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“I have an appointment this afternoon, you two. Mind Elli, and be on your best behavior.” Theresa busied herself with cleaning up after lunch. “John will be coming with me.”
Jeremy brought his dirty dishes to the sink. “Can we take Sully to the beach when you get back?”
“That sounds like a great idea,” she said as she wiped down the counter. “Make sure your chores are done by three, and we’ll head out as soon as I get home.”
“Okay, Mom.” Charlie opened the dishwasher and put his plate and cup in the racks. Then he reached for Jeremy’s dishes and loaded them too.
“Thanks, sweetie,” Theresa said, giving him a kiss on the forehead. She hurried to her bedroom to change out of her raggedy old shorts and the T-shirt she wore.
“Hmm.” She frowned. Had the fabric of her slacks stretched out somehow? The pants were a little loose, and she had to pull them up as she walked toward the bathroom to put on her makeup. Theresa glanced at the bathroom scale—an item she generally avoided. “Oh, what the hell.”
Nudging the scale away from the wall, she crossed her arms under her breasts and lifted them. Crazy, sure, but she always did that when she weighed herself. She stepped onto the scale and gasped. Her weight had dropped by ten pounds. How had that happened? All the dog walks probably, and she hadn’t been stress-eating, either.
Grinning, she finished getting ready and strode down the hall to the kitchen. “Ready?” she asked her bodyguard. Should she tell him he had ten pounds less to guard?
John nodded and preceded her to the garage. Once they were on the way, he gave her the side-eye.
“You’re a lot different now than you were when I first started working for you,” he said. “Er … I hope you don’t mind my saying that. You seem much more relaxed, happier.”
“I don’t mind.” She glanced at him. “I am a lot more relaxed now that my divorce is final. I’m not getting threatening phone messages from my ex anymore, and I don’t have to worry he’ll pop up everywhere, either. I also feel a lot safer with you around to guard me and my boys.”
John grunted. “Yeah, I can see how all of that would be a relief … especially having me around,” he teased.
She flashed him a smile. “I’m also working on a new album, and I’m excited about that.”
“Having Caleb in your life seems to—”
Her phone began to ring and vibrate, and she checked the computer screen on her dashboard. Adrenaline sent her pulse racing as she recognized the number. “I have to take this.” She pulled into the lot of a gas station and convenience store, put her car in park, and grabbed her phone out of her purse. She switched out of her car’s speakers and brought her phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“Theresa, it’s … it’s your mom …Vanessa. I can’t begin to tell you how glad I am to hear from you. I’d always hoped …” Her voice broke, and she cleared her throat. “I’d always hoped you’d try to find me once you were an adult. Yes. I’d love to talk. Is now a good time?”
“Not really. I’m on my way to an appointment. Can I call you back this evening?”
“Yes, please do.”
“Okay. I’ll call at seven.”
“Good. I look forward to it,” Vanessa said, her voice raspy.
After ending the call, Theresa dropped her phone into her purse and held out her hands. “Wow, I’m shaking.”
“Er, do you want to talk about why you’re trembling?” John tensed as he studied her. “Is somebody threatening you?”
“Nobody is threatening me.” She put her SUV in drive and got them back on the road. “That was my mother.”
“Oh.” John’s expression turned to confusion.
“It’s a long story,” she said. “I haven’t seen or heard from her since I was six years old.”
“I see.” John crossed his arms in front of him, his brow lowered.
The rest of the way to her therapist’s office went by in silence, but her mind spun. Soon, she’d have answers to the questions that had plagued her since her mother’s disappearance. Her throat tightened. Once again she stood at the precipice of change in her life. This time, she looked forward to whatever that might bring. For the first time, she had no intention of shrinking into the shell of pretending. She’d face whatever came, no more hiding her true self.
Theresa pulled into the back lot of the office building and parked. She hadn’t caught a glimpse of any newshounds anywhere, which meant she could enter from the front. Spurred on by the ten-pound loss though, she opted for the back entrance. “Let’s take the stairs,” she said. “I’m counting those three flights as exercise.”
John let loose a sound halfway between a grunt and a laugh. “They definitely count.”
