Page 115 of Lavender and Lightning

I put my back to my brothers again, shifting my weight. This is taking too long. Should I go back and find him? And where is Caleb?

“Lydia, that’s enough. We all need to take a breath,” Sam says calmly, stepping between us with his hands up.

“Don’t act like you’re innocent in all of this, Sam. I know Darren told you what he was doing to me. Jason heard you two talking. Even after that, you still think I’m making this shit up?” I ask, voice cracking as tears rise in my throat.

“What were you doing, spying–”

“Is that what you’re taking from that, Adam? All that dope must have killed the last functioning brain cell you had,” Jason says, sarcasm cutting deep.

I look over my shoulder at Sam and watch his throat bob as he swallows. “I… I don’t know. Yeah, Darren said some fucked up shit, but… it’s just talk, right? Like, I’ve said I want to kill someone, but I’d never actually–”

I shake my head, cutting him off. There’s a shift in his eyes as he looks down at me, and I’m not sure what he sees, but I watch his eyes go wide with realization. He opens his mouth, but a new voice echoes through the garden, turning my blood to ice.

“Samuel? Adam? Where are you? It’s almost time for the garter and bouquet toss,” Diane Anderson calls.

All of us whip around to see her coming down the stairs, and we don’t have time to hide before she spots us and makes a beeline in our direction. On instinct, I take a step back and to the side, shifting to partially hide behind Jason. I don’t miss how Sam subtly shifts his stance, also moving to stand in front of me.

“What are y’all doing out here? The party is inside,” Diane says brightly as she reaches us.

“Just wanted to get some air. We’ll be right in,” Jason says smoothly.

For a brief heartbeat, it seems like she’s going to take that at face value, but Adam takes that moment to shove past me, his shoulder knocking hard into my back and sending me stumbling into Jason. He turns and catches me before I can fall all the way to the ground, but my mother notices me at last.

“What is–Lydia, you look–this is a wedding, your brother’s wedding, and you can’t keep yourself presentable for three hours?” she hisses, hand clamping down on my arm and dragging me to my feet.

I wince as her nails dig into my skin, and I try to pull away. Her eyes roam over me, her mouth twisted in a disgusted sneer. I have no idea how I look, but with my hair messed up and my dress cut to shreds on one side, I’m sure it’s not the greatest. But the judgement in her expression is too much for my fragile nerves. My head wants to run for the parking lot, and my heart wants to go back into the building, but my mother’s hand on my arm keeps me from doing either. I can feel my brothers’ eyes on me, and it’s enough to cut the last thread holding my patience and common sense in check.

“Darren hit me, Mom. Again. And he threatened to cut my tattoo from my skin,” I snap, watching her carefully for her reaction.

I want to be disappointed when there’s no change to her expression, but at this point, I almost expected it.

“You got a tattoo? The Bible–”

“Fuck the Bible, Mom! I just told you that someone assaulted me, and all you hear is that? Are you serious?” I shout, finally tearing my arm free of her grip.

Diane inhales sharply, and I have to look away before I lose it. Of course, she’s clutching her pearls over my blasphemy. Because she doesn’t care about Darren hitting me. She never has.

“I can’t with this right now. As soon as Rhett gets out here, we’re leaving–”

“You will do no such thing, young lady,” my mother snaps with an honest to God stomp of her foot.

“Why? Afraid that you’ll lose your last chance to steal my trust fund? Because you’re already too late for that,” I snap, mouth working before my brain.

Her jaw drops, and she leans back, hand to her chest. It’s such a perfect picture of shock and disbelief that I can’t help but laugh outright. Sam and Adam look between us, confusion clear on their faces.

“Oh, that’s rich. Too fucking bad that I know all of the crap you and Darren have been doing over the last couple of months. Did he show you the pictures that the stalker he hired took of me? The ones when I was just trying to eat lunch? Or go for a walk? Or how about the ones when I was fucking my boyfriend in my nest?” I throw at her, anger long suppressed, boiling hot in my chest.

“Lydia, that’s quite enough. I can’t believe you’d use such lewd language in front of your own mother,” Diane blusters. But she’s not looking at me, and she certainly isn’t denying it.

“Maybe you’d like to explain how you kept getting my phone number, even though I changed it three times in as many months?” I ask, taking a step in her direction.

“Are you trying to say that our mother was hacking your phone from four states away?” Adam asks incredulously.

“No, I’m saying that I think she hacked mine and was reading all my messages,” Jason snarls, so low I almost don’t hear him.

We all look at our mother, waiting for the denial, but the longer she stays silent, the harder my heart beats.

“Sam, did she tell you that I wasn’t going to come tonight? I didn’t want to take the risk of ruining this day for you with all this bullshit,” I start, looking to my eldest brother. He blinks, the only sign of his surprise. So she didn’t tell him.

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