Page 64 of Blind Attraction

“I guess karma is finally coming to claim vengeance.” Her mom gave a derisive chuckle and sat down on the end of the bed.

Sympathy overwhelmed her. Her mother’s emotional scars had always been visible to anyone who knew her well enough. Why hadn’t Alana noticed how deep they ran? “No.” Alana spoke softly. “I don’t think that’s the case at all.”

Over the last few days they’d shared a million tears, discussed a lifetime worth of memories, and came out on the other side somewhat stronger. Her mother needed help and promised to go to counseling. The step in the right direction didn’t make up for a childhood full of lies, but it was a start.

“I can’t talk you into staying?”

“I’m sorry.” Alana shook her head. This wasn’t her home anymore. She couldn’t even look back on her past without a stab of deceit firing through her soul. She understood the reasons why her mother tried to change history, it would just take time and space to forgive. “I want to get to know the Bowens and maybe meet my father properly.”

Her mother pulled back in shock, then schooled her expression and stared down at the carpeted floor. She released a pained breath, glanced up, opened her mouth, and then focused on the carpet again.

The silence thickened and Alana gave her mom the time she needed to reply.

“I...” Her mother swallowed hard. “I know you don’t understand my fears and that you have your own life to lead. I’m just scared for you. I can’t sleep when you’re not here. I can’t think. I’m worried you’ll repeat my mistakes. I’m petrified some man will hurt my baby.”

Alana scooted forward on the bed and grabbed her mom’s undamaged hand, squeezing tight. “I know you’re scared. You’re my mom, you’re meant to worry about me. But I’m not a child. I need to build my own life and make my own future.”

Her mother glanced up with glassy eyes.

“I want to fall in love and get married and have babies. I’d love to work in a city and have my own studio. There are so many things I want, and I’ve been cut short on the opportunity to get them.”

Alana followed the trail of tears falling down her mom’s cheeks as she nodded. “I just want you to be happy.”

“I will be. I’m scared too, and I’ve already been heartbroken by a man, believe it or not.” She shrugged. “Feeling heartbroken is better than feeling nothing at all.”

Her mother’s posture straightened and she frowned. “The musician broke your heart?”

“A little,” she lied.

The sharp trill of an incoming call sounded. She grabbed the cell off her pillow and rejected the call without checking the ID. “Maybe you could come visit me in Richmond.”

The blood seeped from her mother’s face, turning her skin a shade of white. “I... That will be hard for me, Alana... If you promise to be patient with me, I promise I’ll try.”

“That’s all I ask for.”

They stared at each other in silence.

Her mother patted her hand gently and stood. “I’m going to let you finish packing before I turn into a blubbering mess.”

“Sounds like a plan.” It was already past nine and her body wouldn’t co-operate much longer without rest. Her mom strolled to the door and paused in the hall.

“I know I told you I’m going to try and change, and I promise to give it my all. Just keep in mind a lot of the women here are still sensitive. I need you to make sure the men coming with the removalist truck don’t go anywhere near the main house?”

Alana nodded. “I’ve already told them I’ll meet them at the properties entrance and escort them in.” She also informed the retreat residents that there would be men on the property tomorrow. With her private cottage situated a couple hundred yards from the main house, nobody else should be disturbed.

“Oh, good.” Relief eased the lines of tension on her mother’s face. “I’ll see you at breakfast then.”

“Yeah, I’ll be up early.” Hopefully after her body had rested from the pulling, pushing, and packing of the past three days.

Her phone interrupted with another incoming call and her mom waved before disappearing down the hall. Alana gripped the cell in her hand and glanced down at the screen—Private Number. Someone with a private number was calling her after nine at night? The thought of talking to anyone right now made her exhaustion increase, so she rejected the call for a second time.

She planned on spending the next twenty-four hours packing the remainder of her belongings and saying goodbye to the women she considered her family. Switching her phone to silent, she lay back down on the mattress and fought to keep her eyes open. The rest of the world could wait for now.

Alana woke before the sun. As promised, she shared breakfast with her mom who fidgeted at the table. Her anxiety at having men on the property was clearly visible and no amount of consoling would calm her nerves.

A little before lunch, Alana met the moving truck at the front gate and led them down the gravel driveway in her mom’s car. The men were big and bulky, complete with the most well-defined arms in Colorado and manners her mother would appreciate if she would quit hiding and come to say hello. Interaction with the opposite sex would do the women good. Alana didn’t have a psychology degree, but shutting yourself away from men entirely didn’t seem healthy. Well, not for as long as her mother had anyway.

“Ma’am, are you all right?”

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