Chapter Forty-Seven Her

Chapter Forty-Seven Her

Present Day

Wyatt asked to come over. He used the excuse of wanting to pick up more of his father’s personal belongings. My mother said

“absolutely not” so, of course, my you can’t tell me what to do attitude kicked in and I said yes. But “him” turned out to be Wyatt and his mom, which was no surprise but still annoying.

I set the box Wyatt left last time and another filled with unwanted Richmond garbage in the entry hall for an easy in and

out. The you’re not welcome here hint didn’t seem to bother Wyatt. He opened the box on top and looked at the contents before shutting it again.

Kathryn paced around, clearly wanting access to other parts of the house and huffing in frustration when my mom blocked the

way to the kitchen. Kathryn finally stopped shifting and grunting and stood in the middle of the entry. Right under the crystal

chandelier.

It was wrong to hope for a sudden earthquake, but I did anyway.

“We need to present a unified front,” Kathryn said.

The woman’s inability to read a room was astounding. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but the answer is no.”

I did know, of course. The Ben Cullen story had morphed from local to regional, and now had hit the national news. Richmond

craved attention his entire life and he sure was getting it now. Rumors flew around town. Whispers turned into he was always at the club and never at work rumblings. His band of mistresses hadn’t stepped forward yet, but that had to be coming. They had stories to tell and deserved

to sell them and collect money for their trouble.

The hard-core pro-Richmond camp—the delusional majority—wrote the bad press off as jealous people wanting to cash in now that

Richmond wasn’t around to defend himself. The anti-Richmond group questioned every surgery and every death and asked what

corners had been cut in deference to Richmond’s past.

No one had taken a harder look at his hero origin story... yet.

“This assault on Richmond and his reputation is despicable.” Kathryn was in full outrage mode with pent-up energy overflowing

and hands flipping around in the air.

I could see Mom gearing up to start a scene, so I jumped in. “He deserves the scrutiny.”

“How can you say that? He was a genius. He saved so many—”

My mom rolled her eyes. “Kathryn, stop.”

I rushed in a second time because Mom could go anywhere after that. “If Richmond’s surgical skills were bogus, and it looks

like they were in part, that should be news because his medical practice has a lot to answer for.”

Kathryn’s lips flatlined and her voice rose in indignation. “You were his wife. Do you understand what could happen? You could lose everything.”

This sounded like projection mixed with some wishful thinking. “I’ll be fine.”

“Mom, we should go.”

Poor Wyatt, always stuck in the middle of his parents’ tirades. They seemed to drag the kid out whenever they needed cover,

reinforcements, or a witness. He served as both security guard and accomplice. I was ready for him to go back to school. When

was that happening?

Mom asked a question before I could ask mine. “Why did you bring your mother with you today? You have to know it’s uncomfortable

for Addison to have her here.”

Wyatt shrugged. “She asked.”

Mother loyalty. Kathryn insisted and Wyatt put aside his discomfort out of a warped sense of I owe you . He grew up in a household where parenthood was an unspoken tit-for-tat battle. I got it because I’d lived it, too.

Time for them to leave. “Doesn’t matter. You can take these boxes, Wyatt.”

Mom eyed up Kathryn. “We can send over whatever else you need. There’s no reason for continued family visits.”

Mom really was a ray of sunshine. She also wasn’t wrong... about this. “For the record, Kathryn, I will not be putting

out a statement of support for Richmond or saying anything to help his reputation. The public bashing appears to be deserved.”

Kathryn gasped on cue. “You are the worst decision Richmond ever made.”

“No. My daughter wasn’t Richmond’s biggest mistake.” Mom smiled in a way that gave off horror movie vibes. “I think we both know what that was.”

The mood of minimal tolerance shattered. Every word ratcheted up the stark energy in the room. A seething anger, targeted,

the kind that comes from a trail of broken promises and personal disappointments, choked the entryway. The conversation had

shifted from an annoying game of one-upmanship to an epic standoff between two women with what sounded like a secret shared

past and palpable anger that had festered for decades.

Tension clawed at the back of my throat as I attempted to swallow and breathe without gasping. My mother had little more than

a passing acquaintance with the truth. I’d had that epiphany a long time ago as I watched her live her life and plan out mine.

This was a whole other level of what the fuck .

Kathryn returned Mom’s stare. “Lizzy. That’s short for Elizabeth, right? Interesting because I once knew an Elizabeth. Horrid

creature.”

“Aren’t you the charming socialite?”

“In my defense, some people come into your life who aren’t worth remembering. Then they pop up again and the bad memories

come flooding back. You have no choice but to deal with them.”

The voice in my head that said stop this got outvoted by my curiosity. Neither of these women were built to back down, which meant this could end up in a verbal massacre.

“I’m trying to imagine you as a young girl, Lizzy.” Kathryn’s smile promised trouble. “Pathetic and craving attention. Flirting, hanging around where you weren’t wanted. Generally being a nuisance as you begged for attention. Any kind of attention.”

Mom shrugged. “It’s better than being a spoiled little bitch with no personality or dreams. You know, the kind that might

become a washed-up trophy wife who can’t hold her man.”

Oh, shit.

“What’s happening?” Wyatt asked.

You don’t want to know, kid.

“Your mother is talking, Wyatt. Let her speak.” Mom’s voice shifted to taunting. “Do you have something to ask me, Kathryn?”

If she didn’t, I did. But Kathryn didn’t say a word.

“I didn’t think so.” Mom shifted her gaze to Wyatt. She looked from him to the boxes stacked in front of him. “Lift with your

knees.”

Mom delivered her line as if she’d been practicing the dismissal for years. She headed for the stairs, leaving Kathryn staring

after her and Wyatt juggling the boxes. No one said another word until I shut the front door after our unwanted guests left.

“Want to tell me what that was about?” I asked.

Mom stopped halfway up the grand staircase. “Women like Kathryn need to have the last word. I refused to give it to her.”

The answer didn’t have anything to do with my question. I knew a little about Mom’s upbringing. The few bits she shared because

they fit her agenda or furthered her you-owe-me narrative. Her submissive mom, out-of-the-picture dad, and distant stepfather.

The volatile household exploded when her stepfather found the pregnancy test.

Getting kicked out of her house and bouncing around dis tant relatives’ couches started the pattern that would repeat throughout her life—alone even when in a relationship and openly hostile to any form of affection. She expected rejection, almost welcomed it. She kept me at a distance, silently blaming me for the crashing of her dreams.

Then there was my dad. The boy who was gone from Mom’s life long before she went into labor. The free ticket out of her unhappy

existence who disappointed her in the end just like everyone else.

Very few of those stories mentioned Kathryn and even then only as an afterthought. “You worked at the Doughertys’ country

club.”

“They didn’t own it even though they acted like they did.”

I refused to be derailed by semantics. “One of the rare times you talked about Kathryn was to tell me she never came to the

club. She wasn’t a member. Cooper and Richmond brought friends, but not her.”

“That’s what I said.”

Talk about a dodge. “That exchange you just had sounded pretty personal, like the two of you knew each other and not just

in passing. You conveniently left that part out of your life story.”

“You’re blowing a few comments out of proportion.”

“You and Kathryn and whatever is between you directly impacts me.” The omission kept me from seeing the entire game at play...

just as Mom intended.

She didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Just stood on the stairs, lording over the first floor as if she were lady of the

house. “You dismantle the remainder of Richmond’s reputation. I’ll handle Kathryn.”