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“Son, I just want peace.”
“If you want peace with me Mom, stay out of this. If you keep meddling on the Greers’ behalf, you and me’ll have a problem.”
“Drop the charges, Austin. We can settle this privately.”
“Did she send you or did he?”
“I offered to come. She’s very upset; and so is her father. Just as yours would be if this were Adele.”
“Lucky for my father, Adele wouldn’t roofie a guy to get him into bed and have sex with him while he’s half-unconscious with no birth control.”
She takes a deep breath. “I know this isn’t ideal, but this is the situation, Austin. What can I do here? How can I help bring peace to this situation?”
“What does peace look like to you,” I ask.
She eyeballs the wine bottle beside me. I take it and put it in the fridge and close the door so it’s out of her sight, making her eyes bounce back to me.
“Peace is the Carmichaels and the Greers not at war. If I can talk you down, not only will Roger have this weight off him, it’ll go a long way in me making peace with Suzette and frankly, with Sienna. Roger wants us to all get along. He wants to make peace with your father, too.”
“Suzette? What’s that mean?”
Suzette is Sienna’s mother, Roger’s ex, and one of my mother’s former best friends. I’m guessing Suzette isn’t Audra’s biggest fan since finding out Audra’s been sleeping with her husband for years.
“She’s being difficult with the divorce proceedings. She told Roger that getting you to drop the charges against Sienna would be a good faith gesture that she’ll keep in mind as she divorces him. Her attorney is a shark. It’s proving to be a messy divorce. And it’s dragging out. Roger doesn’t want more bad publicity.”
I scoff.
“Austin, my getting involved could create harmony for everyone involved. I’m being pragmatic.”
Roger is a CEO of a publicly traded company. Not long ago he was getting ready to run for office. He changed plans but he still wouldn’t want bad publicity.
“Everyone but me,” I say. “I’m the one who was wronged here, Mother. Well, me and Suzette, I guess. She has a shark lawyer though, so I guess she’ll be all right.”
She sighs. “I want peace for you, for Roger to be able to sleep at night so he’s not worried about his daughter, and yes, it’d be nice to have Suzette back down on some of her demands. The sooner they divorce, the sooner he and I can get on with our lives. And if there’s a child here, Austin -”
“Don’t even go there right now,” I warn.
She clamps her mouth shut but her expression says what I already know. If there is a kid, it’ll be here eventually. Right now, it doesn’t feel real to me.
“So Roger and Suzette are divorcing. Are you planning to start the divorce proceedings against Dad?” I ask.
“I did. He was served with papers the other day.”
“The other day?” I check.
She smooths her hair away again. It’s one of her tells.
“Before this latest heart attack?” My eyes are wide.
She looks away. Wow. No wonder he had a heart attack.
“You caused his heart attack.”
“Oh please. Screwing his secretary and getting walked in on by a staff member caused his heart attack, I didn’t.”
I don’t bother to tell her that I know Dad was already having the heart attack while Ally was coming in, that Ally went in hearing the commotion.
“Stress from getting served papers probably contributed to it, though. Good goin’, Audra, putting him under stress when he’s already spent the last six months losing his marriage and fighting Cancer.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “Give me a break. Your father is no wilting violet. And this was inevitable. We’re separated. We’re both involved with other people. Stop making me the villain. I married a workaholic who expected me to be at his beck and call while managing everything in his personal life, the lives of his precious children, and cared nothing for what I wanted in life. Our marriage made me miserable and a person can only tolerate a celibate life of neglect for so long before she tries to reach for a little bit of happiness.”
“This is pointless,” I say.
We’re at a silent staring standoff for a long beat before she sighs.
“Let’s try this again. What can I do? What can I do to make this situation better for you? Just as your mother, how can I help?”
I blink in surprise. If only that were her real intention.
Fuck it. I might as well pretend it is.
“Get her to prove she’s actually pregnant and I want a paternity test as soon as it can be done.”
“If so, will you drop the charges?”
“That sounds more like it’s for her than for me. You’re not very good at this game.”
