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That wasn’t thunder, she thought.What more could be coming for her today?
A part of her hoped that it was Nigel coming down the driveway. At least she would have someone there that knew her and would be there for her. Something she desperately needed as the rain began to pour down, clouding her vision.
The car wasn’t one she recognized. When the shadow came out of the door, she was sure it wasn’t anyone she expected to show up to help in the storm. The body was small, light hair curled around the person’s shoulders. A black umbrella shot up the second they got out of the car.
As they approached, April squinted to try and get a look. And unfortunately for her, she did catch a glimpse of their true identity.
Her mother walked carefully across the driveway until she reached April. “Hi, honey,” Caroline said.
The day had gone from bad to even worse.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
“Mom? What are you doing here?”
The rain made it hard to hear, so they stood extremely close together. No matter how hard Caroline tried, she couldn’t get them both under the umbrella. So, April let the rain run down her clothes, knowing that she would have to run after her daughter as soon as possible.
“I’m here because no one will tell me what’s going on. In myownfamily!”
April let out an exasperated sigh, no longer able to hold it all in. “Mom, it’s my family. This is happening to me. I don’t have time to explain everything to you! I have to go. Georgia is out there; she needs to get inside.”
It wasn’t just that there was a storm coming and her daughter had run off. It was that she wanted to be as far away from her mother as she possibly could be. The overbearing nature of her was too much.
With everything that was going wrong, April didn’t need the lectures.
“Georgia is a grown woman. She needs time to cool off. I saw the way you looked over here, yelling down at her.”
If there was one thing about her mother, she was going to find something wrong that April did. No matter how short of a glimpse she got of the situation. “It wasn’t like that! You know what, it doesn’t matter. Because you aren’t going to do anything. I’m going to get her.”
Caroline put a hand on April’s chest, stopping her from going down the stairs. “You need to tell me everything or I will take this house away from you.”
“What are you talking about?”
She leaned back and crossed her arms. “Oh, now you’re interested in talking to me?”
April rolled her eyes. What could she say to get her mom to treat her like the adult that she was? “Mom, what are you talking about?”
“Fine,” she threw up her arms. “I still own the house, technically. Even though I said I would give it to you and we signed some of the paperwork. It didn’t get fully filed. I found out a week ago when you said you were down here. I never got the new lease for this place and it’s because someone forgot to file the paperwork.”
April’s world crumbled at her feet. She was completely defeated. Everything she was working hard for was pulled out from under her. Dreams became crushed, evaporated into the air as she watched them all blow away. “What?”
“Can you not hear me because of the wind or because you need hearing aids? I said the house is mine. And I won’t give it to you unless you tell me exactly what’s going on here. Now.”
“Carl and I are getting a divorce,” April spewed out. “We’re done. He’s on another continent to check out their circuses because that’s his dream. I came here to figure out mine. While I was here, Georgia called me and said she was quitting school. Instead of letting her go home and sit alone in the house doing nothing, I told her to come here.”
Caroline nodded along, but her face remained perplexed and frustrated, her wrinkles smushed together in every direction. “A divorce? Oh, honey. I told you he was no good.”
“Yes, Mom. You told me. And now he’s taken my money and left to travel the world. Thank you for the heads up.”
Caroline scoffed and crossed her arms. “I didn’t know that he took your money.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know.”
April’s hands balled into fists at her side. But there were other things going on here; she needed to run to that beach and get her daughter. Who knows how far she’d gotten by now. When Caroline didn’t respond, April said, “Now, I need to get her.”
As April turned to leave down the steps once again, her mother’s hand wrapped around her bicep and tugged her back. April erupted with anger, “What? What more do you want from me?” April asked. “I told you everything, now let me go get her. Can’t you see it’s about to storm?”
Her body felt heavy even though it was only mid-morning. Exhaustion was settling into her bones. Everything hurt. She stared at her mother, practically pleading to be let down the stairs. All she wanted was to get Georgia and have the house back from the witch she called Mom.
