jake said, and got out of the bed.