Page 48 of Too Far To Sea
There area few things less pleasant to wake up to than somebody pounding on your door. Dana threw off her covers and padded over to the door. Through the peephole she saw her mother’s fist raised, ready to pound again.
“Just a minute!” Dana ran her fingers through her hair and glanced in the mirror, glad she took the time to make sure all the mascara was off last night.
Sheila pounded again as Dana opened the door.
“It’s about time!” Her mother pushed her way into the room.
Dana counted to ten as her dad had taught her, and bit her lip to keep in any comment she might have felt compelled to utter. Such as the fact it was before sunrise. Taking a deep breath, she waved her mother over to the couch. “Good morning to you too, mother.”
“Don’t you sass me. I’ve been up all night with Amy-Kate, who’s crying her eyes out. We decided that you should trade rooms with her, and I went down to your room and you weren’t there!”
Dana sat on her bed and tried to respond as calmly as possible. “No, I was here.”
“How did you get this room?”
“There was a problem with my old room.”
“Well, this room will be better for Amy-Kate.”
“I am not switching rooms again.”
“Oh yes, you will. I paid for that room you had.”
“And I paid for my space in Cheyanne’s suite, which was more than the value of that interior room you stuffed me into. I have more than paid for my reservations.” Dana tried to push her anger down, but she hadn’t had enough sleep to do it successfully.
“Well, now you can be in Cheyanne’s suite with her.”
“I don’t want to change rooms again. I am quite fond of this one.”
“Amy-Kate can’t stay there.”
“She isn’t my problem.” The repercussions of her actions may be, but Amy-Kate made choices that came with consequences.
“Well, you’re the one who ruined everything!”
“If you wouldn’t mind keeping your voice down. I’m sure my neighbors do not appreciate being woken by your yelling.”
Sheila lowered her voice a decibel or two. “I am not yelling. I am trying to save a marriage. To do that, I need you to change rooms with Amy-Kate.”
“Save a marriage? You want your daughter to marry a man you know is being unfaithful?”
“Mitchell needs the business connections.”
The words hit Dana as if her mother had slapped her. A thought almost too terrible to say out loud formed in Dana’s mind. “Did you know about Chandler’s affair?”
Sheila turned her face to the window where the first gray mists of day dotted the seascape.
“You did.” Dana drew in a breath. “That is why you moved me from the Diamond Suite and put me in economy. You knew I would figure it out.”
“You’ve always been too observant.” Sheila sniffed. A familiar gesture—prelude to tears that never quite materialized. Next, she would ask for a tissue.
How could she have knowingly let Chey marry a man who wasn’t worthy of her? Anger worse than what Dana faced in her youth boiled up. Sheila needed to leave now, or security might have a reason to detain Dana.
“I am not changing rooms.” Dana stood. “Now please excuse me. I am going to get ready for the day.”
“You just can’t dismiss me. I am your mother.”
Any shred of patience Dana held on to evaporated. “Only when it seems to be convenient for you.”
