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“What happened to your mother?”
Her eyes widened as they met mine across the fire, but she said nothing. Seconds passed as the flames continued to crackle. I had started to regret the question when she finally began to talk.
“I honestly don’t know,” she said, “aside from the fact that she left right after I was born.” She swallowed, seeming uncomfortable.
Now I definitely regretted asking.
“You don’t have to talk about it. I know it’s none of my business. I’ve just been really curious. I’ve come to feel close to all of you very quickly. My observation is that Maura, Lorne, and Shelley are like one happy family, and you’re sort of this…outlier, this mystery. It feels like there’s a missing piece of a puzzle somewhere.”
Teagan nodded and looked as if she were pondering my words. I suspected she might be preparing to open up, so I stayed quiet.
“My mother was a stripper,” she suddenly announced. “Were you expecting me to say something different?”
I chuckled, my eyes wide. “Perhaps.”CHAPTER FIVE* * *TEAGANI don’t know why opening up to Caleb felt natural all of a sudden. But his eyes remained so intently focused on me that I decided he was just a genuinely curious person, not judgmental like I’d thought. Maybe my attitude had changed because of what Shelley had told me about him losing his sister. I wasn’t sure.
“It feels so strange to admit the stripper thing aloud, but it’s one of the few things I know about her,” I said. “I find it fascinating, in a sense. But the stripper part is only the very beginning of a long and fucked-up story, one you probably don’t have time for.”
The light from the fire caused Caleb’s green eyes to glow. “Look,” he said. “I’ve turned into a marshmallow. I’m not going anywhere for a while. So I have the time, if you want to talk about it.” He moved from across the fire to right next to me. That simple change of position was probably the difference in me trying to get out of this conversation or following through. Something about his nearness, that silent show of support, was enough to make me pull the trigger.
“I don’t really talk about her, but I probably should sometimes.”
“I have stuff like that in my life. Stuff I should talk about but don’t,” he muttered. “Believe me.”
I wondered if he was referring to his sister. I paused, thinking he might elaborate, but when he didn’t, I started telling my story.
“You know my dad is a professor, obviously.”
“Yeah. Of course.”
“Well, years ago, when he first started out, he fell in love with one of his students. Her name was Ariadne Mellencamp.”
“Pretty name. Your mother?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright.”
“Anyway, they had a very forbidden and intense love affair.”
His eyes widened. “Wait—affair? He wasn’t married to Maura then, was he?”
“Oh, no. This was before he ever met Maura. My dad was only a few years into his career at the time. He was in his early thirties, and Ariadne was only about twenty.”
“Okay…”
“As I mentioned, she was an exotic dancer. That was how she paid for school. My father thought she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He kind of became obsessed with her. When he found out where she worked, he went to watch her dance one night without her knowing. He stayed in the corner where she couldn’t see him.”
Caleb laughed a little. “Jesus, Lorne was a stalker?”
“Yeah.” I chuckled. “Eventually, they started sneaking around together. He moved her into his house and took care of her. Their relationship was very…sexual.”
Caleb blew out a breath. “I’m so fucking intrigued by this story, it’s not even funny. Keep going.”
I’d never told anyone this before.
I took a deep breath. “Well, the best part is pretty much over. Ariadne was manipulative. She convinced my dad to quit his job and travel with her—him footing the bill, of course. So they traveled the world for two years. One of the places they visited was England, actually.”
“Sounds like a nice life.”
“Yeah, except she got pregnant with me, and that sort of put a damper on their lifestyle.”
His expression turned serious. “Ah… I see.”
“My so-called mother didn’t want me. She wanted an abortion. But my father begged her not to have one. He loved her so much, and the baby was an extension of that.” I played with some grass. “They went back and forth for a long time about it, and at some point it was too late to abort the pregnancy. So, she suffered through those months while my father took care of her.”
Caleb looked over at me. “And after you were born?”
“She stuck around long enough to give birth to me. And then she packed up and left.”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “My father was devastated for a few years after that. He somehow managed to return to teaching. He found childcare for me. He functioned, but his heart was broken. He truly did love Ariadne. And she was basically just selfish. She wanted nothing to do with her own child.” I feigned laughter. “But she cared just enough not to abort me, I suppose.”
