Page 32 of Say Yes to the Death

“We would have happily driven you to the airport, you know,” Claire said, collecting her mother’s carry-on bag from the foyer. A proponent of always being prepared, Alice always carried a fully stocked carry-on with extra outfits even for same-day trips.

“I can feel that you two have some things to talk about,” Alice said, leaning in and hugging Claire tightly. “Best not to delay, darling. Hurt feelings hurt the body.”

In a flash, Alice crossed the room and drew Luke into a smothering hug. He gingerly put the camera down on the kitchen island and returned her embrace.

While Alice knelt and scratched Rosie behind the ears, cooing over her “granddog,” Luke picked up the suitcase and opened the front door. Claire helped Alice up from the floor, and they walked arm-in-arm to the cab.

The wall of pine trees that lined the driveway cast long shadows over the neatly trimmed grass. The sun was setting. Dinner and the card reading had taken longer than Claire thought. She really should have devoted some more time to reviewing Tyler’s proposal.

“Take care, sweetheart.” Alice’s worry line was back.

“I’ll miss you. Let me know when you land?”

“Of course. I love you.”

“Love you more,” Claire said, welcoming one last hug.

Her mother slid into the back seat of the cab, waving as the car reversed and disappeared down the lane.

Luke had rested his arm around Claire’s shoulders, and he was unfairly distracting her by rubbing his thumb into the base of her neck.

“Hey, Luke?”

“Hmm?”

“Remember that time I told you that if you ever, ever lied to me again, then we were done?” she said quietly.

“I don’t remember that.”

“Do you remember that time you told me twice that you didn’t have a brother? And it turns out you do in fact have a brother?”

Luke sighed. His hand dropped from her shoulders.

“You don’t know the whole story.”

She turned to face him. She wouldn’t be surprised if steam was pouring out of her ears. “So, tell me the whole story.”

He averted his gaze and put his hands in his pockets. “It’s hard to explain.”

Her face screwed up like she had just eaten a sour candy. “Are you kidding me right now? How hard can it possibly be to tell me the truth? Do you have any idea what I’ve been through in the past two days? In the past month? If I can survive being targeted by a serial killer, you can muster up some strength in that dangly little sack of yours and find the courage to tell me the truth.”

“Claire, it’s—” He paused, but she shushed him.

If she had to stand in his presence for even one more minute, she was going to explode like an atomic bomb.

“Let me guess. It’s complicated. You know what? Save it. You’re wasting my time. I don’t want to hear any more lies today. I have things to deal with. Take me home.” She never should have let him drive this morning.

“Come on.” He reached for her, and she slapped his hand away. If he touched her, all of this resolve was in danger of crumbling.

He buried the hand she had slapped into his hair. He opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him.

“You know what? I don’t care. I don’t care about your brother. I sure as hell don’t care about your psychotic, victim-blaming attorney of a mother.” Claire turned on her heel and stomped back toward the house, stabbing at her phone to bring up her ride sharing app.

There was another crunch of gravel on the driveway, and Claire whirled around. The taxi was back. It pulled to a stop, and the back door opened. Her mother smiled kindly from inside and extended one manicured hand.

Claire opened the front door, snapped a leash on Rosie, grabbed her purse and shoes, and stormed across the yard past Luke.

“Claire, come on. Can we talk about this?”

---