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Alex lets out a whoop, and we drive back toward the house.
I’m just telling Alex to make sure she cleans up when the screen door at my mother’s house bangs. Mom marches down the porch steps, glaring at me, her fists on her hips.
“Uh-oh,” Alex mutters. “Your mom looks angry.”
“Head on inside,” I say. “I’ll be in in just a second.”
Alex hurries inside with a concerned backward glance. My mother has the good grace to wait until she’s gone before circling around to Cash’s picket gate and opening it. She hesitates, checking that his car isn’t parked in the garage or driveway, then steps onto the property.
“June,” she says.
“Mom?”
“You’ve got some real nerve, you know that? You come back to town, tell me you need my help, and then disappear.” She taps her foot on the front path. “You know, I expected more of you. I graciously offered you a room in the house, and all I asked for was a little financial help. Instead, you’re out here—”
“Mom, I told you that I wanted to get back on my feet and save up to study. And I’m not staying under your roof, eating your food, or using your electricity. I don’t owe you money.” It feels so good to say that. Those are the words I’ve been afraid of saying for years.
When I was with Braydon, I had an “allowance” and I’d send as much of it back to my mom as possible.
“You said you would pay,” Mom says, pointing a finger at my chest.
The last time she was here asking for money, Cash told her to get lost. Now, it’s my turn. “I’m not giving you money.”
“How dare you! How dare you talk to your own mother like that? After the trouble you caused me? I wouldn’t need any of this help if you’d just kept my secrets.”
“Those should never have been my secrets to keep,” I said, shaking my head. “You ruined your relationship with dad. You were the reason he left. And how dare you think you have the right to step onto this property and cause a scene when there is a child inside who needs my care? How dare you interfere in my life? My private affairs? How dare you!”
A weight lifts off my shoulders.
My mother takes a step back.
“You haven’t supported my decisions unless they directly benefit you,” I say, and it hurts because it’s true. I’m not sure my mother loves me.
The screen door at her house slams a second time, and Olivia emerges, adding another layer of awful to this encounter. I can’t have her over here. Not with Alex to care for. I spin around, scanning the front of Cash’s house, my heart pounding against my throat, but Alex doesn’t appear to be watching.
Olivia comes to a halt next to my mother. “I know I didn’t hear you raising your voice at Patricia.”
I blink.
Olivia’s always been “out there,” willing to make people uncomfortable, and I think that’s what my mother likes about her.
“You can’t be here,” I say stiffly.
“What are you going to do about it?” Olivia asks.
“Call the cops.”
“You can do that,” she says, pressing her fingers to her chin, beneath her lips and itching furiously, “but it’s a waste of time. I’ll just say that I was never here, and that I live next door. What am I supposed to do about that?”
“Move,” I say. “You’re not allowed here.”
Olivia narrows her eyes. “You really think you’re hot shit, don’t you?”
I take a breath. “You have thirty seconds to leave this property. If you’re not gone by the time I reach the front door, I’m going to call the cops.” Heck, either way, I’m going to call them and Cash. Olivia’s presence is a serious problem.
“Thirty seconds.” Olivia laughs. “Just remember, I had him first. He’ll always be my man. And she’ll always be my child.”
“Wrong on both accounts,” I say, and then I turn and walk away before I explode and make the situation worse than it already is.
