Page 17 of Love Bites
“Parents must be there for their children, and if they are worried for you, at least tell them you are doing well, yes?”
Katheryn sighed. Rosa was right, of course. Her parents had the right to know she was okay. She had ignored them for days. For all they knew, she’d been kidnapped or murdered. She’d call them and tell them she was fine. She wouldn’t explain anything about her situation with Hunter. Not yet.
“You’re right,” she decided. “I’ll call them now.”
She stood from her stool, handed Rosa some bills and gave her a quick, affectionate hug. “Thank you so much, Rosa. I hope to see you again.”
Rosa squeezed her back. “We will,hermosa.We will.”
Katheryn ran out of the bar and ducked into a side alley, dialing her mother as she hid in the shadows. She pressed the phone to her ear, taking deep breaths. All she had to do was explain she and Hunter had had marital differences and that she was fine, taking a small vacation and would be back to face the pack soon enough. Simple, short and to the point. There was no need to tell them where she was; she knew if they told Hunter, he’d come down looking for her and Katheryn didn’t want that lying, two-timing sack anywhere near her.
“Katheryn? Hello? Are you there?” The sound of her mother’s voice was like a hole punching into her heart. She missed her; she missed being able to share anything with her. Before all of the money had invaded their lives, she would have sat around with her mother talking about anything and everything. Now, she just seemed like a distant woman.
“Hey, mom.”
“Oh, Kathy, are you okay? We’ve been calling for days, and you haven’t answered! We had a mind to call the police!” The worry in her mother’s voice and the use of her old nickname had Katheryn clutching her fist to her heart.
“I’m fine, Mom,” she said. “I’m sorry I haven’t answered your calls. I’ve been trying to sort through some stuff. You see—”
“Yes, dear, we know what stuff you’re sorting through.”
Katheryn raised an eyebrow, even if her mother couldn’t see it. “What?”
“Hunter told us everything, dear. He told us you walked in on him and his mistress, and that you ran off to get back at him.”
“He told you that?” The nonchalance in her mother’s voice gnawed at every nerve in Katheryn’s body. She didn’t even sound upset about Hunter cheating on her daughter.
“Yes, he told us, and I have to say, Katheryn, I’m very disappointed in you.”
“Disappointed inme? What?”
Katheryn practically saw her mother through the receiver, nodding, crossing her arms against her chest in disapproval and looking down her nose at her daughter.
“Very much so. I mean, really, Katheryn, did you think all men are immune to the lure of their secretaries?”
Katheryn couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her mother was totally fine with Hunter cheating on her. It struck no chords, caused no anger or disappointment toward the guilty party. She clenched her fists tightly. “I thought he’d show at least a little restraint considering we were going to get married!”
“What childish nonsense! Really, Katheryn, that’s all fairytale stuff. Men aren’t perfect in the art of restraint. Not like women are. Let me tell you a fact of life, his whores mean nothing to him— or to any man, really. They’re useful for only one thing. Just remember, it’s the wife he will always come back to.”
Katheryn clenched her teeth.
“So stop pouting and come back home, dear. Work things out with Hunter.”
“No,” Katheryn spat. “I won’t come back and live with a cheating fiancé. Our engagement is over. I’m done with him!”
“You silly, foolish girl!” The anger in her mother’s voice was almost palpable. “Why do you think we wanted you married to him in the first place? His family helped wrench us out of poverty. He gave you your job and your money, and he could just as easily take it away. Don’t be ungrateful. If you leave him, we’ll lose everything. Think of us, think of what it will do to us—your parents.”
She counted in her head, took deep breaths, but nothing seemed to calm her anger. This is what it always came down to. It had always been about them and the money. They didn’t care about the hurt Hunter put Katheryn through, the betrayal. All they wanted was to stay on top, to tie their daughter to an unfaithful prick just to keep their newfound social status.
“Don’t be selfish. Just come back and make peace with him. Where are you, anyway?”
Katheryn tried hard not to let the tears fall, but her voice shook when she replied. “No. I won’t go back to that. Call me selfish if you want, but I won’t go back to him. Anyway, I just called to say I’m fine, and I’ll be back soon.”
“Wait! Where are—”
Katheryn hung up and shoved the phone in her purse. There in the dark alley, she sank to the ground, rested her head on her knees and let a sob wrench from her throat. Her shoulders shook violently with her pain.
Oh, how wrong Rosa was. Parents were supposed to be worried about their children. Hers were worried, all right, just not about Katheryn. No, her parents were more worried about money and losing it than they were about Katheryn’s pain.
