AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The craziest thing just happened,” her mother said.
“What?” Lia asked, panicking again.
“A police officer showed up and arrested David.”
“Arrested David?” She nearly shouted the words.
“I know.” Her mother raised her hands in surrender to fate. “Insane. Said David hadn’t paid his taxes on some paintings he sold a few years ago.”
“A police officer. Tonight. Arrested David. For evading tax.”
“That. Is. Correct.”
God, her mother was a wisearse.
“You didn’t get the cop’s name, did you?” Lia asked.
“Officer Arren, I think. Officer Ariss? Something like that. Why?”
“No reason.”
Arren? Ariss?
Ares?
“I guess we won’t be going to his art show tomorrow night,” her mother said.
“I didn’t really want to go, anyway. His new work looks like a bunch of wank.”
Mum laughed, nodded. “It really does. Past his prime already. My mural was his best work.”
“And it wasn’t even his idea. It was mine.”
Lia hoped it would stay like this, just casual conversation, nothing deep, nothing serious. But she should have known better.
Her mother suddenly reached for her and pulled her into an embrace.
“Why didn’t you tell me, sweetheart?” she asked, holding Lia so tight it almost hurt. “You know you can tell me anything.”
“Because I love you?” Lia said. “And I know you. I know you’d blame yourself. I know you’d... I know it would have broken your heart to know you and David broke my heart. I guess there were enough broken hearts lying around.”
“It does break my heart,” her mother said. “If I had thought for one single second... I mean, he was old enough to be your father... Never occurred to me you’d have feelings for him. I should have known. I should have asked you. I should have—”
“Been psychic?” Lia pulled back to face her. “See? You’re doing it. You’re blaming yourself when none of it’s your fault. Even when I was angry at you I knew I shouldn’t be. All David had to do was not come to my room. Or tell me to back off. Or tell you I’d been flirting with him when you and Daddy weren’t looking and you all needed to have a talk with me. But there you are, standing there, blaming yourself, and this is exactly why I didn’t tell you.”
“I’m a mother. This is what we do. We blame ourselves. You could trip over Gogo tonight on your way to the toilet and break your nose, and I’d tell myself it was my fault for letting you have a dog.”
“If I couldn’t have Gogo, I would have moved out of the house and lived with him on the street and then you would blame yourself when I got myself murdered in a knife fight. ‘Damn. That’s what I get for not letting Lia have a dog.’”
There. Her mother laughed a genuine laugh. Finally.
“He told me I was crap in bed,” Lia said. Now that she’d confessed a little, she needed to get it all out. “And you were a goddess in comparison.”
Her mother took her by the shoulders and stared at her.
“David didn’t care about me. He used me for your father’s money and connections. You have to know that.”
“He did?” Lia asked in a small hopeful voice.
