Page 61 of Don't Puck Him

“No. I’m not here to relax, you might say.”

She gets up, puts a black lace wrap on, and saunters to the minibar to pour another martini from a chilled pitcher.

“Want one, dear? Huston made up these beauties before he left for the day. That man. I don’t know where David and I’d be without him.”

“Yes. You’d be helpless without a valet, like everyone I know.” I roll my eyes.

This woman hasn’t a clue about real life. And she’s too old now to retrain.

“Okay, dear one. Tell me what brings you home. Do you need money? You know David writes the checks, but I could call him at work.”

“No, Mom. It’s not money. Not everything is about money.” I’m irate. My patience is wearing thin.

She looks up. She knows that tone. Her expression turns serious. Finally.

I walk over and have a seat by her lounge. Above me, the weather is raging. Leaves go skittering across the hothouse glass. The wind howls. I grin. At least Mother Nature is on my side.

“Mom, we need to talk.”

“Funny you should say that, dear. I’m to have it out with you, too, as it goes. A birdie has told me you have a boyfriend now. No warning? No introduction? Wren, David and I don’t even know the man’s name. What if he’s an undesirable? You know there can bethosein the city.”

“How dare you!”

My mother sits up and stares me in the face. “Now Wren, you know how impressionable you are. And you’ve always latched on to the stray dog type. You have your career to think about, dear. This is not the time to get wound up in some kind of crush. You’re far smarter than that.”

“Right. Like you’ve never had anaffair.Right, Mom?”

I see her eyelids flicker. I got her with that one. I quell the smirk that wants to do a dance on my lips.

“Mom. I know. I know it all.”

She flicks something invisible off her bikini top. “You know what, dear?”

I stand up and glare with all the pent up rage I have. “I know you had an affair with David Anderson exactly eighteen years ago, and I’m the product of that affair. You broke up two homes with your selfishness, ran your spouses off in good time, and scarred Cash and me for life. And now you’re sitting high and dry, rolling in it, like your manipulative actions didn’t leave a mark. That’s what I know.”

She stares back, speechless. Her mouth is so agape, you could drive a Mack truck through. Her shock and silence allows me to continue.

“So, how long did it take for my father, or who I thought was my father, to find out about your little tete a tete? And then you have the gall to tell me he ran off and that he was a bad guy. A bad guy. What a projection. What a God awful projection.”

“I did no such –”

“Oh, no, you don’t. Not this time. Never again. You’re a pathological liar and a cheat. I know your game. I’ve known it for some time, but I never thought you would stoop this low. And all for a man with a bottomless account. You’re disgusting, you are. None of your manipulations or scheming will ever affect me again. Maybe you can pull the wool over David’s eyes. Not mine and not Cash’s. Not anymore.”

“David is your father. You call him that from now on, you hear?” she screeches.

“Your words have zero effect. You two are lucky I acknowledge you at all.”

She tries a different tack, knowing now her threats are impotent. She gets up and takes me in her arms. I recoil, but the long-nailed witch holds firm.

“Please, I beg of you. This arrangement. This was the only way. You know how we were living before this. Hand to mouth. Hand to mouth. And for what? I’m better than that, and you surely deserve more.”

“Better than what if you have to worm your way into a man’s bed for money? I believe that’s called –”

“Don’t you dare!”

“Don’t I dare?” I laugh a menacing laugh.

“Listen. Your father, the one you thought was your dad. Well, sure, a heart of gold and an empty bank account to match. The guy couldn’t provide. Not how you and I deserved. It had to be David. Don’t you see?”

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