Page 35 of One Last Night

“I know.”

“And they’ll have to talk to her.”

“I know.”

He sighs. “What a fucking mess. How’s Luann?”

“Not good, sir. She really fancies him. Kevin, I mean. She’s afraid…”

I stop myself and leave it at that. I have betrayed Luann’s confidence as much as necessary. I don’t need to reveal anything else. In any case, it’s obvious what Luann is afraid of.

“Yeah, I know. Damn it. Okay, I’ll call the police.”

“Do you have to call them tonight?” Victorias asks, her voice barely a whisper.

“Yes, Mom, I have to call them tonight. They just blew up the damned water system. We’re going to lose the Chardonnay, you realize that, right? We can try to harvest some of it, but we’re losing at least ninety percent of the yield.”

Victoria doesn’t protest further. She only hangs her head in her hands and begins to weep. Julian deflates a little when he sees that. Rather lamely, he offers, “Well, at least no one got hurt.”

“I’ll call the police,” Sean says. “You stay with your mother.”

Victoria gets abruptly to her feet when she hears that. She brushes past me and stalks up the stairs, her footsteps echoing through the house. Julian stares morosely at the floor, then laughs softly. “I guessI’llcall the police. It’s my responsibility, anyway.”

“No! No, Grandma!”

The cry chills me to the bone. The slap that follows it chills me further.

Sean and I share a horrified look. The scream that Luann releases after the slap galvanizes us into action.

The three of us rush up the stairs. Nathan stumbles out of his room. He looks at us in confusion, then looks toward his sister’s open door.

“Grandma, stop!”

We enter the room to see Victoria grabbing Luann's shoulders. Her lips are pulled back from her teeth, and her eyes are wild. She shakes Victoria back and forth, her nails digging into the girl's arms.

“How dare you!” Victoria shrieks. “How dare you talk to that boy after we told you not to? Do you see what happens? Do you see what you did?”

“Mom!” Julian shouts.

He grabs Victoria and pulls her roughly away. Luann sobs and lifts her hands to her shoulders. Bruises are already beginning to form.

I step forward to pull her away, but she slaps me hard across the face. “You stupid bitch! You promised you wouldn’t tell them!”

The slap stings my face, but the physical pain is nothing compared to the shock. I stand rooted to the spot until Sean grabs me and firmly pulls me out of the room. “Let Julian handle this, Mary.”

“What’s going on?” Nathan asks. “What’s happening?”

“Ask your sister!” Victoria shrieks.

“Enough!” Julian shouts before dragging his mother from the room. “That’s enough!”

“What happened?” Nathan repeats, tears welling in his eyes.

“Nothing,” Julian calls before I can answer. “We’ll talk about it in a moment.”

“Help your sister,” Sean tells the boy. “Get her some ice and some bandages.”

Nathan rushes to Luann's side. They're both weeping now. Luann lifts her eyes to glare at me with pure white-hot hatred. Then, she allows Nathan to lead her from the room.

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