Page 59 of Crush
Not anymore. Not after tonight. She couldn't be. Even if we managed to have a healthy working relationship from this day forward, she'd always be the nanny that I fooled around with one night and very nearly slept with.
But I couldn't tell Chloe any of that—besides being a completely inappropriate thing to tell your teenage daughter, the truth would only mess with her head.
Chloe stewed with her arms folded. “I can't believe shetoldyou that. It's like I can't trustanyoneanymore. Jesus, I can't believe you people!”
“Chloe, sweetie, she's only watching out for you. She has your best interests at heart. I know it doesn't feel like it now, but you'll see that when you're older.”
She grunted with disgust. “Wow. Yeah. Gee, thanks. Once again, I'll have to be older to understand. As if I'm not already'old'and'mature'enough to see through everyone's bullshit. It's seriously annoying.”
Angry teen rant #1,337,I figured.
But then a devilish smirk appeared on Chloe's lips. “Since Brynn was beingsohonest with you, did she happen to tell you about her poster?”
“Huh? What poster?”
“Ha. She didn't. I knew it … that just figures.”
“What are you talking about, Chloe?”
She grabbed her iPad and tapped away at the screen. A few seconds later, she thrust the screen into my face.
What the hell?
It was a picture of a young Brynn. Pasted on the wall behind her was a poster of me in my rookie year. The damn thing was covered with lipstick kisses.
I was both flattered and creeped out all at once. Most of all, I wondered why Brynn had never mentioned this before.
And then Cynthia's remarks began to make sense.
Number one fan. Gold digger.
“So you showed this to your mom?” I asked.
“I didn'twantto, but like I said, she wouldn't leave me alone until I told her more and more about Brynn! And once I showed her this she freaked the hell out and said Ihadto tell you, and that's why she drove me back here.”
“Unbelievable,” I muttered. “I'm sorry you had to go through all that with your mom. Chloe, what would you think about going to therapy?”
“Therapy! What!No,” she blurted out. “That's a waste of time and money, and besides, I'mnotcrazy.”
“I know you're not crazy. But you've been stuck in the middle of something ugly for a long time, and it's not right to expect you to deal with it all on your own. Don't you think it'd be nice to have someone to talk to abou—”
“No.I can talk to my friends when I want to tell people about my crazy ass family. I don't need therapy. If you make me go, I won't say a word to them. I'll just sit in silence and waste your money.”
I frowned. I knew my daughter well enough to know that I wasn't about to change her mind tonight.
“I just want you to think about it, okay?”
She made a harrumph.
“I'll leave you alone. You should get some sleep, alright sweetie? It's late and you've had a tough night. Thanks for telling me everything.”
Regret filled Chloe's eyes. “You're not going to fire Brynn now, are you?”
“No. Chloe, I'm not going to fire her. Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Goodnight, Dad.”
***
