by Rachel Hanna
Dang it, maybe she was just as dysfunctional as the rest of them. She didn’t want her mother to live with her, but she wanted her mother to WANT to live with her?
“Vivi, can I talk to Kelly alone for a minute please?” Edie said. Vivienne walked outside to have a cigarette and the two women sat down.
“Mom, you know this is about the money, right?” Surely her mother had to know that Vivienne had her own intentions, and they weren’t always honorable ones.
“Yes, I know full well what I’m doing, Kelly.” For the first time in many years, Edie sounded sane and coherent.
“Then why are you doing it? As soon as the insurance money comes in, if it does at all, she’s going to swindle you out of it.”
“You know, all of my life has been spent wanting people to love me,” Edie said. “First, your father, who was completely the wrong man for me, and then you kids. I so wanted to be the perfect mother and wife, but through poor choices or maybe fate or a little bit of karma… well, that just didn’t happen.” Kelly could see tears welling in Edie’s eyes for a moment, but she willed them away. “For a long time, I wished so much for a relationship with you two girls, but I couldn’t get over my own demons. I couldn’t let anyone in.”
“And that’s why you became a hoarder…” Kelly said softly. It all made sense.
“Maybe. I don’t know. I just wanted to be loved and accepted, but I don’t do vulnerability well.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” Kelly said with a laugh. Edie smiled back at her.
“I know who Vivi is. She’s a lot like me, so she can’t really pull a fast one on me. Her husband dumped her for a younger woman, Kelly.”
“Oh….”
“But don’t tell her I told you that. She’s pretty much destitute at this point. I’ve got some money put away, not a whole lot, but enough to get us through until the insurance gets settled. For once, I want to be the hero in someone’s life. You don’t need me, Kelly, but she does.”
Being able to sit and talk to her mother like this seemed like a dream. It had never happened, and she liked it. And for a moment, she longed to get back all of those years with her mother that drugs took away. And now here she was, losing her again in a totally new way.
A part of her wanted to ask her mother to stay, to continue trying to mend their relationship. But she knew that it was impossible. Her mother was convinced that she didn’t need her and that Vivienne did, which was probably true. Kelly had learned to be very resourceful and independent during her life, and she appreciated the fact that her mother apparently realized that.
“You know that if you ever need me, I’m just a phone call away. It hasn’t been easy living here together, but I would like to think that we can spend more time together from now on.” Kelly couldn’t believe the words she was saying, but it was true. Her relationship with her mother would never be normal by other people’s standards, but just being able to have a conversation – an honest one – was a step in the right direction.
“I know, and thank you. I would love to be able to spend more time together as a family. I know I wasted a lot of years, Kelly, with my problems. I let them get the best of me, no doubt. But, I would like to make that up to you girls in some way. Maybe we can even take a family vacation or something when my insurance money comes in!” The thought of going on an extended vacation with her mother made her want to run out into traffic, but she wasn’t about to say that out loud.
They both stood up, facing each other. For a moment, Kelly surveyed her mother’s face. Wrinkles had replaced her once smooth skin, and she had aged earlier than most people from living a hard life. The crows feet around her eyes were from too much laughing, and the lines around her mouth were from smoking cigarettes for too many years to count. But this was her mother, like it or not, and in that moment she was able to accept her for who she was.
So she did what all good daughters do – she reached out and gave her a hug. At first, her mother didn’t return the embrace, but slowly she felt her arms slide up and around her. It felt strange, foreign, but Kelly remained there, willing herself to feel the feelings of a mother and daughter relationship even if just for a brief moment. Her once a year Mother’s Day hugs had always felt uncomfortable, but this one became easier as the moments passed.
“I guess I better get going. Vivienne and I are staying at a hotel tonight, but we’re moving into our new place tomorrow. I hope you’ll come see it soon,” her mother said as she pulled back from their embrace.
“I will. I promise,” Kelly said. He crazily enough, she meant it.
Chapter 12
Meeting with the accountant for her business was one of the things that Kelly hated the most in the world. She definitely wasn’t a numbers person, but she had worked really hard in her adult life to make sure that she understood her own finances. After watching two completely irresponsible parents during her formative years, it was amazing that she had any money at all in her checking and savings accounts.
But, she did. In fact, she had learned to squirrel away pretty substantial amounts of money in the last few years. Her business was doing well, and her dream was to buy her own building at some point. Although she did love renting where she was, she wanted to say that she owned something other than her house.
Still, meeting with an accountant was akin to getting a root canal or a Pap smear – it was something she had to do but wasn’t exactly looking forward to it.
Plus, if she was honest with herself, she didn’t like the idea of not getting to see Quinn until later in the morning. They had become quite an item, even going out on a few more dates around town. She knew she was falling in love with him, but she definitely wasn’t going to be the one to say it first.
They spent a lot of nights at his cabin, sitting on the dock and watching the sun set over the mountains. He was a fabulous cook. Who knew? He was constantly opening bottles of wine, grilling steak and he could make a mean cheesecake. The perfect man. Finally.
He texted her all throughout the day, which was funny given the fact that he was usually right upstairs. They were a lot alike, and very different. But she couldn’t imagine living her life without him which was something she didn’t expect after hating his guts when she first met him.
Still, because of her past, she had a really hard time trusting him completely. Everyone in her life had always let her down at some point, so it was very hard to trust that he wasn’t going to just leave her. Sometimes she found herself wondering if he had a really dark past that she didn’t know about, like maybe he was in member of the underground Whiskey Ridge mafia.
But he was definitely the most steadfast person she’d ever had in her life. She could predict what he was about to do at any given time. They finished each other sentences, he was never late for dates and he always called her when he said he would. All of the stability almost made her feel uncomfortable.
“Good morning,” Cat said when Kelly finally got in to work. “How’d it go with the accountant?”
“Oh it was a wonderful time with lots of twists and turns and excitement,” Kelly said dryly. Cat smiled and handed her some mail that had been piling up. “What are you doing here so early?” Kelly asked since Cat usually didn’t come in until closer to her shift that started at six o’clock.
“Mrs. Stanley wanted to come in for a private yoga lesson this morning. She’s got an upcoming 30th high school reunion, so she needs some extra help toning and tightening to impress those young men who didn’t pay her any attention way back then,” Cat said laughing. “And then Maggie had a dental appointment, so I told her I’d just watch the office. Our appointments are pretty light this morning anyway.”
“Oh that’s right. I forgot about Maggie’s appointment.”
“By the way, what was Quinn doing it your house so early this morning? It looked like he was about to do yard work or something. You must have him trained pretty good!” Kelly had no idea what she was talking about.
“Quinn wasn’t at my house th
is morning. In fact, I left around seven o’clock.”
“Um, he was most definitely there. I saw his truck pulled off at the side of the road and he was in the edge of your woods near that cross where the accident happened.”
“He was? I have no idea what he would be doing there. In fact, he told me that he had a doctor’s appointment this morning and wouldn’t be in until around the same time I was. We’re supposed to have lunch together.”
“I almost didn’t recognize him with a baseball cap on.”
And there it was. The sentence that put everything together in her mind. The man that she had been seeing the last several months in front of her house was Quinn.
At first, she felt sorry for him all over again. But then it occurred to her that he had been keeping this secret for some reason. He hadn’t told her that it was his wife who had died at the top of her property. But why?
As Cat walked out to grab an early lunch, Kelly sat at her desk staring at the flickering mouse in front of the search engine. She typed in “Penny Maverick” and waited.
Sure enough, she found the story from their local newspaper from the day after Penny had died. And there it was in black and white print on the computer screen:
Penny Maverick passed away yesterday in a fiery car crash at the curve on Sycamore Road. She leaves behind her husband, Quinn, and her mother, Sally Ellington. Services will be held…
How had she never known this information? In an effort to put that terrible day out of her mind, she had forgotten the woman’s first name. And Quinn certainly hadn’t offered the information during their many times together.
Just as she closed her computer, Maggie came walking in from her dental appointment. She could tell that something was wrong with Kelly by the look on her face and immediately sat on the edge of her desk.
“What’s wrong, boss? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I have.”
“What? You mean here?” Kelly had forgotten how ghost-phobic Maggie was. She claimed that she had grown up in a house where they had many ghosts who wouldn’t move over to the other side, so anytime someone mentioned a ghost she got completely freaked out. She wouldn’t even dress up on Halloween because of it.
“No. Sorry, I didn’t mean an actual ghost. Can I talk to you about something?”
“Of course. As long as it isn’t ghosts,” Maggie said laughing. Kelly wasn’t in a laughing mood.
“Do you remember me telling you about Quinn’s late wife and how he’s never told me how she passed away?”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“Well, I just found something out and I don’t what to do about it.”
“You mean about his wife?”
“Yes. Cat was driving past my house this morning and she saw Quinn out at the cross marker for the terrible accident that happened there last year. It was his wife, Maggie,” Kelly said, trying desperately to hold back tears.
“Oh my gosh. Why wouldn’t he tell you that?”
“That’s exactly what I’m wondering. Do you think it’s possible he’s been using me just to have access to the property? Or maybe like he feels close to his wife there or something?”
“I would have a really hard time believing that. He seems so into you. I mean, ya’ll seem be so close. I can’t see how he could possibly be pretending or trying to scam you.”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I intend to find out.”
“Kelly, be careful. You don’t want to jump to conclusions and ruin what could be a really good thing.”
* * *
As the minutes passed, Kelly got more and more riled up in her office. She was supposed to be meeting Quinn for lunch, but she honestly didn’t know if she wanted to go. What on earth was he thinking? Why would he keep something like that from her?
One part of her felt really bad for him, this man who had lost his wife in such a horrific way. The other part of her wondered what kind of game he was playing that he wouldn’t share this secret with her. She felt completely conflicted and unsure of how to proceed.
After all, she didn’t want to seem witchy like she didn’t care that this poor guy has lost his wife. She also expected honesty from anyone she might choose to date, men especially, given recent circumstances with Rio.
“Hey. I thought we were meeting at the sandwich shop?” Quinn said, standing in the doorway of her office. Dang it. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she had completely forgotten they were supposed to meet ten minutes before.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I got caught up in something here…” She was pretty sure he knew she was lying since looking around the office it was fairly obvious she was doing nothing. She was literally sitting in a chair, staring straight ahead and her computer was closed on her desk.
“Are you okay? You don’t look well.” He walked toward her and knelt in front of her with his hand on her knee. She suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable and stood up.
“I’m fine. Listen, maybe we can do lunch another day…” she said as she made her way around her desk and opened her computer.
“Kelly, come on. I know you, and something is definitely wrong. Are you mad at me?”
She looked up at him and found it very hard to be angry. Looking into those deep green eyes of his made her go completely weak, so she turned her attention back to the computer.
“No. Why would I be mad at you? It’s not like you’ve been keeping something from me, right?” She looked up at him again, and a look of confusion clouded his face. She wanted him to admit it, right here and now, but it wasn’t happening.
“Not that I know of…”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Have you been using me?”
“What? Using you? What would make you think that?” Now he looked more than confused.
“Cat saw you this morning at my house.”
“Yeah… I went by… I thought you were going to be home…”
Kelly shot up out of her chair, angry that he was trying to cover his tracks even now. “Don’t you do that, Quinn! Don’t you lie to me! You at least owe me honesty. You knew full well I wasn’t there, and I know exactly why you were there.”
He looked defeated, obviously knowing that she knew the secret. He took a big breath in and slid down into the chair, hanging his head in his hands for a moment before looking up.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you.”
“I don’t understand. I thought… I thought things were moving along with us. I… I guess I just don’t understand why you would keep something like this from me.”
He shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t know. I did want you to think that I was only interested in you for a connection to my late wife. And truly, I didn’t want to tell you the real story of what happened to her and to our marriage.”
She knew there had to be more, and this was obviously it. A part of her wanted to let him off the hook and not pry into this very personal part of his life, but the other part of her felt she was owed an explanation before they even tried to move forward in a relationship. And did she even want a relationship with him now? And did he want one with her?
“Quinn, you know I’ve had a long history of people not being honest with me. It takes a lot for me to open up, so if you have any plans to move forward with me then I have to know the truth. If not, it’s okay for you to keep those things private and we can to stay friends, or least coworkers.”
Every part of her wanted him to say that he would tell her everything, be totally open and transparent. But another part of her didn’t know if she was worth it for him to give up all of his secrets just to be with her.
“I can’t talk about this right now,” he said, suddenly standing up and moving toward the door. “I know you don’t understand, but I’m just not ready. I care about you, but I’m not ready to let anybody into that part of my world yet. I’m sorry.”
And with that, he walked out of her office, out of the door and
possibly out of her life.
* * *
Kelly sat on her front porch, staring toward the cross at the road. She hadn’t seen Quinn for the rest of the day. From what she could tell, he put one of the other instructors in charge and left. She hoped that he would come back soon, and maybe he just needed some time to think.
For her entire life, she’d never been important enough to anyone for them to be honest with her and take care of her. She worried that Quinn was just another in the long line of men who would disappoint her, but the pit of her gut told her that he was a different kind of man. That he was just struggling with something right now and he would come around. At least she hoped that was the case.
As she sat sipping her coffee, she thought about her life and where it was headed. Maybe she would be one of those women who always lived alone, with her cat and no husband. Maybe some women were just meant to live that life, and they probably enjoyed it. Yeah, that definitely wasn’t her. She wanted more. She wanted the whole thing – the husband, the kids, maybe even the white picket fence.
She was a little surprised at just how quiet her home seemed all of the sudden. Just not having her mother’s presence had left a bit of a void that she hadn’t expected at all.
And just as she was lamenting the current state of her life, her cell phone dinged. It was her mother, and it looked like drama was about to unfold in her life all over again.
* * *
Kelly drove toward Atlanta like a bat out of hell. Her mother had texted her and said that Vivienne had emptied what little was in her bank account and disappeared a few hours earlier. And now Edie sat in her new apartment without a dime to her name.
When Kelly called her, she sounded frazzled, anxious and full of anger. The anger was definitely legitimate.
She pulled into her mother’s apartment complex and made her way up the stairs as fast as she could. If she could get her hands on her sister right now, she would ring her neck. But this was typical Vivienne – always an angle, no care about anyone else.
