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“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“What I know is, you were never there for any of us. Six kids and not one of us has a good word to say about you. And when you had another chance, when Kitty needed you, instead of being there for her you sent her to me, and told me not to reveal who I really was.”
“Because I didn’t want her to think she was going to get any special treatment, not because I wanted you to fuck her!”
I seethe at that.
He still speaks to my grandmother, they don’t exactly like each other but they’re allies when it suits them. And as soon as my grandma found out what was going on with Kitty, she called him right up. But he doesn’t get to lecture me. Not about this.
“Pot kettle, dad. And too little too late. And a whole load of other cliches I can’t think of right now. I’m getting my shit straight for me this time. I’m doing what makes me happy. I loved mom, and I thought going into the church was the right thing because it was whatshewanted. But you know what? What she really wanted was for me to be happy.” I wipe a hand across my face, surprised to see it come away wet. I haven’t cried about mom in years. “I’m happy right now. With Kitty. If I didn’t fuck it up forever.”
“Martin, you’ve got to think this through. Are you really going to give up what you’ve made of yourself?”
“Not your fucking problem. I get to make my own decisions. Just tell me where Baby is. You better hope she’s still okay, too, because if anything has happened to that cat I’ll make sure the same happens to you. I mean it.”
He huffs. I can almost see the classic Hoover eye roll from here, disappointment mixed with a healthy dose of holier-than-thou.
“That cat is living the fucking high life, Martin. Probably eating better than I am right now. I left her with Glenda.”
For a moment, I frown. The name rings a bell but I can’t place it. Then I remember. “The old neighbor from Collingswood? She’s still alive?”
“Yeah. Glenda. The fucking cat whisperer.”
I lean forward and put the closest intersection I remember in that neighborhood into the nav. “You told Kitty you took Baby to the shelter. Now you’re telling me you took her to Glenda? Jesus. That’s fucked up.”
“Yeah, that’s what I keep telling you. I’m not the monster you keep making me out to be.”
“You’re a fucking jerk, dad. Kitty thought her cat might be dead, or with someone that would hurt her.”
“I wanted to teach her a lesson.”
I growl, shaking my head, not sure whether to be pleased that my job just got a whole lot easier or horrified that I share the same DNA with him. “Your lessons suck,” I tell him, then end the call.
Time to try to save my relationship.
CHAPTER 18
Kitty
It feels strange to be back in Orlando, especially living out of a hotel instead of a house. I mean, it’s a nice hotel, the best I’ve ever stayed in. Spa treatments, a private restaurant, indoor and outdoor pool. But it feels like a vacation, or being on the run. Not living.
Happily ever after. For a second there, I thought that might be on my horizon. Yeah, earth to Kitty, time to wake up and smell the nitroglycerin.
I glance down at my chest, at the tattoo that glares back at me asking what the hell I thought I was doing.
Truth, I thought I was in love. Well, I was. But I thought it went both ways.
“We have another week,” Mom says as she puts down the room phone, tucking her credit card back in her purse. I half expectedthe front desk to tell her the card had been declined, since Hoover could cancel it anytime he liked. I’m surprised he hasn’t. “We’re going to have to decide where we go from here.”
“I love you,” I tell her, and she gives me a thin smile. We both wish it hadn’t taken all this to make us realize how much we need each other.
Turns out, Mom had no clue that Martin was her stepson. None. Hoover kept that little detail a secret from both of us.
And she was pissed.
She couldn’t believe Hoover sent me to Saint Margarets on false pretenses, to a brother I didn’t know I had. One with a reputation. When she found out I’d been seduced and deflowered, she blew up, told me she would meet me at the airport and we were getting away. Marriage over, no more Hoover, stuck in a hotel until we figure out our next move.
I’ve never known her to be so defensive of me. If I had any doubts that she does love me, deep down, they’re well and truly dispelled.
