Page 9 of The Heiress

“Just one at a time,” she reminded me over and over again. It helped and now I was cruising along, currently sifting through what appeared to be their high school memorabilia. I hadn’t realized my parents were so sentimental. Sure there were photos everywhere and souvenirs from every single trip they ever took, but as their child I was able to glaze over those eccentricities as simply a part of who they were.

Now I had to face reality. My parents were borderline hoarders. They had “memories” saved from everything. Their prom, my prom, my first trip to Lion Country Safari, Disney, and SeaWorld. They had every report card ever sent home and some of my progress reports.

They may have hidden a massive secret from me, but the evidence of their love for me was literally everywhere.

“Look at this cutie!” Hazel held up a very old picture of me in the pinkest dress ever made. I had a ponytail with a matching pink ribbon.

It was nauseatingly girly. “Look at those bangs! What a bad choice I made. I think I may have cut those myself, actually. Look how short they are.”

Hazel turned it back around and smiled. “I bet short bangs will be trendy again and then you won’t cringe at this photo.”

I highly doubted that.

She sifted through the short stack of photos and held up another from the series. “Who is this adorable young man smiling at you, hmmm?”

I didn’t have to look to know it was Jace. I shrugged it off. “Just a childhood friend.”

“A childhoodboyfriend?”

I rolled my eyes. “How old fashioned of you, Hazel. Must every boy I’ve taken a photo with be paraded out as a potential mate?”

She gasped in horror, even put her hand to her chest. “How dare you! I mean, on the one hand yes, the entire point of existence is to procreate and one would require mating with the opposite sex to achieve such a result. However, as a species, we’ve evolved far beyond that base instinct. We have art and music and science and medicine that allows every one of us to be so much more than reproduction factories. I mean, Yara and I wouldn’t even be a thing if we hadn’t evolved beyond that. I can’t believe you just said that to me...oh shit! You’re deflecting! And I fell for it!”

My cheeks burned bright red, but I kept up the lie anyway. In for a penny, in for a pound. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Who is this boy that you don’t want to talk about. Or look at? It must be a good story. Spill the beans, Sam! Give mamma what she wants.”

I blinked at her. Even for Hazel that was extreme. “Give mamma what she wants?”

She made exaggerated waving motions with each hand like she was reeling in a fishing net. “Give. Mamma. What. She. Wants!” Then she shoved the picture in my face. “Who’s the boy, Sam?”

I knew I was being ridiculous. This was Hazel after all. I told her everything. Well,almosteverything. And what would happen if I told her this? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It wasn’t like Jace was going to pop out of an old Jack-in-the-Box if I said his name out loud.

When I still didn’t speak she grabbed the wine and sloshed more into each of our glasses. “Spill the beans! I’ll keep coming up with my sayings until you break. Dish the dirt. Shovel the shit!Entertain me!”

I gulped down some of the wine. “Fine! Just stop!” I took another sip for courage and set the glass aside. “His name is Jace. We grew up together. We used to be best friends and now we’re not.”

If her eyebrow arched any higher it would join the hair on her head. “And why aren’t you best friends anymore? I mean aside from the fact thatI’myour best friend now.”

“We grew apart, as kids tend to do.”

“Nope. Not buying it. If he was just some kid you were once friends with, then you’d have just told me that. You’re lying. You’re lyingbadly.You’re lying so much your pants are on fire and there are trucks on the way to put them out.”

Hazel was relentless. “He was my best friend and growing apart was hard on both of us. I may have said some terrible things to him that I regret.”

“And you haven’t apologized?”

“Well, I sort of did last weekend.”

Her eyes bugged. “He washere?” She began looking around like she’d be able to see him in her memories.

“It was after you left.” Like, right after, so I suppose it was possible she saw him before I did.

“He came, you apologized, and he accepted?” She leaned closer and closer.

“Yes.”

“Did you make out after this apology?”

---