Immortal Angel was performing at a small venue on the video. Maybe a theater or club, but definitely not an arena. “Where is this?”
“The Quadrangle,” Jessi answered. “It was a bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It was a staple in the underground music scene, but it’s not around anymore. Immortal Angel had a standing gig there before they were famous.”
“Wait.” Sindy looked back at the musicians dominating the stage. “You mean this is Immortal Angelbeforethey had a record deal?”
“Yes. Audra and Kira were responsible for Immortal Angel getting signed. No one knew their father was Ron Abelman back then. They weren’t stuck up rich kids. They hung out in the local bars just like everyone else. We just thought they were superfans in the audience. I mean, look at them, no one would have guessed—” Jessi stopped talking, with the remote still in her hand extended in the direction of the flat screen. The smile on her face faded and hardness clouded her eyes.
Sindy looked at the screen. There was a girl trying to elbow her way to the front of the stage. She swayed a little as she tried to push past Audra and Kira, probably from too much alcohol. Audra and her sister looked pissed off and exchanged some words with the girl, and then the girl took off. “Who was that?”
Jessi pressed her lips together and glanced at Angel first, then Tommy, whose expressions were equally troubled, before she answered. “No one.”
“Who was that, Mom?” Lucas leaned forward to look at his mother.
Jessi took a deep breath and paused as she appeared to hesitate with her answer. “It’s Mason’s birth mother.”
“Mason’s birth mother?” Lucas uncrossed his ankle from over his knee and shifted to the edge of his seat and searched the footage displayed on the television. “Rewind that. I’ve never seen her. Not even a photo.”
“No.” Jessi’s rigid posture reflected the tension in her jaw. “I never should have said anything. And don’t tell Mason that you saw her on the video,” Jessi warned. “It’ll only upset him. And that woman isn’t worth it. She doesn’t deserve him. Audra is his mother now.”
Jessi was quiet for a moment before her face softened. “Does Mason ever talk about her? He doesn’t say anything to Audra and Jimmy about her.”
“No. Never,” Lucas answered. “Not even when we were kids.”
Jessi’s face grew hard again. “Good. It’s better off that way. She’s a hurtful person. I can’t believe his sweet Aunt Mary is related to that girl.”
Aunt Mary. The little old lady with the pretty lap blanket and nail polish, Sindy recalled. She studied the dislike Jessi had for Mason’s birth mother, evidenced in her voice and the turbulent expression on her face. It reflected unpleasant history. The only thing Sindy knew about Mason’s birth mother is that she had abandoned him as a child, and she wondered what had happened, although she didn’t dare ask.
