Page 130 of Mountain Grump
I’m making her distressed.
But I just promised her that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. And here we are. With her feet bloody and in pain.
I drag a hand down my face, then storm past her into the cabin.
Seconds later, I’m back outside, and I set the metal wash basin under the water spigot and work the pump.
Cold water splashes into the wide bucket. “You’re going to put your feet in here for a few minutes. The cold should help.” I’d put her feet in a bucket of ice if I had it, but cold well water is the best I can do right now.
“I’m really okay,” Tilda says quietly. “I’ve dealt with worse shoes.”
I pump more water as I turn my head to look at her.
The way she said that…
“What do you mean?” I ask slowly. And the look that comes over her face tells me she didn’t mean to give so much away. “Tell me the truth.”
“I didn’t?—”
“Matilda Iris Wright. Do not lie to me right now.” I know I’m being intense. Probably more than is warranted. But I don’t care.
She lets out a breath, and her shoulders sag. “You met my family.”
I stand up straight and face her, immediately hating this.
She shrugs again. “I… I likegirlythings. Sparkles and dresses and that sort of stuff.” I think about her yard, dotted with suncatchers. “When I was young, my mom put me in beauty pageants. I was excited at first, ya know? Because it meant I got to dress up.”
Dread seeps into my chest. “What did she do?”
“It wasn’t…” Tilda doesn’t finish her sentence.
I’m sure she was about to say itwasn’t that bad. But I bet it was.
“Tell me.”
She keeps her eyes on her feet. “She bought everything a size too small.”
Rage causes my blood to simmer.
Tilda wiggles her toes again. “It sucked. Because I loved the dresses. They were frilly and colorful, and… I loved them. But they were always too tight. And it made it hard to breathe. But the shoes were the worst.” Her fingers twist in the material of her skirt. “Like I know she did the wrong-sized dresses to try to… I dunno… encourage me to lose weight. But the shoes… Even if I was skinny, they’d still be too small.” She wiggles her toes again. “The shoes were the worst part.”
I thought I was furious before.
I thought…
The oxygen in my lungs ignites into flames.
Her mother…
Her fucking mother…
I…
My teeth ache from how hard I’m clenching my jaw.
I’ve never wanted to end a person’s life more than I want to right now.
Turning away from Tilda, I stride into the woods.
