Page 29 of Burned

Chapter Eleven

“You have an hour to get your shit together and leave.” Lily stared her mother down, hands on hips and ready to fight.

Sadie groaned inwardly, her hands over her face. Her sister had been out of town on business the past week and had called to check in on her while she was away. Sadie had told Lily about their mother’s visit and how Jackie was driving her crazy. Lily hadn’t said much except to hang in there. What Sadie didn’t anticipate was Lily storming over to her house the minute she got back into town like an avenging angel full of piss and vinegar. Had she known, Sadie might not have mentioned their mother’s visit during their phone conversation.

Jackie continued to lounge on the couch just as cool as she pleased, taking a leisurely sip on the lemonade Sadie had made fresh that morning. She winced a bit and glared at Sadie, completely ignoring Lily’s tirade. “This lemonade is too sour, girl. Are you trying to kill me sooner than my time?”

Something in Lily seemed to snap as she charged toward her mother. Sadie threw herself in front of her sister and held on tight. “No. Please don’t.”

Lily struggled against Sadie for a moment but finally relented. “Are you kidding me? How can you stand there and take her abuse? Hasn’t this woman done enough damage as it is already? Look at you? Your hands are shaking and you’re a nervous wreck. You moved down here to get away from her! I’ll be damned if I let her undo all the damage she did to you.”

Tears burned the backs of Sadie’s eyes. The week had been an absolute nightmare. Every night she went to bed in tears and no matter how hard she tried she could do nothing right in her mother’s eyes. She was too slow, not a good enough cook, too fat, and not too bright. It chipped away at her self-esteem, but in the end, she had to remind herself, Jackie was her mother.

“Jackie can be rough at times, but she’s still our mother. And if you don’t have any respect for her, that’s your choice, but at least respect me and don’t attack her in my home.”

Lily shot a narrowed eye glare in their mother’s direction and then back to Sadie. She grabbed her younger sister’s hand and dragged her toward the kitchen.

“Get me another glass of lemonade while you’re in there, Sadie and make sure you put enough sugar in it this time.”

“That’s it,” Lily snapped letting go of Sadie’s hand and charging back toward the living room.

Sadie wrapped her arm around her sister’s waist and held on for dear life because if she didn’t, there’d be bloodshed and she had light colored carpets. “Please don’t do this, Lily. She’s only doing this to push your buttons. Don’t let her.”

Lily struggled against Sadie for another moment before relenting. “Ok, you can let me go. I won’t strangle the heifer. But I swear to God if she makes one more comment, the wench is dead.”

Sadie shot her mother a pleading look and received a smirk from Jackie. “Don’t worry about me, Chrissy, I won’t say a word.”

Sadie cringed on the inside over the use of a childhood nickname she couldn’t stand. Her mother sometimes used it to remind her of the awful first name she’d been given. She ignored her mother’s attempt to goad Lily some more and pushed her into the kitchen. When she was sure her sister wouldn’t run back to the living room and commit matricide, she let go. “This isn’t the way you know? She says those things because she knows it gets to you. You can’t threaten violence every time she says something out of pocket.”

Lily crossed her hands over her chest and pursed her lips. Oh, yes the hell I can. I can’t believe that bitch has been here for a week. I bet she knew I’d be on vacation. Did you talk to her by any chance before I left?”

Sadie lowered her head avoided eye contact with her sometimes too perceptive sister. “We might have. But how was I supposed to know she was fishing to find a time to visit me? Her showing up was just as big a surprise to me as it is to you.”

“How can you put up with it? Look at you, your hands are shaking. I bet your nerves are shot with her around.”

“A little, but she won’t be here much longer.”

“Do you actually believe this cock and bull story that she’s dying?”

“Yes and no. Mom’s got cancer. She even gave me the number to her doctor to prove it. I spoke to him and before you ask, yes, I checked online to make sure he was legit. He says she has stage one colon cancer. She’ll need surgery but the chances of survival are high. Yes, she’s playing it up to be more than it actually is, but she’s still sick. She’s been trying to convince me to come back home.”

“So you can wait on her hand and foot again? Didn’t you already have enough of that? Let the bitch suffer.”

“Lily, please don’t say things like that. No one deserves to go through what she’s dealing with. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

Lily narrowed her eyes. “Neither would I, but I most certainly would wish it on her. And you are not going back to DC to be an unpaid servant to that woman.”

Sadie kept quiet while her sister ranted. Since Sadie could remember, she’d searched for the good in the woman she called mother. There had to be something about her otherwise, why would Daddy have married her? She was only five when he’d died, but he was so loving and gentle. Surely a man like him wouldn’t have been with someone like her mother if there wasn’t at least a little good in her.

“You’re not considering it are you?” Lily stared at her with a narrowed gaze. “Rhys wouldn’t allow that to happen.”

“Probably not. But I don’t know, things have been kind of weird for us lately. Don’t get me wrong. I love him and I’m sure he loves me, but he’s going through some things with his daughter. I’ve tried to be there for him as much as I can, but things are a bit strained.”

“That doesn’t mean he’ll let you move away from him. It’s pretty obvious he’s smitten, and whatever is going on you two will work it out.”

“You really think so?”

“I know you will, sis. But back to Cruella out there. I don’t know why you put yourself through this? Every time she snaps her fingers, you jump. You’ve got to stop trying to please her. It’s not going to happen. Rose, Daisy and I figured that out a long time ago. Look at how she treated poor Thorne. I wish to God he didn’t have to spend his last days with that creature.”

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