Page 138 of Always: A Legacy Novel

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not, I’m—”

“Lying to me,” her mother interjected softly. “Why are you lying to me?”

Something painful lodged in Catherine’s throat, but she got the words out anyway. “I don’t want to keep causing problems, Ma. It doesn’t matter what’s wrong, I can handle it, okay? There’s enough problems in this house without me adding to it with something that won’t help at all, so please leave it alone.”

“Problems.” Catrina blew out a slow breath, and still kept hold of Catherine, refusing to let her move. “There’s no problems, Catty.”

“That’s bullshit, Ma, but whatever. If there’s nothing wrong with you, then there’s nothing wrong with me. No lies and secrets, right? It’s Daddy’s new thing—no lies or secrets here.”

Catherine pulled from her mother’s grasp, and dumped her stuff in the closet without care.

“Please talk to me,” Catrina said.

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Then why are you still crying?”

“Because, Ma!”

Catrina blinked, and straightened a bit in her heels. “Catherine.”

“Everything sucks right now because I did something stupid. If it’s not you ignoring Daddy, then he’s ignoring you, or he’s ignoring me, or he’s pissed off because you took Michel to Detroit. We can’t even have dinner without it being silent and awkward, since nobody wants to talk or even look at each other! Me, I did that, and I just want this not to have happened. I’m sorry, Ma. I messed up, I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Catherine. You have to know that. It’s more than you, especially with your father and I.”

“Really, Ma? Because he’s pissed because you didn’t tell him what you knew about me, or the choices you made for me, and that’s still about me. You can spin the details, but it all comes back around, so. And then there’s—” Catherine stopped herself just in time, muttering, “Never mind, I just want to go to bed for the rest of the day.”

“No, you should finish,” her mother urged.

“I don’t want to.”

Catherine turned on her heel, and headed down the hallway. Catrina only let her get a few steps before she found herself looking her mother in the face once more.

“Finish,” Catrina said gently.

Catherine was not accustomed to that kind of tone from her mother.

“Cross,” Catherine whispered. “There’s him, too. But he doesn’t matter, or he doesn’t get to in this house because Daddy doesn’t want him to. So yeah, Ma, just leave it alone.”

“Give your father some time with Cross,” Catrina said, shrugging. “It’s all you can do.”

“It’s already too late, Ma.”

Catrina reached up and used the heel of her hand to wipe Catherine’s tears away. “Please don’t cry, mia bambina. It hurts me when you cry, and I don’t know how to fix it. I’m not like you, Catherine, I don’t show these things like you do. So I just … I don’t know what to do for you.”

“I’m sorry. For everything, Ma.”

Catrina pulled Catherine in for a tight hug that ached, but soothed at the same time. “Don’t be sorry, my girl. Not everything is for you to fix.”

Maybe not.

She was still the cause.

“I’m sorry about Cross, too,” her mother murmured.

Catherine shrugged. “I wanted to make it better.”