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“What the fuck are you talking about? Yes, I fucked Monica first. You know I wasn’t a virgin when we met.”
“No, you fucked her before you left.” She pushes me away, and only because I’m stunned does she get the upper hand on me.
“The fuck you say?” I growl and come at her again, but this time she’s prepared. I grab the back of her neck, and she pivots immediately, taking my hand in both of hers. I’ve seen the move but never had it done on me. She twists her body, rotating my hand behind my back in the process. I release her neck before she hurts me or herself. She pushes me back and I stumble as she moves to the door. She unlocks it, and it immediately opens.
“Please show Mr. Abbott out,” she says to Ginger, who moves toward me. I stand up from the chair I fell into.
“We aren’t done here, but I’ll give you tonight. I’m coming to talk to you. Be ready.” I walk toward the door with Ginger at my side as Scout moves out of the way. I stop and turn around, needing to make sure she understands something. “I haven’t slept with Monica since I broke up with her before we started dating. She and my mom had tried to spread rumors. But that’s all they were, lies and rumors.” I take Scout in as she sits at her desk. My eyes move over her exposed skin in the cutouts on her leather pants. Then I glance at her lips swollen from mine. I zero in on the beard burn abrading her skin. Something settles deep inside me to know I marked her.
“I can’t believe you’d believe it and cheat on me. You’re the one who broke us. I heard you were sleeping with every man you could after I left.” I watch her body tighten and then she’s around the desk and in my face before I know it.
“Ibrokeus. No, you fucking broke us. I was there. I saw her come out of your bedroom.” She pauses, and before I can ask her what the fuck she’s talking about, she continues. “Besides, I’ve slept with only five men in my lifetime. One of them was you. Three of them in the last five years. The other was after you shattered me. Who’s the whore now?” Tears are streaming down her face, and I stand here trying to figure it all out. Nothing fits. I have no idea what she’s talking about.
Scout realizes what she said, and she recovers quickly. “Ginger, show him out.”
I’m escorted out of the saloon, my mind still wrapped around her words. Timelines are going through my head as I try to understand it all.
How the fuck does that make since?
I jump into my truck and head for the only person that could have lied to me.
* * *
Less than half an hour later, I’m pulling into my parents’ driveway and looking around. They have a place up on the ridge looking down into the valley with a nice view of Fairbanks. I can make out Chena Ridge in the distance and North Pole and the refinery further out. My mother likes this place because she’s always thought of herself as better and bigger than everyone else. She can look down on the people along McGrath Road and Farmers Loop from up here.
“Thought you weren’t coming back till morning to get Ryder,” my dad says as he opens the door for me. I move past him to where I hear my mother talking to my son. I hear her telling him he’s doing something wrong. I hate that she’s so critical of him, he’s only four years old.
“Ryder, go to your room for a bit,” I tell him, and he jumps up to do it.
“Well, that was rude,” my mom says as she smooths her hair and takes a seat on the sofa.
“You weren’t playing with him, so don’t act like I put you out. We need to talk.”
My father sits on the opposite sofa next to me. I watch as my mother squirms in her seat. Since she heard Scout was back, she’s asked me if I’ve seen her and how many times. She had to have conspired with Monica to break up Scout and me.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Scout.” It’s all I say.
She flips her hair over her shoulder and sighs loudly. “Is that little whore spreading lies again? I told you it was best you got away from her.” Her use of the word “whore” after hearing Scout refer to herself as that confirms my worst fear. My mother did something.
I hold up my hand to stop her.
“Tell me what happened.” I lock my jaw and my body. I’m afraid I’ll knock out my own mother if I don’t. All these years Scout and I could have been together. We would have had kids with each other and not with other people.
“Son, she was sleeping around right after you left.” My father tries to put in his two cents, and again I hold up a hand. I’m not ready to deal with him, but I will be soon.
“She will tell me.” I point at my mother. “You and I will talk soon enough.” I put him on warning. He leans back and waits.
She shakes her head, then lifts her chin high and looks down her nose at me. “I have nothing I wish to say. You seem to have made your mind up that I did something wrong. If you’re going to listen to her lies, I’m done. I won’t have you treat me this way. I’m your mother, for Christ’s sake.”
She stands up and lifts her chin another notch. I stand with her. I’m taller than her and look down at her.
“If I find out you had something to do with all this, I will cut you off. I won’t have you be a part of mine or Ryder’s lives.”
My mother and I have always had a strained relationship. When I realized appearances meant more to her than loving us kids, I knew I’d never be able to compete. She’s already cut off Stormy, who lives on her own now. All because she thinks Stormy is an embarrassment to her with her tattoos and colored hair.
“Ryder, let’s go,” I holler for my son. I’m not going to leave him here for her to guilt and manipulate like she does me. My mother is a narcissist, and my father has allowed her to get away with it all these years.
