Page 65 of Sunny Skies Ahead
The front door banged open, and Kevin appeared.
“I’m so sorry Imogen. She showed up at the store, and I didn’t know what to do.”
“So you brought her here for me to deal with?” I said, unable to stop the bite in my tone. “Nice one, Kevin.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“We’ll talk about this later,” I said, shaking my head. I didn’t have the energy to debate with Kevin about why bringing our mother here was the worst possible solution to the problem. There was no circumstance where I was the solution to my mother’s emotional problems. If anything, I was the one person in the world that would make things far worse.
“I’m not leaving,” Kam said, doubling down. “I’m happy to sit on the porch and let the three of you have a conversation, but I’m not leaving you alone here.”
“I’ll stay with her tonight,” Kevin said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
“But—”
“Go,” I shouted, cutting off Kameron’s protest as I pressed the heels of my palms to my eyes. I couldn’t do this with him right now. This was the problem with letting myself get tangled up in Kameron—he was light. He was good. He didn’t need this crap right now, not when he was so close to securing a life-changing grant for Winding Road, something that would allow him to continue to spread that light into the world.
“I have a lot of respect for you, Kam, and I know you mean well, but this is a family thing. Your presence here will not be helpful. I can’t manage my mom, Imogen, and your emotions about how Mom treats her. Let me handle this tonight. Okay?”
I finally mustered enough courage to meet Kameron’s eyes. Never had I seen such sorrow, such pain on his face than in this moment.
As if my asking him to leave had cut deeper than I realized.
The minute dinner was over, I practically sprinted for the master bedroom and shut the door. I washed my face, scrubbing until my cheeks were raw, as if it would help ease the sting of my mother’s words. Kevin had tried his best to keep the conversation light and unrelated to anything important, but my mother, true to her nature, somehow swung the conversation back in her favor anytime we strayed too far.
I threw my phone on the bed in frustration, sitting down on the edge of the mattress and grabbing two fistfuls of my hair. I let out a silent scream of rage. I was furious. I was beyond pissed that I was having what had promised to be a beautiful night with someone I cared for ripped away and replaced with dealing with my narcissistic mother instead.
I sat there for a long time, alternating between biting my fingernails and rubbing my temples to ease some of the ache throbbing there.
With shaking hands, I eventually reached for my phone, unsurprised to see two text messages from Kameron there.
God, I felt terrible that our night had ended this way. Nothing about this situation was fair. I knew Carmen had a narcissistic streak, but showing up unannounced and demandingthat everyone change their plans to accommodate her was a new low, even by her standards.
Kam
I’m so sorry this is happening. Call me tonight?
I’m here for you.
I typed out a quick reply.
Me
I’m sorry our evening got highjacked because of family drama. I’ll call you soon.
I navigated to my contacts, my finger hovering over my sister’s number.
Throughout the dinner conversation, I couldn’t shake the suspicion that Cassie might have had an inkling about my mother’s visit. The way my mother talked about Cassie suggested she had seen her more recently than I previously believed.
I hit the call button and prepared myself for the worst.
“Hello, Cassie Phillips speaking.”
“Did you know she was coming back here?”
There was a long pause. The damning silence told me everything I needed to know.
“Why,” I whispered. “You know how awful she is to me and you couldn’t find two minutes in your day to pick up the phone and give me a head’s up that she would be here?”
