Page 12 of A Little Bit Whiskey
However, she did have a soft side, something Tamsyn had seen firsthand.
“I’ve asked Anna before, and I’ve never gotten a straight answer,” Tamsyn admitted. “Anna and Fred took me in. They raised me and I feel like I need to understand this if Noir and I are going to have any chance of making our relationship work. It’s going to be hard enough with whispers and potential snide remarks from everyone in this town over what they might believe, even with me presenting the truth about that, which I should have done ten years ago when I found out.”
“Sweetheart, the people who matter know the truth.” Weezer raised her glass. “Our family, close friends, they never believed it for one second. Carter did that paternity test for you and no one else. If we were worried about it, we would have shouted it from the rooftops.”
“So why does Anna dislike you so much?” Tamsyn asked.
Weezer laughed. It wasn’t loud or boisterous, but more of a soft, quiet chuckle. “To be totally honest, I can only guess this is what she’s holding on to, because Anna and I haven’t been close since we were in high school.”
“So, you were friends?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but Anna has always wanted to be respected. To be seen as important. More important than anyone else in the room. In high school, she wanted to be class president, but that honor was given to me. She accused me of rigging the election. She demanded a recount.”
“That’s why she’s mad at you?”
“That’s only the beginning.” Weezer swirled her wine, staring at the liquid hugging the glass. She raised it to her nose and sniffed before taking a sip. “Times were different back then. While college and careers for women were an option and certainly pushed, Anna was the kind of girl who believed the right man would elevate her status in the community more than a career.”
“She and Fred were married at twenty-two. They started dating at twenty. He’s the love of her life. She has stated she was in love with him for as long as she can remember, but that in high school, Fred was awkward and shy.”
“Fred was a little aloof in school,” Weezer said. “But Anna wasn’t interested in him because his family didn’t come from money or have any standing in this community. She had her sights set on Silas.”
Tamsyn couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. “I find that hard to believe.”
Weezer smiled. “Trust me. Silas was a catch. If I hadn’t already been in love with Carter, I would have gone for that man. But Silas wanted nothing to do with Anna, and that drove her crazy. She tried for a year to get him to notice her, to take her out. When that didn’t happen, Anna turned her attention to Carter, and that’s when our feud began. He was my man and I wasn’t going to stand for anyone trying to dig their claws into him.”
“I’m struggling to believe that Anna would be interested in Carter at all.” Tamsyn had spent a lifetime listening to all the reasons she should stay away from the River family, and Carter being a manipulative man was one of them. “She might dislike you the most, but she has issues with Carter.”
“That’s because he had to be harsh with her when she wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Weezer said. “Anna did her best to break us up. She started rumors about me. She would whisper in Carter’s ear that I wasn’t good enough or that I was flirting with other men, especially after Carter went to college. He didn’t go far away, but she once had the audacity to show up at his dorm to give him bogus intel on me and then threw herself at him. That’s when he got mean. He tossed her out on her ass and told her that if she ever pulled a stunt like that again, he’d file harassment charges. Sadly, it didn’t end there and Carter had to follow through on his threat.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Tamsyn said. Anna was a lot of things and a gossip was one of them. The dinner table conversation was always filled with topics of what she’d heard that day about different members of the community. She never cared if the information was true or false; she only cared that she had something juicy to chat about. If it was something negative, she would scowl and say she hoped it wasn’t true and act compassionate.
Fred would often tell her to stop gossiping, and Anna’s response had always been the same.
That she was just repeating to her family what she’d heard from a reliable source. That it never went further than that.
However, as Tamsyn got older, she found out that Anna enjoyed spreading those rumors to anyone who would listen.
Deep down, Tamsyn knew Anna wasn’t a bad person. She craved attention. To be the center of the town. To be the person whom everyone came to.
But again, she wasn’t.
That honor went to Weezer and Carter. They were the heartbeat of Candlewood Falls.
“How did Anna handle that?” Tamsyn asked.
“She backed off, but not without a bit of a fight with me.” Weezer shifted, taking a slow sip of wine. She leaned forward. “She swore to me that Karma was a bitch and someday, it would come back and bite me in the ass. It was a blanket threat, one that I have ignored. Only, Anna has constantly spoken badly of me every chance she can.” Weezer shrugged. “I’m used to it. She’s not the only one in this town who has a beef with me. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, including how I handled things with your mother. I should have never threatened her like that in public—or in front of you. Anything I needed to say to her should have been done in private. That is something I have always regretted. I’m sorry about that.”
“I asked Carter this ten years ago, and he didn’t have an answer. Maybe you do.” Tamsyn rose and strolled across the room, taking a seat next to Weezer on the sofa. “Why do you think my mom lied about having an affair with Carter? Why did she name him as my father so publicly if it wasn’t true? Especially after remaining so quiet about it for nearly ten years?”
“We honestly don’t know the answer.” Weezer patted Tamsyn’s leg. “When we confronted your mom, we asked if it was about money and we were willing to give her some. Hell, Carter had been giving her money on and off for a couple of years. That only added fuel to that rumor mill, making Carter look guilty of the crime.”
“Carter told me he gave her money after she got arrested and he became her lawyer. He helped her when she was about to lose custody of me.”
Weezer nodded. “He didn’t want to see that happen. He helped Elizabeth get a job. My husband is a generous man and he hates to see people suffering. Your mom needed help. He tried to get her into therapy, and she went at first. Got on the proper medication, but then she’d go off it. Perhaps we were part of the problem, and not the solution, but all we wanted to do was help you and Elizabeth.”
“Why?” Tamsyn set her glass on the coffee table and rubbed her temples. “From the outside—and a cop’s perspective—the motivation looks suspect.”
Weezer laughed. “We all grew up together. While Elizabeth and I weren’t close friends, nor was Carter, we had a connection. We hated the way other kids treated her in high school. We always stuck up for her when she got picked on.” Weezer lowered her chin. “I know what that feels like. I might have a tough exterior and have the ability to let things roll off my back, but that doesn’t mean the things that people say about me don’t affect me, especially when I was a teenager. It was damn hard to be part of the crazy family that ran the winery. If you think I’m a whack-a-doodle, my parents were worse. My grandparents were even crazier. Elizabeth’s mental illness began showing when she was sixteen. It made others uncomfortable. Carter and I showed her kindness. We always have. After high school, there became a distance with us, but once she had you, we felt a need to help protect you. We told our children to ignore the rumors about your paternity. That they weren’t true and to be kind to you.”
