Page 67 of Escape to the Sun

Her mother cleared her throat and continued as if she hadn’t heard her speak. “Now that Joe’s out of the picture, why don’t you come home with me?”

“Mom, I—”

“Even for a little bit. Just so you can—”

“Mom. I’m—”

“Don’t say no. Just think—”

“Good morning, ladies.”

Heather jumped up from her chair at the sound of Ash’s voice saving her from what was quickly becoming a no-win situation. “Ash. Hi.” She wanted to ask him where he’d disappeared to the night before. She wanted to kiss him and thank him for showing up at that exact moment. She wanted to do a lot of things. But just like when she was a child, her mother’s presence held her back. She stopped a few feet away from him and tucked her hands in her back pocket. “Did you have a good night?”

He gave her a curious look but smiled. “I did.” He turned his charm to her mother. “And Val, I trust you enjoyed your first night in paradise?”

Heather rolled her eyes when her mom giggled like a little girl. “I did. The bed was surprisingly comfortable and the water…”

“The sound of the waves is pretty soothing, isn’t it?”

“It really is.”

“You can see why Heather likes it here so much.”

Just as quickly as the smile appeared on her mother’s face, it was gone. “I don’t see that,” she said. “In fact, now that I’m here, I can see even more that Heather should come home where it’s safe. This place is…it’s savage. Do you know what I saw in that town?”

Heather actually had a pretty good idea of what she’d seen. Bocas Town wasn’t for the faint of heart and it certainly wasn’t any kind of place her mother should have been.

“There were drugs,” her mom continued. “And half-naked people and—”

“I’m sure I know what you saw, Mom.”

Her mother hopped out of her chair and glared at her as if she were twelve again. “You knew what I would see there and you still suggested I come here?”

Whoa. No. She hadn’t….she had.She had said the words, but she didn’t mean them. Not really.

“I said you had to see this place to believe it, Mom. I didn’t say anything about Bocas. And I certainly didn’t mean that you should actually get on a plane and come here.”

“Then why did you say it?”

“It was something to say.” She could feel the anger and frustration rise inside her. She was starting to yell. She didn’t want to yell, but she didn’t know what else to do. If she didn’t yell, she might just end up in tears and that would only give her mother more fuel. “I didn’t want you to come.”

The words landed as if Heather had reached out and slapped her across the face. She took a stumbling step backward.

Instinctively, Heather stepped forward, wanting to reach out, but her mother’s next words stopped her. “You’ve always been so hateful toward me.”

“What?”

“You have,” she insisted. “All I’ve ever done is try to protect you and love you and—”

“Smother me.” All the emotions bubbled up inside her. She couldn’t have stopped herself if she’d tried. “You tried to trap me, Mom. You kept me from living. Sometimes I think it would have been easier to have just died, like Dad did.”

She realized an instant too late that she’d gone too far but she couldn’t find the words to fix what had just come out of her mouth.

It was Ash who spoke. She’d forgotten he was standing there until he felt his arm on hers. “Heather, Sherri needs to speak with you. Go up and visit with her, please. I’m going to take your mom on a little boat ride.”

Heather only half heard what he said. She stared at her mother, who suddenly looked frail and small, standing on the dock with her huge hat flopping over her face.

“Heather?”

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