Carla squared her shoulders and narrowed her eyes. “That’s classic coming from you. If I remember correctly, you were quite the tramp back in Chicago.”
“Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure I never slept with married men. I’m more than positive I didn’t break up a marriage. And I know I didn’t prey on heartbroken men that were mourning the loss of their only son and then throw the fact I’d just nailed her husband in the face of that man’s wife.”
Carla’s face went ashen, and Amber gasped.
“What?” she asked, but I ignored her. Instead I stormed toward the back entrance, grabbing my keys from the table on the way.
Outside, I jumped into my Jeep and sped away as tears rolled down my cheeks.
I had always been able to control my anger until now. So many things from my life were still unsettled, and Carla was one of them. I hated her with a passion that I had to tuck away because of my relationship with Amber. I didn’t want how I felt about her mother to come between the two of us. But as a result, I was now filled with this overwhelming, uncontrollable anger again. It was like the death of Bill and the emotional turmoil it had thrown everyone around me into had brought back the loss of Gabe and in turn the disintegration of the rest of my family.
I drove until I couldn’t see through my tears, then pulled over to the side of the road. Telling myself I was being ridiculous, I yanked my phone out of my back pocket and swiped my finger across the screen. Guilt set in as I saw the number of missed calls from Amber. She and Olivia didn’t need my drama, but God, Carla made me see red.
I scrolled through my contacts and stopped on my mother, hovering my finger over the screen as I mentally prepared for the call.
The moment her solemn voice whispered hello, my chest tightened. “Hey, Mom, how are you?” I asked. I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut tightly.
My mom had once been a vibrant, happy woman, but after my brother’s death, she just gave up on life. My father tried to get her help for the depression she’d fallen into after Gabe’s funeral, but she refused, and finally he just gave up on her. That was when he gave in to Carla’s advances and threw away any hope of mending his marriage.
“I’m fine, Bailey,” she whispered, her voice raspy and weak. “You don’t have to keep checking on me.”
I swallowed past the burning sensation that had begun to rise in my throat. “I just wanted to say hi.”
“You did. Now go back to your life,” she said before hanging up.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I sat in my Jeep, staring through the windshield blankly. I had never faced what my father had done. Instead, I tucked it safely away and pretended it never happened. My father was too worried about his professional image at the time, and I was too saddened by the loss of Gabe to confront him. My family quickly fell apart after that, and I was so terrified of losing Amber that in the end I never told her what her mother had done.
But now that Carla was here and in my face day after day, I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I couldn’t pretend she didn’t screw my father and then gloat about it to people that she knew would tell my mother. When Mom confronted her, Carla had the nerve to tell my mother that she was trying to help him move past his mistakes, as if my mother was one of those so-called mistakes. I’m more than positive his worst mistake was Carla.
My anger wasn’t going away, so I made another irrational decision by calling my father next.
“Bailey,” he greeted absently. I wasn’t surprised. He was so consumed with work that few things meant more to him than his next big account.
“Have you even taken the time to check on her?” The last time my father and I talked, I returned the keys to the BMW he had insisted I drive. Like Amber, I no longer wanted to be the spoiled girl whose absent father thought he could buy her off in exchange for ignoring her.
“I’ve been busy, Bailey,” he said in a clipped tone that only fueled my anger. I was clearly bothering him, but I didn’t give a shit.
“Busy?” I responded in an equally clipped tone. “Doing what? Screwing your secretary or conquering your next big venture? I guess that doesn’t leave much time to check in on the woman you kicked while she was already down.”
“I don’t appreciate your attitude.”
I laughed, shaking my head at his heartless behavior. Two years ago, I never would have thought of speaking to my father like I was now. But my respect for him was long gone.
“Please, will you for one moment think about her?” My lower lip trembled, and I took in a breath, attempting to calm my anger. “We all lost him, Dad. We all wish we would have done more to help him. But he is gone, and I know how much that hurt, but we can’t bring him back. Our family fell apart, and know I’m living in some delusional fantasy by thinking that we will ever be whole again. But if you have even an ounce of compassion left in you, please…”