by Sam Destiny
He shook his head, not having an answer. “Maybe she’s amicable.”
“She cleared out her daughter’s whole room two days after she left town. She left her family. Mason, no matter what she thinks she is, do you honestly expect Taylor to be happy? Tamara? Tim?”
No, Mason didn’t. This spelled disaster more clearly than anything else ever could.
“I gotta go. I at least wanna be there in case she shows up. Lucky break that we decided to celebrate on our farm,” he decided, hoping it was true. Maybe, just maybe, it would give him enough time to prepare Taylor and her siblings for what was waiting for them soon.
***
Taylor heard the doorbell ring and saw Stella move, but Tim was quicker, already reaching for the doorknob.
“I got it, Grandma,” he called while pulling open the door. Taylor didn’t see him anymore, but she heard the snarl that answered his statement.
“She’s not your grandma, son. But hi, big boy!”
Taylor moved up against the wall, seeing from across the room how Stella all but flew off the couch and then briskly walked toward where Taylor’s little brother stood, most likely paralyzed.
“Hey, Timmy, why don’t you go and let me handle that?” Stella asked gently, and it didn’t take long before Timmy came around the corner, throwing himself into Taylor’s waiting arms. She hugged the boy while listening intently to what transpired at the front door.
“Bonnie Collins. Never thought I’d see you again,” Stella chided.
“Just here because I cannot get into my own house. Since my son is here, I have no doubt at least one of my daughters is too. May I speak to either of them?”
“I’m babysitting your son since Tamara is away at college, and Taylor actually has stuff to do, no matter what you think.”
Tim still sobbed into her shoulder, and Taylor wondered if she should be stepping forward.
“It’s interesting how you speak about my kids. As if they aren’t mine, but yours in fact,” Bonnie pointed out.
“I’d ask you in, but we are gearing up for Christmas, and while we used to be somethin’ akin to friends, you lost that privilege when you treated your daughter as if she was the pariah for wanting her own life.”
“I’m not sure you’re in a position to judge me and my family. Just because your boy never was smart enough to have any bigger dreams than this, you don’t need to attack me,” Bonnie replied. Taylor didn’t care when she was the one put down, but attacking Mason? That was out of the question.
“Go and get yourself some ice cream,” she whispered to her brother before straightening herself and marching over to the front door.
“Mother,” she greeted her, deliberately putting a sharp edge into the word. “It’s funny how you judge me for leaving and Mason for staying. In case you didn’t realize, he’s EMT and a helicopter pilot while taking care of the family farm. The only real disappointment here is you since I had an amazing business I had to sell in order to return to take care of the family you clearly never wanted.”
“A family you left.”
“I didn’t leave the family, Mother. I left you. You were the one telling me that either I take care of the farm, or you never wanted to see me again.” Taylor was surprised that she actually managed to keep her voice calm.
“You never returned when I left, so I guess it couldn’t only have been me,” her mother goaded, but Taylor lazily leaned against the doorframe, watching her mother. She was acting less affected than she felt, and to her surprise, it seemed to work, too.
“Tamara and Timothy were taken care of, and I had a business to run. Besides, I returned to them the moment they needed me. And now, if you wouldn’t mind –”
“Did he finally take you, Taylor? The boy you’ve been so smitten with since high school? Were you finally good enough?”
Taylor knew it was a low blow, and her mother tried to get a reaction out of her, but she told herself not to react.
“Mommy!” Taylor closed her eyes as Becca called from the top of the stairs, coming down with a naked, glittering doll and a beaming smile on her face. No matter what her mother would now say or think, Taylor refused to ignore the little girl.
“Hey sweetie,” she whispered, kissing Becca. She picked her up as Mason’s daughter stretched her arms.
“Betsy and Loony aren’t friends anymore. Can Betsy sleep with Daddy and you?” It was incredible how children could be oblivious to tension inside a room.
“I’d ask you inside, Mother, but it’s not my house, and you’re clearly not welcome.” Taylor arched a brow at Stella, who stood rigidly behind her, arms crossed in front of her chest and a hostile expression on her face. “And while we’re at it, the other house is mine, and you aren’t welcome there, either. It’s what happens when you neglect your family, Mother. Things change owners out of necessity. How about you go to a bed and breakfast and maybe, if you’re really nice, we’ll talk to you when we see you on the street?”
She gave her mother a super sweet smile, and then wanted to close the door, but her mother pushed her foot in before it was fully closed.
“That’s why you’re back! He got you pregnant, and now, you didn’t have any other chance,” her mother taunted, and Taylor kissed Becca’s hair, putting the girl back on her feet.
“Go and play with Tim, okay?” she whispered, and Becca stumbled away, humming softly.
“I’m not sure how this is any more your business than the rest, but Mason was always another reason for me to stay. Fleeing from you was no longer necessary, so being here, Mason and I finally got where we wanted to be since forever. Now, can you please …”
She trailed off as Mason’s truck parked next to Stella’s car and her seething fiancé stormed toward her.
Things just got a lot more uncomfortable.
***
Mason saw the defensive posture of his mother, noticed Taylor’s pale skin, and he knew he’d do anything to get Bonnie Collins off his family’s farm.
“Mase,” Taylor mumbled, a clear warning in her voice. She didn’t want him to interfere, but he sure as hell didn’t give a fuck what she wanted. He had meant to have a talk with her mother since the day Taylor had gotten on the bus and left him.
“The guy that can’t keep it in his pants,” Bonnie taunted, and Mason froze, caught off guard by the comment. Was she referring to Becca? Mason was positive that Taylor would’ve never told her mother about the conception of his daughter, so maybe someone in town had talked.
“Mother, leave him alone. Just go, and maybe I’ll meet you in town someday soon,” Taylor tried to pacify the woman who looked so much like her, it scared Mason. Bonnie’s cheeks were hollow, somewhat like Taylor’s had been when she’d returned. Her mother’s blonde hair hung longer than her daughter’s did, but the braided length still reminded him of his fiancée. Her face was older, clearly marked by years of stress and, Mason wanted to believe, self-hatred, too, had something to do with it, but he doubted that.
“I don’t remember you as so mean,” he finally forced out, and Taylor’s mother laughed. In fact, Mason remembered her as a soft woman, loving her daughter without reservations. How wrong had he been. It had taken until Taylor’s senior year for him to see the true evil inside that woman, but now, it was hard to unsee.
“I don’t remember you having to get girls pregnant to keep them. They usually threw themselves at you, and my little Taylor had no chance against all the sluts you slept with,” Taylor’s mother stated, shaking her head in regret. Taylor’s gasp drew Mason’s eyes to his fiancée’s face. What the hell was he missing?
“Bonnie Collins, move your impertinent ass off my grounds and don’t ever think about insulting my son or my soon-to-be daughter-in-law ever again. I promise this lady here will show you how much she can still kick someone’s ass, honey,” Stella threatened, stepping forward, but Taylor’s expression worried Mason.
“Stop it,” she whispered, holding her hand up before her mother had eve
n drawn in a breath, ready to protest. “Let me get my car keys.”
“Take mine,” Mason ordered, and Taylor looked at him, desolation shining from her eyes.
“Thank you,” she muttered, stepping forward as she was with no jacket on and no scarf, just a light sweater, jeans, and sneakers on her feet. He knew for a fact that her home would be ice cold. They hadn’t spent one day there in more than a week.
“Tay.” He held her back, but she just kissed his palm before dropping his hand from her arm. “What’s your plan?”
“Get her away from where she can hurt you, Stella, or Timmy. Tell Tammy I’ll be fine,” she pleaded, and Mason wasn’t sure he could do that. Her sister would move heaven and hell to make things better, while Taylor would do the same to keep Tamara away. “Get in the car, Mother,” Taylor ordered.
“Don’t boss me around,” Bonnie snapped, but Taylor just arched a brow.
“Get in the car or have the police escort you off this land. Your choice.” She waited, clearly giving her mother the chance to figure out her best course of action, but then the elder Collins woman moved over to his truck, pouting after she had crawled into the passenger seat.
Mason drew Taylor in, holding her freezing body tight. “What now?”
Taylor shook her head against his shoulder, mumbling something unintelligible, so he drew back far enough to understand her.
“She has to have an ulterior motive, and I want to know what it is. And then I’ll set her up in the living room and lock myself in my bedroom. Tomorrow morning, I’ll have breakfast with her, and we’ll figured out what her fucking deal is until then or she’ll have to leave. Everything is in my name, the luck of having a minor neglected by his parents. The lawyer worked wonders. I just don’t know how it’ll be if she claims Timmy.”
“She can put a claim in, but honestly, she won’t get him back. Not after having left. And people here will be ready to vouch for you and tell everyone how bad she is for the family. Just don’t let her get to you.”
Taylor showed him a tiny smile, wordlessly assuring him that she’d be fine. “You should get inside and take care of our daughter. I kinda didn’t correct her when she assumed you got me pregnant, and I returned because of that. First, I would’ve, and second, I don’t owe her any explanations. Enjoy your evening with the family, and tomorrow, we’ll prepare for Christmas, okay? Maybe you can get Timmy and Becca to help decorate the tree with you.” She pointed at the fir still standing next to the porch. “I love you.”
He kissed her, conveying everything he felt with it: the need to protect her, the fight to trust her, the regret of not spending the night with her. “Call me, sweetie. Always,” he urged, and she nodded. She finally got in the car with her mother; she was not the least bit excited, that much was clear.
Mason watched until they had left, and then he turned and walked up to his mother.
“She never used to be like that. I remember when Bonnie and I were in high school. God, I wonder what happened to her … besides her leaving the family when they needed her the most.” Stella shook her head, and Mason sat down on the stairs, rubbing his face in his hands. His mother sat down next to him, squeezing his arm. “She’ll be okay.”
Mason shook his head. “She was okay. This? This is a disaster.”
“Maybe you should just put some faith in her,” Stella pointed out, and Mason slowly nodded. He had all the faith in the world in her. That didn’t change the fact that Bonnie might be the devil in disguise, and his angel sure as hell wasn’t prepared for it.
Taylor opened the door to her home wordlessly. It couldn’t be more obvious that it was hers now than the moment her mother had realized she had no key and no idea where to find it. Even though her house was cold, the smell of cookies lingered in the air from when she and Tim had spent an entire afternoon baking and joking around, flour ending up everywhere. Taylor had cleaned for hours yet couldn’t get herself to regret it.
She hit the light switch, cringing at the pale shine. Normally, she would prefer turning on all small lamps around the room, but somehow, she didn’t think her mother deserved the comfort those lights would bring.
While the woman in question slowly walked around the room, Taylor went ahead into the kitchen, feeling the need to have some tea. She put on the kettle, smiling at it. It was a gift from Stella, who had told her that some days comfort lay in the tin can. It made Taylor smile when she had to agree. Getting another tin box from the cupboard, she opened the top and inhaled deeply. Mason had bought her a Caribbean tea that smelled and tasted of pineapples and bananas. She loved it. Carefully spooning the loose leaves into a tea bag, she waited until the kettle whistled.
“Are you gonna prepare me one, too?” her mother asked, finally following her, and Taylor lifted her eyes, gritting her teeth to calm herself down.
“I didn’t think you were going to stay that long,” she stated, and Bonnie Collins folded her hands on the top of the kitchen counter.
“You’ve become a hostile little thing,” her mother noted, and Taylor took the kettle from the heat, pouring the steaming water into her mug. She wrapped her fingers around it, holding on tight.
“What do you want, Mother? Why are you back in Sunburn?”
She kept her eyes on her mother’s face, trying to remember how it had been back when she hadn’t hated her mother. Back when her mother had still been her best friend and had always wore a beaming smile.
“Back when you started high school, you were the prettiest, nicest, and most compliant girl anyone could wish for. You had amazin’ grades, and everyone was so jealous of me. But then you suddenly had new friends, and while your grades still were amazin’ and everyone still loved you, they didn’t know about all your crazy ideas. They didn’t know that you snuck out at night to see boys, and I worried.”
Boys … Taylor had never snuck out to see boys. She had met Ash and Kelly, and they had taken pictures: of stars, of fireflies, and each other. They had been girls, and yes, sometimes, they had come across Mason and his friends, but he had never been her main reason to leave the house. None of them had. All she wanted was freedom and fun, and to prove that you could run wild and still be a good girl.
“You worried? About what? I showed up to every damn fundraiser you asked me to; I was a cheerleader the way you wanted it. I was the perfect daughter, yet it wasn’t enough.”
“We had a farm to take care of. You loved the horses, but that was all you cared about. Your father wasn’t going to be able to manage it forever. It was a family thing, and you never wanted it.”
Taylor shook her head. “Mother, I wanted in, but I wanted to find myself first. I wanted to go away and see the other states, maybe even the world. I wanted to know I had a home to return to, stories to tell, and parents to love me. You decided that I couldn’t have what I wanted, but that I had to take what you needed me to take!” She lowered her voice as she realized that she was starting to scream. “Choices—that’s all I wanted.”
Her mother stayed silent, starting to walk around the kitchen. Taylor lifted her mug to her lips and slowly sipped the hot liquid. She should’ve known that this wouldn’t get them anywhere, but somewhere, deep inside her heart, she had hoped that maybe her mother would see reason.
“I always thought that if you’d just stayed long enough, you’d see that this is exactly what you wanted. You know, I never really wanted this life, but after enough time with your father here, I didn’t think I needed anythin’ else. And there was Mason for you. He definitely wanted to stay around, and that could’ve been your chance. You wanted him back then just as you want him now. The way he looks at you, or the way you look at him; it hasn’t changed one bit. Only you never saw it before, and I never commented on it because I felt that through him maybe I’d lose you, too. After all, he had his own farm that his mother hoped he’d take over. Mason Stiles was everythin’ I feared yet hoped for ... even though you deserved more. So much more.”
Taylor doubted that she
could’ve found anyone better than Mason, but she didn’t say that. “I got so much more, and you didn’t like it, either.”
“Andrew what’s-his-name? No, he wasn’t more. You settled for him. Each and every time you’ve been out with him, it was clear something was missing,” her mother replied thoughtfully, and Taylor had to put down her mug so she didn’t drop it.
“How in the world would you know?”
“Where else should I have gone, but to the city my daughter deemed better than her hometown? What else was there to do, but watch her trample over everythin’ that she held dear back home? You were no longer my daughter the moment you walked out. I’ve never seen such a heartless sight before, the way your hazel eyes looked at me, void of any emotion...” Her mother shook her head as Taylor hugged herself.
“Void of emotion?” She had felt so much that day; her heart had barely been able to react to the different feelings of heartbreak, excitement, and numbness, slowing down and racing in equal parts. “I was torn apart by having to leave because you wouldn’t see reason. I was heartbroken because all Dad did was stand back and watch me walk away instead of telling you that your last words shouldn’t have been for me to never return, but that I’d always have a room in your house, no matter what. That’s what parents do, Mother! I wouldn’t have left if you’d have said those words!” she accused and knew in her heart that it was true. While she hadn’t been ready to take over the farm, she would’ve stayed if her mother only had shown her how much she loved her and was ready to put aside their problems.
“You would’ve taken over the farm then?”
Nope, never, Taylor was sure of that. “I would’ve been around to help and gone to a community college to get the nursing degree I hoped for. But ... if you came and saw me in Michigan, why didn’t you talk to me?”
