Page 125 of The Sounds of Her

There is no point in introducing my parents, they’ve already dismissed his presence. I take a seat on the couch across from mom, but my focus is on dad. He’s staring into his drink like a fucking coward.

“Your guest would be best stepping outside, Brooke. We have things to discuss.”

“That is very rude, mom.”

“This is family business.”

“Archer stays. Or we both go.”

Her shoulders press back and the irritation on her face is masked within a few seconds. “Brooke, this is not something we should be talking about with strangers.”

My eyes lift to dad. He finally looks at me, his eyes cloudy, his hand is shaking. It’s not because he’s nervous. He’s fucking drunk. I blink a few times before focusing back on my mother. I’m not sure I want to hear their explanations anymore.

“Archer already knows everything.”

“You had no right to share our private business with this… person.”

Archer huffs out a laugh. He is still standing by the door, leaning one shoulder against the frame. Outwardly, he looks bored, but his shoulders are tense. He’s holding himself back.

“When were you going to tell me about Penny?”

Dad jolts enough that his drink sloshes in the glass.

“You do not speak her name.”

“Why mom, she’s my sister, isn’t she?”

“We should never have got mixed up in all of this,” Dad says, turning towards the fireplace.

“And whose fault is that, Dad? Given she’s your daughter.” His shoulders hunch, but he doesn’t reply. “So you’re denying her, is that it? She’s your daughter, but you will not acknowledge her or welcome her into the family.”

“She is no family of mine,” Mom spits out. “And you had better remember your place, Brooke.”

“Or what?”

Mom gets to her feet, her fists clenched. It’s barely perceptible, but Archer takes a step closer.

“Who told you her name? Was it Jason Campbell?”

“Have you spoken to either of the Campbell’s? Because I have, after you ran off to Vermont. They told me all about your plan, how you were going to sell me to get money to pay off dad’s debts.”

“That isn’t true,” Mom snaps.

“Why are you lying?” I ask, still not raising my voice.

“It wasn’t selling you, Brooke. It was you doing your part to help your family. Do you want to see us ruined?”

“I knew nothing about what was going on,” I say, my voice higher pitched. “You never told me there was a problem.”

“We don’t need to tell you everything.”

“You do if it involves forcing me to marry a man I don’t know, Mom.”

“None of that matters now, does it?” she hisses. “Because you’ve ruined everything by going to Jason Campbell and telling him lies about your relationship. Do you expect me to believe you are seeing this man?” she waves in Archer’s direction. “No daughter of mine would date so beneath her status.”

“This man has done more for me the past month than you have my whole life.”

“You’ve ruined everything, you and him,” she points at Archer again.

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