Page 28 of Expecting an Argument
Her eyes suddenly turned deathly serious. “Are you getting rid of the problem?”
I stiffened, returning her frozen-faced stare with an even colder one. “No.”
Mom leaned back in her chair and sucked on her cigarette until all that was left was an impossibly long cylinder of ash. Though I was resolute on seeing the pregnancy through, I couldn’t ignore the pang of guilt as I watched my mom cope.
After everything she had covered up, after everythinggenerationsof Fontaines had kept under wraps, I was going to be the first person in the family to have a real scandal.
I was having twins out of wedlock, there was a real doubt they would even bear the family name, and the woman I picked as their mother could barely function. What would Grandpa have said if he were still alive? He certainly wouldn’t have been proud of me.
I looked up at my mom as she smashed her cigarette into the ash tray. I couldn’t imagine my mother, who still had her blonde hair styled perfectly and wore her pearls to just lounge around the house, was proud of me either.
Yet she was still going to clean another mess up.
Her phone vibrated with another email notification and she quickly shut her phone off. “God damnit, doeseverythinghave to be on fucking fire right now?”
She lit a third cigarette and the sudden burst of tobacco in the air burned my eyes. She used to never smoke—said it would give her wrinkles—but that was before what happened with Dad.
Mom puffed out a cloud of smoke. “Who else have you told?”
“Just you and my finance guy,” I replied. “Not sure who all Olivia has been blabbing to, although she doesn’t appear to have any friends outside of Ashley Copeland and her husband.”
Mom scoffed. “Those two are all over the internet sharing their business. What makes you think they won’t share yours?”
I picked at the edge of my sweater sleeve. “Word was going to get out eventually. Olivia’s already showingandshe’s living in my house. I know the average Elren citizen isn’t the most educated, but surely people will put two and two together.”
Though…it wouldn’t be fair if everyone in Elren found out before the rest of the family.
I swallowed, but my mouth had suddenly gone dry. “I’m…I’m figuring out a way to tell Dad.”
Mom sucked on her cigarette and looked away. “Just send him an email, like you always do.’”
My hands balled into loose fists on top of the patio table. I hadn’t sent anything to Dad’s work email in a few months—I was past that.
Although, maybe he’d respond for once. Maybe parents change when they’re about to become grandparents.
I cleared my throat. “You could come back to the manor, you know. I never moved into your old suite.” I looked up at her and tried not to sound too hopeful. “Neither of us know what we’re doing with the pregnancy. We could use some help.”
Mom blew out a puff of smoke and tapped her nails on the back of her phone. “You know I have to support Aunt Liz.”
I scoffed. “She has half of Mawmaw and Pawpaw’s inheritanceandUncle Rick’s military retirement. She could hire a team of maids and butlers if she wanted.”
Mom narrowed her eyes and flashed me a smile. “Liz is terrified of burglars and I’m a good shot—how about that?”
I leaned back in my chair and suppressed an eye-roll. As if burglars would come all the way out to Aunt Liz’s house—miles away from civilization. Unless someone just really wanted to steal a couple of decrepit horses or some tacky Christmas decor, Aunt Liz’s house was the safest place in the world.
The Santa statue would melt in the summer sun before Mom ever told me the truth of why she hid out here, so why botherasking?
Mom caught her reflection in a window and gently stretched the skin near the corner of her eye—or, at least, as far as itcouldstretch.
“I’ll have to run to the city for a touch up,” she said as a wave of smoke washed over her teeth. “One bad habit begets another, unfortunately.”
I rested my forearms on the tabletop. “Did you know scientists recently discovered a new sea urchin? Its venom contains neurotoxins that rival the effectiveness of your current injections.”
“If the venom can reverse the effects of a son who stresses me out,” she said as she put out her cigarette, “I’ll rub six of those fuckers across my face.”
Mom dusted the leftover ash off her hands. “How much does the girl know about your father?”
My chest tightened. “Same as everyone else—nothing.”
