“I hope your thoughts were good ones.”
“Not really.” She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back.
“I know you aren’t happy about going back home,” he said with a look of sympathy. “And I can’t really blame you. Your mother’s never been one to give up on a grudge.”
“I didn’t come out to piss her off, you know. I did it because I needed to be true to myself. She thinks everything is about her, and I just don’t understand it, Dad.”
“I know, honey,” he said with a shrug. “I have to admit I don’t totally understand it myself. She wasn’t always like this.”
“That’s good to hear,” Vic said. “I’d like to think you have better taste than to get involved with someone who has the personality of a paper bag.”
“Hey,” he said, trying to look stern but not really accomplishing it. “She’s still my wife, you know.”
“But you can change that,” Vic said with a wink. “Unfortunately, she’s always going to be the woman who gave birth to me. Even if she refuses to call me her daughter.”
“If it makes you feel any better, she isn’t any happier than you are that you’ll be staying at the house for the next few weeks.”
“Yeah, about that,” Vic said as she tilted her head to the side. “I can’t believe she’d allow me under her roof again just because Vanessa wants me there.”
“I want you there too,” he said with an affectionate smile. “And it is my house too, you know. I still have some say in what goes on there. Are you going to be able to get along with her?”
“Doubtful, but it will totally be up to her. If she can be civil, so can I.” They sat in silence for a few moments, and she struggled with whether or not to tell him about the fact she was seriously considering leaving the Thayer Group. She decided it could wait. The next three weeks were about Vanessa and her special day, even if Vera would no doubt do everything in her power to make it about herself.
“So, you’re going up there tomorrow?” he asked.
“Leaving in the morning.”
“I’ll see you up there then.” He stood and looked at her. “You have everything covered while you’re gone?”
“There was only one meeting that couldn’t be rescheduled, and Jim is taking care of it for me,” she said about her vice president of marketing. “Everything’s good.”
“Wonderful. Drive safely, okay?”
“I always do.” She watched him leave and glanced at the clock. Only ten more minutes left in her day, and then tomorrow she’d be back in Wolf Bay for the first time in sixteen years.
She just hoped to God she could make it through the next three weeks without strangling someone. Or, more accurately, without strangling Vera.
Chapter Two
Wolf Bay, New York, was a nice enough town, but Riley couldn’t figure out for the life of her why anyone would actually want to live here. Or, for that matter, why it was even called Wolf Bay in the first place. The closest body of water was the Hudson River, and it was an hour away. They were literally closer to the Connecticut state line.
Of course, she’d spent her whole life in this town, but she hadn’t been given much of a choice in the matter. If she’d had money she could have moved away, but managing a two-screen movie theater in a town of less than eight hundred people wasn’t going to get her the money she needed to improve her lot in life.
Owning that theater though, could give her the money she never had. Not Thayer money of course, but if she could ever manage to keep over a hundred dollars in her bank account in any given month, she might be able to breathe a little easier. The place did a better than average business thanks to the surrounding small towns and their limited choices for entertainment unless they wanted to drive over an hour away to Albany. But she wasn’t naive enough to think she’d ever manage to save enough money to buy it. The owner was willing to sell, but he was asking for more money than she would ever see in her lifetime.
But hey, at least she wasn’t living in the rundown trailer park she’d grown up in and where her mother still resided. Her mother’s dreams had died long ago, when she’d first decided to find solace in the bottom of a liquor bottle. It didn’t much matter to her what kind of liquor it was, just so long as the end result was passing out and forgetting all of her problems. And that seemed to happen pretty much on the daily.
Riley tore her eyes away from the view out the kitchen window of the home she shared with Megan and looked down at the scars on her right arm. She’d been burned worse than she thought the night she saved Vanessa Thayer’s life, but an entire year later, she was fully healed and doing fine. Well, except for the scars. At first she’d tried to keep them covered to stop the questions and pitying looks, but she didn’t care anymore. It was too damn hot in upstate New York during the summer to wear long sleeves.
She looked at the newspaper next to her arm and sighed. Vanessa Thayer was getting married at her family’s estate in three weeks, and the entire town was abuzz about the event. Riley wanted to gag. All she remembered of Vanessa from high school was what a colossal bitch she’d been. It seemed as though her entire existence revolved around how many people she could hurt. And during their senior year, her sights had been set on Riley and her very small circle of friends. She’d succeeded in making Riley’s life a living hell. So much so that Riley had even contemplated killing herself. For about a minute.
Megan was the one who talked her out of it by pointing out Vanessa Thayer wasn’t worth it. By killing herself, Riley would be letting her win, and there was no way Riley ever wanted that to happen. She leaned back and let out a breath as she ran her fingers through her hair.
Not that Vanessa’s twin sister, Victoria, had been much better. They’d been sort of friends up until high school, and sure, she’d tried to stand up for Riley occasionally, but it always seemed half-hearted at best. She’d run with the same crowd as her sister and had done her fair share of bullying too. Unfortunately, that hadn’t changed the fact Riley had always had a huge crush on Vic.
“Mail call,” Megan said as she walked in the front door. She tossed the mail on the table and took a seat across from Riley. “You’re ready for the reunion Saturday night, right? You scheduled someone else to work?”
“I did, but I really don’t want to go.”
“Come on, we’ve gone to every one they’ve had.” Megan pushed out her lower lip and batted her eyes, causing Riley to chuckle. “You do this every time, you know. And you always end up going, so just stop complaining about it.”
“I just read in the paper that Vic and Vanessa are going to be in town,” Riley said, turning the paper so it was facing Megan. “What if they show up there? I really don’t want to see either of them ever again.”
“Oh, please,” Megan said with a wave of her hand. “They’ve never attended a reunion, and they’re both big shots in New York City running their family empire. What makes you think they would lower themselves to be seen mingling with the residents of Wolf Bay? Besides, I’m sure you wouldn’t really mind seeing Victoria again, am I right?”
Riley shook her head and rolled her eyes at the way Megan waggled her eyebrows. She wished she’d never admitted to her in high school how she felt about Victoria Thayer. Most people would have probably forgotten all about it after twenty years, but no, not Megan.
“Fine, I’ll go,” Riley said, knowing the choice was never in doubt. She hadn’t had many friends in high school, but Peter came from California for every reunion they’d had, and she always loved seeing him again. As did Megan, which is why she was so adamant they had to go.
“You saved Vanessa’s life,” Megan said, as if that meant something. “That should give you brownie points with them, don’t you think?”
Riley nodded, because she’d certainly thought so, but she’d never gotten so much as an acknowledgment from anyone in the Thayer family for what she’d done. Not that she’d expected—or even wanted—anything from them, but a simple thank you
would have been nice.
“You said yourself they wouldn’t want to associate with anyone from Wolf Bay, so does it really surprise you they wouldn’t concede anyone from here would do anything to help them?” Riley sighed and got to her feet. “But I’m over it. And if they do show up for the reunion, I will never forgive you.”
Megan blew her a kiss, knowing as well as Riley did she’d never stay mad at her for anything. She grabbed her backpack and headed for the door.
“Have a nice night at work, Riley,” Megan called out. “Love you.”
“Love you too,” she replied before walking out of the house they shared. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t find Megan attractive, but Megan was as straight as they come. They were too good as friends to mess it up by sleeping together anyway. Megan was the sister she never had, and honestly? Riley didn’t know what she’d have done if they hadn’t become friends back in junior high. No doubt she would have ended up just like her mother. That thought sent a shiver through her body.
Twenty minutes later, she was sitting in her office making up the employee schedule for the following week. All of her employees, other than her two assistant managers, were high school students. They were all good kids and never gave her a bit of trouble. She tried to accommodate their requests for days off as much as she could, and in return they were always on time and hardly ever stood around doing nothing.
Sure, they occasionally had friends stop by, but they were pretty good about limiting the visits to around five minutes, and as far as she could tell, they weren’t giving away concessions or letting their friends in for free. The one time she did catch someone doing those things, they were fired immediately, and the remaining employees knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what would happen if they tried the same thing.
She posted the schedule outside her office door and then sent in her weekly order for supplies before heading out to make sure the concession stand was well stocked for the next show.
“Hey, boss,” said Nancy, an assistant manager and the only person working for her who was older than Riley. The woman was perpetually cheery, and there were days it grated on Riley’s nerves. Most of the time though, it helped to bring Riley out of whatever funk she happened to be in. Today was one of those days. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Riley replied with a nod as she glanced toward the front doors. It was the beginning of June, and they’d soon be open for show times all day every day rather than the abbreviated schedule of evenings only during the week while school was in session. “Summer’s almost here.”
“Hooray!”
Riley smiled and shook her head. To her, summer merely meant she’d have to deal with kids at the theater all day long. Not really high on her list of favorite things. She would think that every spring, but then it never turned out as bad as she expected it to be.
Nancy and her husband, Andy, had been good friends to her not only when she was younger, but also now. She usually went to their house to play board games at least once a week, and they hosted poker games at their house once a month. Riley’s mother had worked with Andy, back when she was able to function without a shot of something in her system, so when she started to drink regularly, Andy and Nancy had taken it upon themselves to look after Riley the best they could.
She shuddered to think about what her life might have been if not for them.
Chapter Three
Riley was sitting at her desk later that evening, entering the inventory and ticket sales for the previous show, when her cell phone rang. She grabbed it without looking to see who it was and held it between her shoulder and ear before going right back to what she was doing.
“Hello.”
“Riley, we just dropped your mother off at Marshall Memorial.”
Riley nearly dropped the phone when the words Megan said registered in her mind. She felt her heart rate speed up and she sat back in the chair. The hospital was two towns over and a good thirty-minute drive, and she knew before Megan even continued what she was going to say.
“She’s in the ER now, and I have to be honest with you, it doesn’t look good.”
“What happened?” Riley didn’t really care, and she knew that probably made her a horrible person. But in all honesty, Helen Warren had never been a good mother. Hell, she’d never even been an okay mother. She’d never paid any attention to Riley, unless it was to yell at her for some asinine reason. Riley had been neglected most of her childhood, but mostly she was subjected to nonstop verbal abuse on a daily basis.
“Alcohol poisoning,” Megan said. “I really think you should get to the hospital.”
“Is she conscious?”
“Off and on. She had two seizures in the ambulance on the way. We picked her up at that dive bar in Summerville. The bartender called nine-one-one when she fell off a barstool and started seizing.”
“Megan, you know I can’t just drop everything and rush right over there,” she said in spite of the fact she was gathering her things and getting ready to do exactly that.
“Honey, I know deep down you love her even though you bitch about her all the time. No matter what, she’s still your mother.”
“Fine, I’m leaving now.”
“My shift is over in another hour. I’ll come back to sit with you.”
“Hey, Megan?” Riley said quietly. “Thank you.”
She shoved her phone in her pocket and headed out to the concession stand. She spotted Nancy speaking to a customer and hung back to wait for her to finish. When Nancy finally turned to her she took her by the arm and led her a few feet away from everyone else.
“What’s wrong?” Nancy asked, obviously seeing it in her face.
“My mom’s in the hospital. Megan says it doesn’t look good.”
“Oh, my God, Riley, you should go,” Nancy said, urging her toward the front doors. “Don’t worry about us. I’ll close everything up.”
“Thanks,” she said as she gave her a quick hug.
“If you think about it, give me a call and let me know how she’s doing. And don’t worry about tomorrow either. I’ll work so you can stay with her.”
Riley waved over her shoulder to let her know she heard, but honestly, she had no intention of taking the next day off. Yes, deep down she did have some love for her mother, but she was pretty sure she wouldn’t do much grieving for her when the time came.
There’d been so many nights when she was growing up her mother never even bothered to come home because she was out drinking and picking up men. Riley was left on her own to get her dinner and do her homework, and most of the time to get her own breakfast and off to school on time. When her mother did bother to come home, she criticized everything Riley did. Nothing was ever good enough for her. She never missed an opportunity to tell Riley she’d never amount to anything, and that no one would ever love her.
The worst part though, was when she told her mother about the bullying she was enduring at school and was told she brought it upon herself. It didn’t seem to matter most of the bullying was because of the clothes she was forced to buy from Goodwill, and because her mother was an alcoholic.
Riley shook her head to try to get rid of the thoughts, but it didn’t do any good. She’d suffered her first panic attack at the age of twelve, and her mother simply told her it was all in her head. She spent most of junior high and high school suffering with anxiety, until her guidance counselor suggested she see a doctor about it. Meds and a lot of therapy helped, and she hadn’t had an attack in over fifteen years now.
She pulled into a parking spot near the ER and sat there for a moment, trying to brace herself for what she might face inside. Hopefully, her mother was still unconscious, otherwise she’d probably get an earful about how long it took her to get there. She considered waiting until Megan arrived, but ultimately decided to just suck it up and go inside.
“I’m here for my mother,” she said to the woman sitting at the desk as she walked into the ER. “Helen Warren? S
he was brought in by ambulance.”
She didn’t have to wait long before a nurse appeared by her side. She escorted her to the bay her mother was in and left her standing inside the drawn curtain just staring at her. She looked so helpless lying there, but Riley was having trouble conjuring up much sympathy for her. Her mother had been heading down this road for years, knowing it would probably kill her someday, but she never seemed to care. Not enough to do anything about it anyway.
She took a seat next to the bed, and after a few minutes her leg began to bounce because she was bored and anxious. Not anxious enough to have an attack, she knew how that felt. Her vision would grow dim and it would be increasingly difficult to breathe. This anxiety was simply because she wanted to be anywhere but here, wondering if her mother would ever wake up.
“Ms. Warren?” a man said as he entered the cubicle. “I’m Dr. Matthews. I’m in charge of your mother’s case this evening.”
“Hello,” she said as she got to her feet and shook his hand. She glanced at her mother before focusing on him. “How is she?”
“I won’t lie to you,” he said, looking her right in the eye. “She isn’t doing well. This isn’t her first time here in our ER. Were you aware of that?”
“No.” Riley was conflicted. She was caught between being angry her mother hadn’t told her and not being at all shocked that she hadn’t. “No, I had no idea.”
“I’m not surprised. She’s made it clear she didn’t want anyone to contact you, so I’m wondering how you knew she was here tonight?”
“My best friend is one of the paramedics who brought her in. She called to let me know.”
“Okay,” he said with a nod before getting her mother’s chart from the foot of the bed. “She’s been in and out of consciousness even before she arrived in the ER. She’s been vomiting, and she’s had four seizures. We have her on fluids, as you can see, and she’s receiving oxygen through the tube in her throat because she isn’t able to keep breathing on her own at the moment. Her stomach was pumped not long after she got here, and there really isn’t much else we can do other than monitor her vital signs and wait for the alcohol to vacate her system.”
Hopes and Dreams Page 2
