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“I did exactly what the recipe said.” Indignation dripped from Emmitt’s words.
Miranda saw herself in him. She had grown up in such an odd house. She’d never been able to explain it, but what her parents were doing now was not normal.
“All recipes need a little tweaking for personal tastes,” Sandra chimed in, like she was almost flirting with him.
“Oh.” Emmitt’s chest puffed up, and Miranda wondered what had gotten into him. As she adjusted the items in the dish, she watched her mother talking to Tierney, her fingers gently stroking her younger daughter’s arm. Had Miranda slipped into another world where she wasn’t the sole responsible grown up? The feeling didn’t sit well with her. She was so thrown for a loop, and this wasn’t how she’d thought tonight would go.
Once dinner was ready, the four of them sat at the table as though it were just another standard day in their lives. Miranda looked at the three in turn and wondered if any of them sensed the shift in the air or understood the changes she saw glaring at her.
“So, why is our little Rebel not here with us?” Emmitt asked, sounding almost disappointed.
Miranda couldn’t decide if he meant it or if it was for her benefit.
“I wanted to talk to you all—about Rebel.” No time like the present, though she had been enjoying the facade of family bliss.
Tierney looked up, and Miranda’s throat clogged with a lump of dread. Tierney’s eyes were glassy, as though tears were held back by sheer force of will. Miranda had all the power in the room. It hit her in an instant. Miranda was the one who had control when it came to Rebel, even though Tierney was her mother. This wasn’t about a power play anymore. It was about teaching Tierney how to hold that same power in her own life.
“She’s trying, Miranda,” Sandra spoke up for Tierney.
“I know.” Miranda’s voice was so gentle, the entire shift of her tactics happening in an instant. She smiled at Tierney, who couldn’t meet her eyes for longer than a second. “You have an amazing daughter, Tierney.”
“But not because of me,” Tierney whispered, guiltily.
Miranda’s chest tightened, and she wished to have even a fraction of the people skills Tori had. How Tori and Tierney were the same age still blew Miranda away. Tori was so much more mature.. Miranda was about to speak, but her dad jumped in first.
“So you’re wanting to take Rebel away from Tierney?” Emmitt asked with such a placid tone, shoveling a forkful of curry into his mouth as he waited for an answer. Miranda might have mistaken the words as him asking about the weather if the hiss of quiet hadn’t rippled through all three women sitting at the table with the man.
“No,” Miranda snapped out. “I don’t want to take her away.” She knew that as absolutely true the moment the words were out of her mouth. She’d thought about it, wondered if she’d have to, but ultimately, she had avoided the paperwork and calls that would get the ball rolling. She didn’t want Rebel to be without her mother, not like Tierney had been when she was growing up.
“You don’t?’ Tierney asked, her jaw dropping in surprise.
“No, I don’t.” Miranda leaned back in her chair, shaking her head, her fork abandoned on the table beside her bowl. She couldn’t eat. Not right now, not when there were so many emotions swirling around in her belly that she could barely drag one out at a time to label it before diving in for the next.
She supposed she couldn’t really be that insulted by the idea they would think that. The thought had occurred to her so many times throughout the years, and especially since this latest stunt started. But she couldn’t do it. It was the last thing Rebel needed. It was the last thing Miranda wanted.
“Tierney, I just want to help.”
Tori’s words rang in her ears. Miranda swallowed the words she didn’t want to speak but knew she had to. Why were emotions always so hard for her family? They were damn good at avoiding them, but look where that had landed everyone. Hurt. And barely able to have a civil conversation with meaning attached to it.
“I thought taking her away might be the way to help at the beginning. But I don’t think that now.”
Silence reverberated around the table, her dad still lazily eating but both Tierney and her mom staring at her with wide eyes. Miranda guessed she hadn’t told any of them this. She’d avoided it herself for so long, but Tori was right. They had to learn how to communicate with each other. One way or another.
“How can you help?” Tierney’s will broke, and the tears washed over her cheeks. Sandra’s hand rested on Tierney’s arm, as if she was suddenly the parent she’d never been before.
“I know it won’t be easy, and we’ll have to set down some ground rules, but I would love for you and Rebel to move in with me.” Miranda looked directly in Tierney’s eyes, wishing she would hear exactly what Miranda was saying.
“So you can monitor me?” Tierney’s voice rose slightly, the accusation fully there.
“No,” Miranda said calmly. She could do this. “Because I can help, and because Rebel deserves the best environment she can have in order to grow and learn.”
“I don’t understand.” Tierney threw her napkin onto the table, anger rippling from her. Miranda had expected this, but she still wasn’t entirely sure how to deal with it.
Miranda bit back her initial words. But if she let the silence linger much longer she was pretty certain her parents, who were currently not interrupting, would soon fill the gap.
“I’d like to help you find your village.”
“My what?” Tierney sneered.
