Page 62 of Willow Vale

Only, there was no mistaking the freckles along her pale cheeks or her upturned nose. The clothes Irene wore were baggy, but I could tell she’d lost a lot of weight in the almost five years since she left town. She was practically all bones, her face sunken in a way that broke my heart. It was scary seeing her this way. It made me sick to my stomach.

There were more strands of gray than brown in her matted hair and it was all pulled back into a low ponytail. There were dark bags under her eyes and her lips were cracked.

It physically hurt to see her like this.

“Delilah?” Irene rasped, the sound of her voice making me wince. She looked momentarily stunned. As if she couldn’t believe she was seeing me. Probably a warped mirror image of how I looked now. It lasted all of a few seconds before she smiled and rushed over to me. “Hey, kid! Oh, I’ve missed you so much!” She stumbled toward me before wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug.

Utterly unaware of the way she spun my world upside down.

Again.

CHAPTER 23

Lila

Irene sounded genuinelyhappy to see me. I couldn’t say the same. If anything, I felt panic start to bloom inside my chest. Why was she here? Was she here to see River? Take him? She wouldn’t try to do that, she signed over her rights?—

“I heard that you were working here but I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen you! But I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, huh?” Her laugh grated on my ears, making my swirling thoughts screech to a halt.

I knew Desi was standing behind me, but I couldn’t look at her. Not when I felt what I was sure was a panic attack coming on with all the thoughts I had rushing through my mind.

“So this is your kid, Irene?” The man beside Irene asked, taking me in with an appreciation that made my skin crawl.

Irene finally let me go and beamed at the man, “Delilah, this is Mark. Mark, this is my daughter and my very own pride and joy. Isn’t she beautiful?”

I avoided her touch before she could pat my cheek. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want her touching me, especially notwhen she barely looked like she was on this planet when she looked at me with glassy eyes.

Oh, Mom. What have you done to yourself?

“What are you doing here?” I asked, forcing myself to be as detached around her as I could. The second she saw my mask crack, she’d try to dig deep to hurt me again just like when I was a kid. Throwing insults and belittling me at every turn.

Irene seemed to sober up a little at my questioning. “Since you weren’t answering me, we decided to drive over to see you. Figured your phone was broken or something. Besides, is it a crime for a mother to come pay her child a visit?”

There was a reason for that. After I got over my cold, Travis and I went to the store to get my number changed. He’d remembered what I said before and he had every intention of being there with me when I took that step toward cutting Irene off. I’d felt strong for the first time in a long time, knowing that I was taking that step to protect myself.

I was a fool to think it would be as easy as that.

I couldn’t find the words to say before she started again. “It’s good that we finally found each other. I was counting on it. I know I always can when it comes to you. Speaking of that, Mark really needs that money I mentioned before. You see, we have bills coming up and, well you know...”

Mark grunted as he cast a sideways glance her way before making his way over to an empty booth.

“Lila…” Desi tried to speak up, but she was cut off by Irene.

“So, are you going to give me cash or a check?” She held a shaky hand out toward me like a child asking for candy.

“Let’s go outside.” I sighed, trying my best not to cause a scene in the bar.

Desi placed her hand on my shoulder before I could take a step toward the door. I looked over my shoulder to see her shaking her head with a concerned expression. “Actually, Lila’s working, Irene. She can’t talk right now.”

Irene’s lips twisted. “Ah, Desiree. Why am I not surprised you’re following Delilah around? You always did stick your nose where it didn’t belong.”

“And you never seemed to stick around at all, if memory serves,” Desi shot back.

“Okay, enough,” I said before they could both get into an argument because of me. It wouldn’t be the first time my best friend got into a yelling match with Irene for me. I wasn’t about to let that happen now. I looked at Desi. “Please, just let me talk to her. I won’t take long, promise.”

“That’s not what I meant?—”

I gave her hand a squeeze. “I know.”

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