Page 75 of Don't Bet On It
She gave me a pointed look, but I chose to ignore it.
“They had huge fights, though. My mother is the one who got me into therapy. She went through a new therapist every three months when I was a kid.”
“If she was such a proponent of therapy, why did she so often fire her therapists?” Tallulah asked. “It seems she would want to follow whatever programs they set forth.”
“You would think that,” I agreed. “My mother is what you might call anaskhole, though. She asks a bunch of questions, wants advice from her therapists, and then fires them immediately when they don’t say exactly what she wants.”
“That doesn’t seem like the best way to get therapy,” Tallulah hedged.
“No, but I’m not certain my mother actually needs therapy.” I’d never voiced this opinion out loud, but I felt comfortable with Tallulah. “Maybe she needed it when she was younger, but now she wears her visits like a badge of honor.”
“Oh.” Tallulah nodded knowingly. “Like she gets social credit for having a therapist.”
“Exactly. She likes to say ‘my therapist says,’ and she’s not a liar, so she keeps up with the therapy. She doesn’t really care what they say at this point, though.”
“Huh.” Tallulah pursed her lips. “That’s kind of funny.”
That wasn’t the word I would have used, but I didn’t argue. Instead, I pinned my gaze on her. “Do you want to talk about your mother?”
I expected her to balk. Instead, she shook her head. “Honestly, I had managed to push her out of my head. Other than Candy bringing her up at regular intervals, she was a nonfactor in my life.”
I didn’t believe that. Everything Tallulah did, every choice she made, was based on something her mother had done. Nowwasn’t the time to bring that up, though. “So why do you think she showed up?”
“Someone told her I was working at the Stone.”
“And that’s important to her?”
“Oh, without a doubt.” Tallulah nodded sagely. “My mother ranks all the casinos. The higher-end ones mean more money. She’s always desperate to work at those. She can’t get hired at them any longer, though. I think she’s on some sort of list.”
I had questions—oh, so many questions—but I was careful about how hard I pushed her. “You haven’t seen her in a while, right?”
“I haven’t seen her in more than a year. In the past five years, I’ve seen her a grand total of three times. Unless I have a job that she finds interesting—meaning she can use me to get ahead—she’s not interested in anything I do.”
My heart panged for her. Sure, I had the opposite problem—my father was too interested in me—but her situation felt so much more hurtful. My father, however difficult, cared enough to be in my life. Her mother only showed up when she thought Tallulah could give her something. It was frustrating to thenth degree.
“I’m really sorry” was all I could manage to say.
“Why? It’s not your fault.”
“I still feel bad for you.”
She shrugged. “I long ago gave up trying to make my mother a better person, even in my head. She’s terrible, and she’s always going to be terrible.”
“But?” I prodded, knowing she wasn’t done.
“But her showing up at the casino is not a good thing.” Tallulah turned grim. “She’s not going to stop until she gets a job there. Stone has always been on the top of her list of prestigious casinos.”
“You don’t want to get her a job?”
She laughed hollowly. “Absolutely not. She’s not a good worker, and she’s not opposed to stealing from guests.”
“Well, then it’s probably best that you don’t get her a job,” I agreed.
“The problem is, she’s not going to give up. Like … ever. She’s going to keep showing up and making my life hell. She won’t care if she gets me in trouble at work. She’ll just keep at it to wear me down.”
She was in a tough situation. No matter what, Sharon was still her mother. Tallulah could be cold and standoffish, but in the end, part of her still hoped Sharon would turn into the mother she’d always wanted.
“What about Olivia?” I asked. “Could she help you get Sharon barred from the property?”
