“All right. See you then.”
I hung up, then called my stepfather.
“Eva.”
“Hi, Richard.” I dug right in. “Did my dad call Mom?”
“Just a moment.” There was silence on the phone for a minute or two, then I heard a door shut. “He did call, yes. It was … unpleasant for your mother. This weekend has been very hard on her. She’s not well, and I’m concerned.”
“This is hard on all of us,” I said. “I wanted to let you know that my dad is coming back to New York and I’ll need to spend some quiet time with him.”
“You need to talk to Victor about being a little more understanding of what your mother went through. She was on her own, with a traumatized child.”
“You need to understand that we’ve got to give him time to come to grips with this,” I shot back. My tone was harsher than I intended, but reflective of my feelings. I was not going to be forced to take sides between my parents. “And I need you to deal with Mom and get her to stop calling me and Cary nonstop. Talk to Dr. Petersen if you have to,” I suggested, referring to my mother’s therapist.
“Monica’s on the phone now. I’ll discuss it with her when she’s free.”
“Don’t just discuss it. Do something about it. Hide the phones somewhere if that’s what it takes.”
“That’s extreme. And unnecessary.”
“Not if she doesn’t quit!” My fingers drummed on the coffee table. “You and me, we’re both guilty of tiptoeing around Mom—Oh no, don’t upset Monica!—because we’d rather just give in than deal with her meltdowns. But that’s emotional extortion, Richard, and I’m done paying out.”
He was silent, then, “You’re under a lot of strain right now. And—”
“You think?” In my head I was screaming. “Tell Mom I love her and I’ll call when I can. Which won’t be today.”
“Clancy and I are available if you need anything,” he said stiffly.
“Thank you, Richard. I appreciate that.”
I hung up and fought the urge to throw the phone at the wall.
I’D managed to calm down enough to go over the Crossroads website before Gideon reappeared from his office. He looked wiped and a bit dazed, which was to be expected, considering. Dealing with my mom when she was upset was a challenge for anyone, and Gideon didn’t have much experience to fall back on.
“I warned you,” I said.
He lifted his arms over his head and stretched. “She’ll be all right. I think she’s tougher than she lets on.”
“She was stoked to hear from you, wasn’t she?”
He smirked.
I rolled my eyes. “She thinks I need a rich man to take care of me and keep me safe.”
“You’ve got one.”
“I’m going to assume you meant that in a noncaveman way.” I stood. “I have to head out and get ready for my dad’s visit. I’ll need to be home at night for however long he’s here, and it’s probably not wise for you to sneak into my apartment. If he mistakes you for a burglar, it won’t be pretty.”
“It’s also disrespectful. I’ll use the time to be seen at the penthouse.”
“So we’ve got a plan.” I stood and scrubbed at my face before admiring my new watch. “At least I’ve got a lovely way to count the minutes until we’re together again.”
He came to me, catching me by the nape. His thumb drew tantalizing circles on the back of my neck. “I need to know you’re okay.”
I nodded. “I’m tired of Nathan running my life. I’m working toward that fresh start.”
I imagined a future in which my mom wasn’t a stalker, my dad was back on solid footing, Cary was happy, Corinne was in another country far away, and Gideon and I weren’t ruled by our pasts.
And I was finally ready to fight for it.
11
MONDAY MORNING. TIME to go to work. I hadn’t heard from my dad, so I got ready to head in. I was digging in my closet when a knock came on my bedroom door.
“Come in,” I yelled.
A minute later, I heard Cary shout back, “Where the hell are you?”