Page 73 of Fight Or Flight

But then Elizabeth went and fucking died.

She’d been looking forward to the day the old battle-axe finally took leave. But the timing couldn’t have been worse. It was incredibly frustrating that even in death, Elizabeth seemed to have the upper hand.

She clicked along the floor, not bothering to take off her heels, and headed straight for the mirrored sideboard along the dining room wall, where she kept the liquor. She’d already taken four painkillers that morning, but nothing cleared a headache like a couple glasses of wine, followed by a few gin and tonics.

Her campaign manager, and long-time best friend, Tina, came through the door just as she emptied the rest of last night’s half-consumed bottle of pinot noir into her glass and took a long drink.

“Anne, isn’t it a little too early in the day for that?”

She swallowed and shook her head. “What did you hear?”

Tina looked away as Anne took another long drink. She’d known Tina since they were children in school, over forty years, and could tell when she was so uncomfortable that it closed up her throat. She also knew from experience that yelling and threatening her wouldn’t work to force the words out.

Tina had a very long fuse, but even she had a limit to what she’d take.

Anne reached for another bottle and the opener and helped herself to another glass while she waited. Finally, Tina found her voice.

“The poll results came in. It’s just as you thought. Ninety-six percent of people who didn’t vote for you cited ‘scandal’ as the reason.”

Anne threw the corkscrew across the room. It sailed through the air, hit the floor with a clank, then skidded along before crashing into the bottom stair.

Tina’s brows shot up, and she took several big steps back.

“What else?”

“Everyone’s talking about the baseball tournament last night. Apparently, Susan Carlisle’s daughter, Lindsay, with the red hair you say looks trashy, made a big scene. She and Derek were drunk and fighting again. It came out that Lindsay actuallycheated on Ethan Pierce with Derek, and . . . they did it in the back seat of Ethan’s truck.”

Anne rolled her eyes closed and squeezed the bridge of her nose. “Why am I supposed to care about this? Get to the point, dammit!”

“Mom?”

Anne snapped her head up and came face to face with Emily. She stared in shock for a moment, wondering whether she was seeing things. Then remembered bits and pieces of two nights ago when Emily came home from Toronto and said she was staying for a while. She should have known better than to come home so late in the evening when Anne’s memory was more likely to be fuzzy.

“Emily. What is it?”

“Are you drinking again?”

Anne looked down at the glass and bottle in front of her and then back up at Emily. “It seems pretty obvious that I am. It’s not a big deal.”

“That’s what you said the last time.”

“It’s under control. When are you going back to the dorms, Emily?”

“Back to the dorms? Mom . . .”

Emily stared at her for a long moment, then glanced at Tina before looking back. “I graduated. In the spring. You came to the graduation. I’m here for the summer now. We talked about this two nights ago.”

Anne had a flicker of memory cross her mind. She remembered it was a long conversation, but for the life of her, couldn’t remember most of it. She had probably explained why she came back to Mapleton and what her plans were, but Anne couldn’t be sure they’d had that conversation.

“Of course, dear. I meant, have they moved your stuff out of your dorm already?”

Emily’s face took on an exhausted look. She looked too old and dumpy for a twenty-five-year-old. And she was gaining weight again, too.

“I moved out in April. I’d tell you more, but you won’t remember it, anyway.”

“It’s fine, Emily. You look tired, and I can tell you haven’t been eating right. You’re gaining again. I’ll book us into the spa next week. You need a facial.”

Without another word, Emily turned on her heel and left the room. Her daughter was angry with her, but one day, she’d thank her.

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