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When Detective Lucas left, he gave me his card and told me if there were any problems, then to give him a call. He was such a good man.
After tidying up some stuff and checking the damage to the other greenhouses, which, luckily, they’d escaped free and clear, I returned home.
No sooner had I walked through the door than Mom had dumped a basket of clothes at my feet and told me to wash them. I didn’t have the energy to argue and silently bent down to grab them.
“Did you really think a man like that would hang around?” Mom taunted.
“I don’t want to talk,” I whispered and tried to sidestep her.
“That’s just it, Summer. You’ve no backbone, no strength; you’re a weak little mouse who obeys those above her. He had no respect for you because you garner none,” Mom continued.
I didn’t say a word but kept my head down and tried to move again.
“A man like that needs fire, passion. He was checking me out,” Mom said and plumped up her breasts.
Oh God, she was so full of herself it was ridiculous, but I couldn’t muster the energy to argue. I was hurting too badly from last night, and all I wanted to do was lick my wounds in peace. Mom wasn’t exactly saying anything new. I was okay looking, nothing stunning, and I didn’t have a forceful personality. That was fine with me. I did not like confrontations. There was nothing wrong with wanting a quiet life.
“Did you think he was Prince Charming to your Cinderella?” Marianna sneered from behind me. Great, now there were both of them. “Did you believe he was gonna rescue you? Pathetic. I bet he had a wager going with his friends in that gang. See who could make the idiot village girl fall for him?”
That stung. But I knew it wasn’t true. Slick might have hurt me, but he was not like that.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I whispered and tried to move a third time.
A shove in my back made me stumble as Marianne pushed me hard.
“Do not back chat to me!” she hissed.
Without warning, my temper flared as my pain turned into a ball of burning fury. I snarled in return and threw Mom’s basket at her, hitting her in her stomach.
Mom gasped as I spun on Marianne, who was reaching to hit me. I caught her hand and instead slapped her face with myself.
Marianne looked horrified and stunned as my anger lent me strength I didn’t realise I had. I shoved her against the wall and used my body to trap her there.
“I am no longer that terrified thirteen-year-old you can slap about. Like it or not, I am an adult, and I am sick to death of you two. Either of you touch me again, I shall smack you back. Between you both, you have made my life a living misery. You haven’t once asked about Uncle Brian or how bad the damage was, andI am done. So totally over you both. From now on in, you are both on your own. You’re fucking adults, not children. I’m giving you one month, and then I want you out of my house. And yes, Mom, I’ll make sure I get that put in writing from my lawyer because I know what you are like.”
Mom and Marianne looked shocked as I shoved away from Marianne and stormed upstairs.
“Start looking for somewhere else to live. You’re done here,” I threw over my shoulder.
I slapped the door open to my room and kicked it shut before throwing myself on the bed and breaking down into tears. Wasn’t it typical? I’d stood up for myself finally, but only when I had been dumped by the man of my dreams. Maybe if Slick had seen that, he wouldn’t have broken up with me.
Christ, love hurt so badly when it wasn’t returned.
Irish
Fuck, he was a mess. I watched Slick from across the dive bar where he’d been for the last four nights. Whatever had happened was destroying him. He sloppily slammed his empty beer glass down and motioned for another. Rage had been looking for him for three nights, and I doubted they’d ever check there.
An informant had told me that Slick’s woman had been targeted and a family member hurt. That did not explain Slick’s isolation or why he was drinking alone.
I’d watched Summer for two days as she worked at the garden centre. It’d now reopened, and she looked as miserable as Slick. Something didn’t make sense.
Slick bellowed at the bartender for another drink, so I decided to move.
“Belay that. He’s coming with me,” I stated to the guy behind the bar.
He nodded at me. “That’s a man in pain, love, not looking for a pickup,” he replied.
“Yeah. Good job I know the asshole, isn’t it? I’ll take him home,” I said as I approached Slick.
