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“I was just trying to understand where you’re coming from, Tay. I wasn’t trying to offend either of you.”
“Well, you did,” Taylor shot back. She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice, but judging from Sebastian’s wince, she failed miserably.
“I can see that and I’m sorry. I was just trying to learn more about you. The only things I know are what your uncle has told me.”
“Whose fault is that? You walked out on me. It’s been ten years, Mom. I can’t even remember the last time you bothered to call. If you really cared about me, you would have been there. You would have made an effort. You would have done something.”
“Taylor,” Sebastian cautioned softly.
“What? She has no right to walk into my life after all that time and question me. You haven’t even bothered to ask me how I am doing or if I am happy,” she accused, staring across the table at her mother. “You already tore my life apart once. You don’t get to do that again. Either drop the interrogation act or get out of our house!”
Elaine opened her mouth as if she meant to answer but clamped it shut with enough force to make her teeth clack. Glancing between them, Sebastian dragged a hand through his hair. His bewildered stare swung to Taylor before drifting back to her mother again.
“I am at a loss for words here,” he stated quietly. “I don’t think this is quite the evening either of you had planned.”
“No,” Taylor agreed. “It’s not.”
She started to push away from the table, only to have his hand close around her wrist.
“Sit down, Taylor. You need to eat.”
“Sebastian, please.”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. You are going to eat. This is not open for debate.”
She held his gaze for a long moment before she reluctantly obeyed and dropped onto her seat. His stare didn’t waver until she picked up her fork again and speared a bite of pasta and zucchini onto the end. A forced nod of approval was all she got before Sebastian picked up his wine glass and turned his undivided attention to her mother.
“I’ve had a very long day, Elaine, and my dinner is getting cold. Let’s skip the formalities and get to the point. It’s obvious you don’t intend to mend any fences with your daughter, so why are you really here?”
Taylor stopped chewing, her breath catching as she waited for an answer. Her heart seemed to twist, wringing like a wet dishtowel in her chest, as she prayed the response would be one her battered emotions could handle.
Her mother remained regal and composed, unflappable despite the potential storm brewing. “You are quite perceptive, Agent Baas.”
“It’s a job requirement,” he stated flatly. “Answer the question.”
Taylor’s mother smoothed the lapel of her crisp linen suit. The cream silk shimmered in the luminous glow of the candlelight. Raising her fork, she took a bite of squash and met Sebastian’s condemning stare with a serenity few men could muster.
“What does the name Colleen James mean to you?”
Confused, Taylor knitted her brow as she watched Sebastian’s eyes narrow into dangerous slits. They seethed, the pale green now smoldering with barely checked anger.
“Next to nothing,” he ground out, his tone bitter.
“That’s a shame. I can fill you in if you would like.”
“I would rather you didn’t.”
Unable to help it, Taylor glanced between the two of them. “I think I remember that name, but I can’t place it. Who’s Colleen?”
“No one.”
“That’s not true,” her mother argued. “She is a very dear friend of mine and has been for a number of years. Your fiancé seems to think she’s a person of interest as of late.”
Numb, Taylor tried to wrap her mind around the conversation. It hurt to know her mother had other intentions, other reasons for this long overdue visit. She wondered how she was supposed to respond to something like that, but Sebastian spared her the trouble.
“I had my reasons,” he said. “Given her situation, I helped her as much as I could, but I am not going to sit here and justify myself or my actions to you, Elaine.”
“She’s just a housewife. She’s been heartbroken and struggling to hold on ever since her husband abandoned her. I fail to see how she could be of any help to you, let alone any interest. I don’t know what your people are hoping to get out of her, but you need to leave the poor woman alone and let her grieve.”
Sebastian dropped his chin to his chest and laughed. The low, hoarse sound made the tiny hairs on Taylor’s arms lift and stand on end. A shiver coursed through her as she watched him confront her mother again, his expression turning to one of pure malice.
“Where the hell do you get off coming into my home and speaking to me like that?” he asked, leaning closer. “You turned your back on your own child, yet you have the audacity to sit here and talk to me about the pain of abandonment? You want me to let someone else grieve so you can help them work through their pain? What about Taylor? Not once have I heard you apologize or try to make things right. How is it that you can show so much concern for this woman’s feelings and none for your daughter’s? Did you even stop to think about how any of this conversation would impact her and make her feel?”
“I do care about my daughter, Agent Baas.”
“No,” he interrupted. “You don’t. That much is painfully clear. This conversation is finished. I want you out of my house.”
“Please, Colleen means a great deal to me and she--”
“I don’t give a damn what she means to you, and I highly suggest you stop talking while you’re still ahead.”
“That’s fine,” Elaine said. “Just bear in mind she has a number of powerful friends. You need to be careful. These aren’t the kind of people you want to have breathing down your neck. Find a different avenue and leave the woman out of it. She’s innocent and doesn’t deserve to get hurt.”
Taylor hung her head as the words sank in, each one stabbing and shedding her soul like a knife. The final blow struck somewhere too deep to register. The pain so devastating it left her numb. She couldn’t cry. She refused to relinquish what little remained of her pride. She wouldn’t give her mother the satisfaction of knowing the McAvay clan had just broken her heart and extinguished her dreams all over again.
Clamping her eyes shut, she listened to the telltale scrape of wood as her mother pushed to her feet and stood. Her body trembled with her efforts to convince herself it didn’t matter if the woman left. None of it mattered. She’d made it this long without her parents. She could do it all again.
“Taylor…”
Her mother’s voice broke through her mantra, shattering the delicate walls she’d built.
“Leave her alone.” Sebastian’s warning carried authority, along with an unmistakable chill. “See yourself out, Elaine, or I will escort you. Believe me that is not the decision you want to make.”
The stillness that followed rattled her clear down to Taylor’s bones. Seeking a way to distract herself and break away from the heaviness cloaking the room, she stood to clear the table.
White-hot pain ripped along the underside of her belly, the searing pain tearing through her abdomen without warning. Biting back a cry, she gripped the table ledge with one hand and tried to cradle her stomach with the other. Sebastian whipped around at the sound of her agonized cry. He lunged toward her, securing her under his arm. His eyes dark and fearful, his face branded with deep lines of worry as he pulled her into the protective cradle of his side. His hand covered hers, his fingers following along as she rubbed the underside of her abdomen and grimaced.
“Baby, what is it?” His voice was shaky, uneven, and bordering on panic. Looming closer, he searched her face. “Are you okay?”
She sucked in an experimental breath, terrified it would trigger the lessening pain. When nothing else happened, she pulled in another gulp of air to steady herself and nodded.
“Yeah, Sebs. I’m fine. I don’t know wh
at happened. Everything was great until I stood. Then, it felt like someone was suddenly twisting a hot knife into the side of my groin. It seems to be gone now.”
“We should get you checked out,” he suggested, brushing a kiss against the side of her head. “Sit down. I’m going to grab my keys.”
