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Star—the bane of my existence—hadn’t approved of her father’s relationship with my parents and had taken off.
She did that a lot.
I put the call on speaker so I could check my messages. The bitch hadn’t replied to my last texts after she’d given me her SMS version of a suicide note.
I was so going to smack her for that when she eventually rolled back into town.
Which she would.
She had to.
"Don’t talk to me about Star," Mom was saying, her tone having turned sour. "Why shouldn’t people know that we all loved each other very much?"
"It’ll break Star’s heart." The ‘again’ went unsaid.
"She broke her father’s first."
"That isn’t fair—"
"Really? She’s a selfish girl. Always has been. Taking off how she did practically killed Sully until we brought him back to life, and every time she disappears, it hurts you too."
She had a point.
But Star was… God, no one had ever understood her. Sometimes, I didn’t, but I knew what she’d gone through. Intimately. I knew the details. Mom didn’t. And it wasn’t my story to share.
"Star feels too much," was all I could say.
"That’s no excuse."
"I don’t understand why you’re being such a hard ass about Star," I complained on a huff. "You haven’t seen the woman in years. How can you judge her when you don’t know her anymore?"
"I’m judging her actions."
"The reasons for which you’re clueless about."
"And you’re not?"
"No. Some days, I wish I were."
"That… bad?"
"Makes what Aspen went through look like a walk in the park."
When she let loose a shocked gasp, and without breaking Star’s privacy and right to share her own history with whomever she chose—be that my mother or no one—I knew I’d gotten my point across.
"What happened?"
"Not my place to tell you. I just know that she’s made a lot of sacrifices, Mom, and I won’t let you judge her unfairly. I know you loved Sully—" God knew that I’dseenthat love once when I’d walked in on them. "—and I know Star hurt him, but haven’t we all hurt you and Daddy at some point? Isn’t that just life?"
"When did you get to be so wise?"
"Had a good teacher," was my rejoinder, and I was surprised that she’d ceded to that argument so quickly.
Still, her staunch anger at Star had surprised me too.
This whole goddamn conversation was one big dose of bewildering.
"You won’t tell your brother and sisters, will you?"
