Page 10 of One Quick Obsession

I quickly pushed that thought out of my mind and went back to my original question. “Thanks for stopping by Mom’s house. I couldn’t make it yesterday because I had a late delivery that I wanted to check on with the resort, as there’s an event coming up that I’m really excited about.”

I pushed my white-blonde hair behind my ear and knew I would just put it up in its usual bun later. While Luna tended to have hers flowing around her face unless she was in the lab, I needed mine back. I looked far more professional that way.

“I don’t mind. She’s my mom too. And it was nice coming up for the weekend to hang out with you both. It would’ve been nicer if we could have gotten her to go to Harper’s bakery, or to the Cage Free diner. The diner has the best pancakes, but Mom makes good ones too.”

I winced. “We’ve both been trying to get Mom out of the house for years now. We’re just lucky that our doctor makes house calls for certain things.”

I shuddered to think what would happen if Mom needed something more than just a checkup. Yes, we got her out of the house for certain appointments, but we practically had to drag her to our doctor. He helped where he could, but it wasn’t enough.

Slowly over the years, our mother had lost herself to her own demons, becoming an agoraphobe in a way that I hadn’t ever thought possible. My mother with her bright smile that had dimmed over the years, and a laugh that I hadn’t heard with such sincerity in far too long, was afraid of the outside world.

I didn’t blame her. Not when our father was still around. He might not be in Cage Lake anymore, but he could show up at any minute, and all of us knew it. Mom felt she was safer behind the four walls of her house and locked doors.

I ran my hand over my shoulder, remembering the bruise that had darkened there, and swallowed hard. I didn’t blame my mother for wanting to hide. Wasn’t I doing the same?

“Scarlett,” Luna whispered. “Have you talked to anybody about it?”

My gaze shot to hers, and the glass slipped from my hand. It shattered on the counter, leaving its green contents and glass shards spraying over the granite. “Shit,” I whispered as I reached forward to clean it up with my hand.

Luna gripped my wrist. “Scarlett. You’ll cut yourself.”

I froze at her touch, bile coating my tongue, and immediately felt ashamed. This was my twin sister. Not our father.

Not Ronin.

My ex.

Luna didn’t miss the motion and let out a soft sigh before relaxing her grip. “Let me clean it up. Okay? I won’t talk about it again. Not today.”

I hated the worry in her tone, but I knew there wasn’t much I could say to make it better when it came to this particular subject. “I’m fine, Luna. I’m leaving the house, even though Ronin still comes into Cage Lake.”

“If you would talk to the authorities, you could get a restraining order.”

I snorted. “Oh yes, because restraining orders worked just fine and dandy with Dad. He routinely pushed past that to beat our mother. Don’t you remember?”

Luna rang out a towel underneath the faucet and glared at me. “I was there too you know. I remember it all. I know what our father did, and I know Mom is healing in her own way. But you have to stop blaming yourself for all of this.”

I rolled my eyes, even though my hands shook. “I’m not blaming myself. Thank you very much. It’s done. Ronin hasn’t come by again. If he sees me across the street, he goes the other way. And our breakup was just a breakup. Nobody has to know that I fell into the common trap of becoming a statistic.”

“I never want to hear you say that again,” Luna warned, her voice harsher than I’d ever heard it.

Tears pricked my eyes, and I pressed my lips together.

“Scarlett. I love you. But we both know that you are not a statistic. You are a woman whose boyfriend hit her.”

“Luna. I thought you weren’t going to talk about it anymore.”

My twin held up her hands. “Just because our father was an abuser, doesn’t mean we’re both destined to fall for abusers. It’s not how it works.”

“And yet I did.” A single teardrop slid down my cheek, and I angrily brushed it off. “I thought I knew better. I thought I could see the signs. And I didn’t. But it’s done with. And Mom’s being taken care of, and we’ll figure out something whenever she needs to leave the house again.”

“Maybe I should just move back up to Cage Lake.”

“No, you don’t. You have a job you love at a prestigious university in Denver. You are going to stick it out, because you’ve earned this. I can take care of Mom.”

“You don’t have to do it yourself. And Mom should also take care of Mom.”

“I’m going to be late for work. And I know you have to head back down to Denver soon. So I need to go and gather my things.” I turned on my heel and did my best not to react to my sister’s sigh.