Page 14 of Secrets of the Past
“She says she never received any of my calls.Says I broke up with her via email.Funny thing is, I never sent her one.But I sure as hell got one from her.And I never responded.”
Silence.
“Mom,” he said slowly, stepping closer.“Do you know anything about that?”
Her chin snapped up, eyes narrowing in sharp disapproval.
Her mouth twitched.“I barely remember the girl.”
“That’s a lie.You said her name before I mentioned her.”
Her chin lifted higher in defiance.“Excuse me,” she replied, crossing her arms like a shield.But her eyes betrayed her, glinting with something between fear and fury.For a moment, her control cracked, the mask slipping enough for him to glimpse the truth beneath.
“I said it’s a lie.You remember her.You hated her.You said she was beneath me.You said she was a distraction.You said she was a phase.You called her trash.”
His mother flicked her long gray hair over her shoulder like she was on the damn cover ofTown & Country, not standing there lying through her teeth.He almost applauded the performance.The fake smile, the casual gesture, it was vintage Suzanne Masterson.Polished.Controlled.
And totally full of shit.
He’d seen that move a hundred times.
It was her signature tic.
She always did it when the truth became inconvenient.
“I said what any mother would say.You were too young.She wasn’t right for this family.You had a future to protect.”
“So you what?”he snapped.“You took my phone?You sent fake emails from both of us?You destroyed my marriage before it had a chance to breathe?”
She didn’t answer.
“I asked you a question.”
“I was happy to see it end,” she said at last, voice cold and clipped.“You would’ve thrown away everything for that girl.”
That wasn’t a lie.He would’ve moved mountains to keep Nicole smiling.He’d been ready to walk away from Baylor, pack up his dreams, and follow her to Austin.But instead, she’d tossed him aside, swift and merciless, like a hot potato he never saw coming.
“I loved her.”
“You were eighteen,” she snapped.“It wasn’t real.”
Tripp’s hands curled into fists.“If I learn you sabotaged my marriage, you’ll regret the day you ruined my life.I will not take it kindly.”
At this point in his life, he could see his mother for exactly the type of woman she was.A cold, selfish, snotty society woman who didn’t fraternize with anyone lower than her standing in society.You’d think that type of person had died with the Gilded Age, but you’d be wrong.
“Stop being dramatic.You were eighteen.Ask her parents what happened.It was twenty years ago, and I know nothing except that I was going to protect my son at any cost.”
They stared at each other, the air crackling with electricity.
Tripp turned on his heel and walked toward the stairs.
“Dinner is at seven,” she called after him like nothing was wrong.That this argument was over, and she’d won.But it was far from over.
“I hear this girl is a beauty.”
He didn’t answer.
In his old bedroom, still disgustingly untouched like a shrine to the golden boy he used to be, he shut the door, leaned back against it, and exhaled.
