Page 41 of Playing for Keeps
Floor to ceiling windows were on two walls of this area, electronic mini blinds lowered three quarters of the way down so that natural light could pour into the room during the daylight hours. Two off white couches faced each other in the center of the room, two beige fabric French armchairs were on the side in between the couches, forming a perfect square within the room. The rugs in this room were of a beige or very light brown hue, coffee and end tables the same. The one burst of color which was totally out of character but a non-negotiable fixture in the room were Naomi’s multiple banners and trophies, crowns and other accolades. A 5x7 picture from Rylan’s graduation with both her parents was in the den.
“Hello,” Estelle said when she entered the living room. “I wasn’t expecting you this evening, Rylan. Naomi and I have already had dinner.”
Rylan had been standing near the glass cabinet looking at all of Naomi’s awards wondering dismally why she was born so different from the other women in this family.
“Hi Mom,” she said softly. “I hadn’t planned on stopping by.”
Because since her father had been gone, this house seemed colder and less welcome than it had during Rylan’s childhood years.
“Well, are you going to just stand there? Because I have some reports to go over before a regional school board meeting tomorrow. If you just came over to stare at the furniture, I can leave you alone.”
The way she’d left Rylan alone all her life. Because for Estelle, there was no use trying to deal with the daughter who had no intention of being what Estelle wanted her to be.
“Dad’s going to give you what you want,” Rylan said and turned slowly to face her mother.
At fifty-eight years old, Estelle was still a stunning woman. This evening she wore soft gray wool pants, a crisp white blouse and her black leather house slippers. This morning before she’d left for work, she’d most likely worn her gray and navy-blue tweed jacket with matching suede ankle boots. Her hair was pulled back into a perfect chignon and she still wore the pearl choker and matching earrings that completed her astute school principal outfit.
“You want the money you claim he owes you and he’s going to sell the business he’s worked his whole life to build to give it to you,” she said.
Her voice was surprisingly even as she spoke. Most likely because Rylan had the last nine hours to go over what she would say to the woman who’d given birth to her. How she would express her profound disappointment in the woman who had once loved Rylan’s father.
Estelle gave one quick shake of her head. She lifted an arm and wagged her finger as if she were disciplining one of her students.
“Do not come in here and pass judgment on things you know nothing about,” she said to Rylan.
“I know that your cool disdain for my father has created an even bigger wedge in this family. I’m not at all affected by the sale of the place where I’ve worked since I was seven years old?” Rylan asked.
She was astounded by how evenly her tone matched her mother’s. Aside from their skin complexion, Rylan would’ve sworn she and Estelle had absolutely nothing in common.
“You are the child,” Estelle began.
“Not anymore,” Rylan countered. “And because you want money that you were only entitled to by the graciousness of my father, I’m the one who’ll be out of a job once the body shop sells.”
“You could have done anything. You still can do anything, Rylan. Stop being so dramatic.”
“Why?” Rylan asked, raising her tone. “Why should I not be emotional about the prospect of watching my father walk away from his dream and mine?”
“He let me down!” Estelle yelled back.
Her shaking fingers moved to cover her stomach as she took steadying breaths.
“He promised that our love, our family, the life we’d envisioned together would always come first and he lied. Gambling took my place. And nothing I did or said could change that for Will. He walked out on this marriage long before I filed for divorce, so don’t you stand there and pretend to know what’s been going on in my life for the past ten years because you have no idea,” Estelle told her.
Rylan didn’t know what to say. This had been the most her mother had ever talked to her about her relationship with her father.
“People make mistakes. Are you really so perfect and so rigid that you can’t forgive? He made a mistake. He tried to make amends.”
“He kept it a secret. He tried to cover it up so I wouldn’t know. If I hadn’t asked for a divorce, he probably would never have told me how bad his financial situation was. No, Rylan, I cannot easily forgive that when I was right here all along. I didn’t go anywhere and at any point Will could have come to me with what he was going through. He chose not to and I chose to walk away from a man I can never trust with my life or the life of my children again.”
“I’m not a child,” Rylan insisted.
Estelle’s hands fell once again to her side. “Then stop acting like one. Don’t come running in here to take up for your precious father when you don’t know the whole story. And don’t you dare judge me based on the type of woman you’ve become. Running around in secret with a man who hadn’t the decency to come back and take care of his ailing mother. Do you think Delano Greer is going to do any better by you, Rylan? If so, you’re as delusional as your father.”
Rylan gasped. Her mother’s words had taken her completely by surprise.
“You know nothing about my relationship with Del.”
Estelle shook her head and chuckled. “And neither do you, babygirl.”
