by Cala Riley
“You need to leave my children alone. I won’t have you poison them. They don’t need the likes of you near them.”
A pang hits my heart. Aren’t those similar words to those that Reed and his friends said when I came here? I thought Reed had been warming up to me, but could the apple really not have fallen far from the tree? Is that how he feels?
I stand frozen and speechless as emotions whirl within me.
“Well, what are you still standing here for? Leave,” he demands.
That breaks me out of my stupor. I start to grab for my clothes.
“Father, what are you doing here?” I glance over to Reed pushing his way into the room, coming to stand in front of me.
“I was tired of waiting on your useless brother to fetch you. Besides, this is my house. I can go wherever I want.”
Reed lets out a humorless laugh. “You mean this is Grandfather’s house, which he gifted to me. So, in reality, you’re standing inside my house.”
“Watch your tone, boy. You aren’t yet eighteen. What’s yours is mine until then.”
Reed tenses. “What’s the reason for your visit?”
"I refuse to speak in front of your whore. Get rid of her.”
My heart aches when Reed doesn’t correct him. Maybe I am still a whore to him. I guess I just proved that.
“I’ll meet you downstairs,” Reed responds simply.
Once his father leaves, he turns to me, but I pull back.
“Don’t,” I whisper.
He looks hurt but doesn’t push it. “Why don’t you freshen up? Then we can go grab breakfast or something.”
He looks like his mind is a million miles away, so I just nod.
“I’ll be back. Wait here.”
I watch as he leaves for the second time today. This time, my heart feels much heavier.
I make quick work of pulling on my clothes. I had every intention of leaving Reed’s shirt, especially after he let his father call me a whore, but my inner masochist makes me keep it on. It gives me every rational excuse of why I need to wear it home.
It’s cold out.
You don’t want to wear yesterday’s clothes. It’s unsanitary.
After I settle my mind, I make my way out of the room. He wanted me to wait, but I don’t think my heart can take being in the same room as him right now. I creep down the back staircase, hoping to slip out the back door before Reed notices I’m gone. Voices in the kitchen stop my progress.
I know I shouldn’t, but the masochist inside makes me stop for a moment to listen.
“I don’t understand why though. You can’t come in here and order me around. I’m not the passive child you left ten years ago.”
My heart clenches at the venom in Reed’s voice.
“I don’t need to tell you why. That girl and her mother are nothing but bad news. They’ll tear this family apart. They already did once. Trust me, son. I’m saying this for your own good.”
“What does that even mean?” Reed demands.
“It means that I once knew her mother, and that woman was a conniving whore who would have torn this family apart. She tried to split me and your mother up while your mother was pregnant with you. She wanted to ruin us.” The tension in Mr. Yates’s voice shines through.
“Fine. Whatever you say. Are you going to leave now?”
“I think I should stay around a while. I don’t want her to get you boys into any trouble. Hell, now that you’ve fucked her—which you shouldn’t have, done by the way—she’s probably going to cry rape, blackmail us, or show up pregnant in a couple months. That’s how their kind works.”
I hold back tears at the way he’s speaking about my mother and me. What hurts even more is that Reed’s not even defending me. After last night, I thought things would be different between us.
For a split moment last night, I almost gave him everything. Had he not stopped me, I would have.
Turning on my heel, I silently leave out the back door before skirting around the side of the house.
It’s not until I’m back home and closing the door of my own bedroom that I let my tears fall freely, sobbing into my hand.
∞∞∞
“What’s wrong with you?” Tinsley asks when she finds me at my locker the next morning.
I spent all day yesterday hiding out in my room. I feigned illness, but I think Victoria could see through it.
Alice, on the other hand, was oblivious. She immediately had medicine and soup delivered to my room.
It gave me time to build up my walls again and prepare for today.
Sure, Reed called and texted throughout the day, but I ignored them all. I couldn’t face him after giving him part of myself. I might not have gone all the way, but I let him go further than anyone else.
“Don’t trust anyone.”
My mother’s words echo in my mind as I turn to Tinsley.
“Nothing.” I turn back to my locker, packing my items for the day.
“Sure,” she mutters.
A moment later, I feel an arm wrap around my middle as lips ghost against my ear.
“You left me yesterday.” His husky voice causes a reaction in my body that I wish I could contain. No matter what my mind says, my body still wants him.
I pull away before turning to meet his confused gaze.
“I went home.” I push past him to head towards my first class.
Tinsley and Reed fall in step beside me.
“Listen, if this has to do with my father, he’s a dick. Ignore him.”
He goes to put his arm around me, but I shake it off again before turning to him, knowing I need to nip this in the bud.
“Look, I had fun the other night.” I hear Tinsley gasp. “It was great, but there’s no reason to pretend this was anything more than a onetime thing. Let’s agree that it was a momentary lapse in judgement.”
His confused look turns to anger. “I get it. You just wanted a ride on a Yates. I’m surprised you didn’t jump on Keaton. He would have fucked you day one.”
My heart lurches at his response. I was hoping I’d been wrong, even after hearing him with his father. Even though it’s unfair of me to feel this way after pushing him away.
“Yep, that’s me. Always looking for my next great ride.” I shake my head before turning to walk away, but he reaches out to grab my arm.
“I’m not done with you yet.”
It’s now that I realize we have more of an audience than just Tinsley.
“I’m so tired of this game you’re playing, Reed. I’ll concede. You win. You fooled me. You made me believe for one moment that you were different than the rest of these fake-ass rich people. Let’s just agree to stay out of each other’s way.”
“That’s not how this works, sweetheart. You don’t get to just walk away. Especially not after you screamed my name as you came on my hand the night before last.”
My blood boils. Any last shred of hope that what we had meant anything to him bleeds out of me.
“Fuck you, Reed.” I lock eyes with him, attempting to hide my pain but unwilling to let him knock me down.
“I believe that’s what you were begging me for.”
Tinsley gasps. “Reed, that’s enough.”
“It’s okay, T. Reed showed his true colors.” I don’t dare look away from him as I deliver my final blow. “He’ll always be a bully, never outgrowing this place, unlike me. I’ll be gone soon enough. On to bigger and better things. So get your digs in. Embarrass me. Humiliate me. Call me a whore. Insinuate that I fucked you every which way until Sunday. Do your best, because I know who you really are. A bully in the prime of his life.”
I watch as my words hit their mark. He goes to open his mouth, but my hand flies up to stop him.
“Don’t bother wasting your breath. You no longer matter to me.”
I march away with my head held high as the gathered crowd parts, allowing me a clear exit.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“You again.”
Mr. Yates stands in the entrance of the diner.
“Welcome to Momma’s House. The door’s behind you,” I mutter as I start towards the counter.
“This your section?” he asks, pointing at one of my tables.
“I’m not interested in whatever you have to say, so please leave.”
“You look just like her, you know,” he says as he slides into a booth.
That makes me pause. Did he know my mom?
Of course he did. He probably grew up here like she did.
“That’s nice of you to say.” I guess.
“I don’t mean it as a compliment. Yes, Abi was beautiful, but she was also a siren leading men astray.”
“Whatever. I’m not going to stand here letting you trash talk my mom.” I move towards the kitchen, but his next words stop me.
“Did you know she was dating some poor sap when she got pregnant with you?”
I pause, turning to look at his face.
“Ah. She didn’t tell you that. When she broke it off with him and told him the baby wasn’t his, everyone was shocked. Not me. She was always flirting with me. Always wanting me to leave my wife, Michelle. She even asked me to claim the kid as my own and marry her. When I wouldn’t leave my wife, she tucked her tail away and ran with you.”
Is he telling the truth?
Is Elijah not my dad?
“Why would I believe anything you have to say about my mother?”
He shrugs. “You don’t have to.”
“Then why are you telling me this?”
“I just want you to know that I know who you came from. I know how vile and manipulative that woman could be, and I know she taught you everything she knew. Don’t think for one second that I’ll let you continue to weasel your way into my family. I don’t know why she sent you after my children, but it stops now.”
I roll my eyes before turning back to the door. “If you took ten seconds to get to know your children, you would realize you have nothing to worry about. Their virtues are all safe and sound. Well, maybe not Keaton, but that had nothing to do with me.”
I open the kitchen door, taking a step outside the dining room.
“One million dollars. I want you gone.”
I turn back to face him fully. “You’re disgusting. Throwing your money around as if it makes everything better. You have three amazing children, but you don’t even give them the time of day. That is, until you want them to fall into line and look perfect for society. Well, I hate to break it to you, but money doesn’t solve every issue. It doesn’t solve the abandonment your children feel every day. It doesn’t change the fact that your daughter has deep-rooted insecurities stemming from the fact that she’s never really had a parent around. The fact that Keaton can’t connect with anyone on a real level because he has trust issues thanks to you. And let’s not get started on Reed. He had to grow up faster than any child should have to because someone had to take care of Keaton and Tinsley. You want to sit here and judge my mother? You want to make her out to be some bad person? Let me tell you about my mother. She was there for every moment of my life up until the day she died. She was there for every skinned knee, doctor’s appointment, accomplishment, and every school event. She was on the PTA and coached my fifth-grade cheerleading team when I thought I wanted to give it a shot. She was always there for me every second of every day, letting me know she loved me and supported me. So you can say what you want, but you didn’t know my mother, and you obviously don’t know me. Keep your dirty fucking money. I want nothing to do with it.”
I turn and push through the kitchen door. I hear Mr. Yates yell behind me, but I ignore him.
Fuck him.
But… could it be true?
I try to shake off my doubt. Yes, I knew my mother, but I know she was someone else before she left. I’ve seen the pictures. She was one of them. I didn’t need Alice or Elijah telling me about her life before me to know that.
Whatever my mom did in the past is just that—the past. I’ll always love her no matter what she did.
I lean against the freezer door and try and catch my breath, then take my phone out of my back pocket and pull up my contacts. My finger hovers over one I never thought I would use.
I bring the phone up to my ear after hitting Call.
One ring.
Two rings.
Three rings.
“Sage?” the voice on the other end says.
“Hey. I need your help.”
“Anything. Where are you?”
∞∞∞
I flash the keycard in front of the reader, waiting for the beep.
I take a deep breath before walking in. “You didn’t have to get me such a nice room.”
“Nonsense,” Elijah says behind me before shutting the door.
I drop my bag onto the couch before walking over to the window.
“I set it up so you can stay here as long as you want. I would have brought you to my house, but I thought you would be more comfortable here,” he tells me while taking a seat.
“I appreciate that,” I reply honestly.
“Want to tell me what happened?” he asks after a few beats.
I take a deep breath. “Everything just caught up to me. I’ve always hated change, but lately it feels like one thing after another.”
“I get it. Things with Ingram probably don’t help.” He sighs.
“It’s not just her though.”
“Talk to me, Sage.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Mr. Yates said that Mom tried to break up his marriage. Is that true?”
“Absolutely not,” he says vehemently. “Preston always wanted your mother. She used to tell me stories about the man who would come visit her at her job. He would flirt with her and try to get her to go out with him. She would laugh about how stupid his antics were.”
Elijah sighs. “He was in love with your mother. She didn’t want him. She wasn’t breaking up his marriage. He was the one who offered to leave Michelle to be with Abi. Even with Michelle pregnant, he still told your mom that he would marry her and claim you as his daughter. He didn’t care that his wife was pregnant with his real child. He wanted a life he had always imagined with your mom. When she left, he took it hard. For a while, he disappeared. Then he came back and started spreading nasty rumors about your mom.”
“But why? What did she ever do?”
“She did nothing wrong, Sage. Some people just don’t take rejection well,” he tells me softly.
“I hate what people say about her,” I murmur.
“I do too. Always have. I had two great loves in my life, your mother being one of them. Hearing people whisper about her has never been easy, but it’s something you learn to deal with over time.”
I think about what he says for a few minutes before turning away from the window and sitting on the couch across from him.
“So…,” I drawl.
“So…,” he says with a smile on his face.
“I remember you saying something about having two sons. Do they know about me?”
Elijah chuckles. “Nice topic change,” he teases before sighing. “They do. David, my oldest, took it better than William. William is your mother’s age, so he thought it was wrong. They want to meet you once you’re ready.”
“I don’t know if and when I will be, but that’s nice to know.”
“No pressure, Sage. I’m thankful for every moment I’ve had with you since you moved here.”
“Me too,” I tell him with a soft smile.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Arriving at the Yates estate, I feel nerves build up inside me. I haven’t spoken to Reed in over a week and barely responded to Keaton and Tinsley. I needed some time to get my head straight.
I thought about backing out of tonight, but I couldn’t do that to Tinsley. She deserves to have the best sweet si
xteen she can.
That’s how I ended up standing here in the Yates mansion, wearing my cheap dress, holding a gift for the birthday girl.
“Here’s your birthday gift. It isn’t much, but I hope you like it,” I say, feeling somewhat embarrassed. Victoria also bought her a gift, but hers was a little different than mine.
Tinsley sets the shot glasses back down and turns to open the present.
“Oh, I didn’t mean you had to open it now,” I rush out, feeling even more embarrassed now.
“Don’t be silly. I want to.”
She opens the small package and pulls out the charm bracelet. She looks at each charm before turning to me with tears in her eyes.
“This is beautiful. Thank you. It’s perfect. How did you know?”
I return her smile. “I remember you talking about how you loved to go ice skating. You mentioned going to Vancouver on vacation, and while everyone else wanted to ski or snowboard, all you wanted to do was ice skate.”
I picked out each and every charm with that memory in mind. A pair of skates. A building that I was assured was located in Vancouver. A snowflake. A mitten. A beanie. A heart. The letter T.
She crushes me in a hug. “This is the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever bought me. Thank you so much. It means the world to me.”
She takes off her tennis bracelet before twisting to attempt to put the charm bracelet on.
“Help?” she asks.
I laugh but go to help her. “You don’t have to wear it tonight. The other one looks better with your dress.”
“Nonsense. I love it. I want to show it off.”
I try to act like it isn’t a big deal, but inside I’m secretly happy she likes it.
Mom always told me that to give a gift was to give a part of yourself. If you’re giving a gift based on monetary value or because everyone else thinks it’s cool, then you’re saying that material items mean more to you than personal connections. She always urged me to get to know the person I was giving the gift to and pick one that would mean something to them. The newest, coolest thing will fade, but the memory of the feeling the person will get from picking an item specifically for them will last a lifetime.
