Page 44 of Wrecked
With a deep breath, I wrapped my fingers around the heavy golden knocker and banged it down twice. Inside my chest, my heart was thumping to a frantic rhythm.
"Breathe," I whispered. "You can do this. Youhaveto do this."
The door opened with a whoosh and I'd never been as happy to see Selma. 'Maid' was her job title, but she'd dried more of my tears than my mother had. I stooped and wrapped my arms around her plump body.
Her hands came to my face, and her smile widened. "Kenzie," she squealed. "Just look at you."
I straightened and dragged my fingers through my loose hair before running my palms down my jeans. "It's different, I know." According to my mother, a lady should only ever wear dresses or skirts, and her hair should be out of her face at all times.
"Well, I like it." Selma closed the door, and I followed her to the dining room. On our way there she updated me on how her children were doing. And as petty as it was, I found myself wishing that I'd been one of Selma and Eduardo's children.
She moved to pour me a glass of water, and I stopped her. "You know, you don't have to do that for me." I took the pitcher from her, and while I filled my glass, she patted my cheek. The sound of my mother's heels clicking against the pristine tiles drew closer. "You might want to stay out of the range of fire, Selma." I gave her an apologetic look. If things were going to go even half as bad as I suspected they would, the people employed by my parents were in for a tough day.
"I'm proud of you," Selma gushed before she hurried away. I drew strength from her words as the clicking became louder.
"Kenzie?"
My mother stopped abruptly, and her hand flew to her mouth while the other touched her hair.
"Hi, Mom." I pulled my shoulders to my ears and gave her a half-smile.
She shook her head as she approached me. The hands resting on my shoulders didn't feel as soft as Selma's embrace had, and the two pecks to my cheeks felt stiff.
"Your father will join us in a minute." She pulled out her chair and laid an unfolded napkin in her lap. Bringing her fingers up, she toyed with the string of pearls circling her neck. "Does Dean know you're back? The poor man was so worried about you."
I nodded, "He does, we're having dinner tonight."
Her hand slipped from her pearls and flattened against her chest. Relief rushed out of her in a quick breath. "Oh, that's good. You're not getting any younger, Kenzie. When I was your age your daddy and I already had you." She started talking faster, and I knew better than to interrupt. "Dean's mother and I went to lunch the other day—such a lovely lady, she is—we were thinking that a summer wedding would be perfect. And I saw this absolutely stunning Vera—"
"I'm breaking up with Dean, Mom." I deadpanned.
The color drained from my mother's face so fast, you'd think I just told her my grandma rose from the dead. Tiny squeaky sounds came from the back of her throat while she just stared at me with wide eyes.
Don't get me wrong, I loved my parents. They gave me a roof over my head, they fed me, and in their way, they showed me affection. Right at that moment though, all I saw was the lies they told for their own personal gain.
Weren't a mother, and a father supposed to love their child unconditionally?
"That's preposterous," my mother gasped when she finally found her voice.
"What's preposterous?" My father entered the dining room and, he too, stopped short when he spotted me. "Kenzie what on earth are you wearing?"
I didn't have time to utter a single word before my mother jumped up and pointed an accusatory finger at me. "She is having one of those nervous breakdowns, Walter. She just told me she's leaving Dean."
My father cupped my mother's shoulders, "Calm down, Diana, she'll do no such thing."
The anger that had been simmering just below the surface finally came to a boil. "It's going to happen, Daddy and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
My father's eyes cut to me. "Watch your tone, young lady."
I shook my head, "Why does it matter who I date, anyway?"
"It matters because we have a reputation to uphold—" I rolled my eyes and then looked away while my dad went on. "—Dean comes from the same background as you do, he shares our values, and he does not want you for financial gain."
My gaze snapped to his lightning fast, "Not like Brett Carter had, right Daddy?"
My father puffed out his chest and gave my mother's shoulder a squeeze. I wondered if they'd been waiting for this conversation for years. When Brett was sentenced, my dad had forbidden me to go see him. I wasn't even allowed to mention his name in their presence. In their minds, my relationship with Brett never happened.
"Funny how things work out sometimes," I went on. "How strange and wonderful that the town I get stuck in turned out to be his town." My father's jaw muscles started jumping, and my mother couldn't even look at me. "Brett and I had a nice long chat, and you wouldn't believe the things we learned."
