Page 96 of Rowdy Hearts

I didn’t wait to hear anything else. Just took my ass down the tunnel to the ice and tried to figure out what the hell to say when I called Tressy after practice.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Tressy

“Mom.”I blinked at the woman standing outside my door Monday morning, shock holding me in place. “I didn’t— I wasn’t expecting you.”

Bebe Meyers looked like she was headed to a meeting. She’d scraped her perfectly tinted blonde hair into a twist on the back of her head and wore a black pantsuit with a white silk shirt. She looked ready to do battle. Oh god, I wasn’t ready to deal with this now. I had something more pressing to handle.

“Hello, Teresa. Can I come in?”

Shock stuck my tongue to the roof of my mouth and my feet to the floor for a few long seconds before I shook it off and said, “Of course. Sorry. You just…took me by surprise.”

My mom didn’t respond, just walked through the door then turned to look at me as I closed the door.

“Is Krista at school?”

I gestured for her to sit as I sank into a chair in the living area.Our home in Chelsea wasn’t a three-story townhouse, but it wasn’t a one-room studio, either.

Of course, it couldn’t rival Rowdy’s home.

And nope, not going there.

“No, she’s with Mrs. Santiago. They missed their brunch this weekend.”

Mom nodded. “Good. We need to talk.”

I took a deep breath and held it, readying myself for the confrontation I was sure was coming.

“I assume you heard from that reporter? What’s our strategy? Have you contacted your lawyer? Do you need me to take care of it?”

Okay, that’s not what I’d been expecting. I sat there and stared at her, my mouth hanging open a little until I remembered to close it.

“Mom, how?—”

“They called me for comment. No idea why they think I’d ever tell them anything about my family. Scumsuckers.”

Finally, I shook my head, trying to get my thoughts in order. “I’m going to confront him. Make it clear to him that if he says anything about my daughter in his rag, I’ll sue him.”

My mom nodded. “Good start, but I think you should let me come with you. I think he needs a little more than the threat of legal action. I did a little digging?—”

I held up my hand. “I don’t want to know.”

She smiled. “Not a problem. You don’t need to know.”

At that moment, I wondered just how much she hadn’t told me growing up. Maybe I’d been too young or too naïve to think about what she’d been doing behind the scenes. And when I’d gotten older, I just hadn’t wanted to know. I’d let her do her thing and told myself it wasn’t anything I needed to worry about. That I didn’t want any part of what she was doing.

“Just know that I can have that story squashed in a few hours. All I need is your OK.”

I’d been dreading talking to my mom since we got home last night. It’d been late and Krista had been sleepy and weepy when I’d finally tucked her in. I’d hoped she’d wake up this morning, happy to have slept in her own bed in her own room with all of her things all around her.

Of course, she’d immediately wanted to know when we were going back to visit Rowdy and Raffi and Mandy. She didn’t want to go back to school. She didn’t want me to go back to work. Only the thought of seeing our neighbor got any kind of positive response.

Mrs. Santiago was more than happy to visit with Krista this morning, since they’d missed their Saturday brunch this week. She’d offered to take Krista to lunch, if it was okay with me. I’d thanked her so profusely, she laughed and said, “You must have had an interesting weekend.”

You have no idea.

But then I’d been alone, and I still didn’t know how I was going to deal with the asshole threatening to expose my secrets.

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