“She does not dictate my romantic interests. And I resent the implication.”
“What did she tell you?” Red asked. “What new lies did she spout this time?”
Jeb shook his head. “She just said that the two of you had fought horribly, that you kicked her out of the house. She was crying, she felt awful…”
“Bullshit,” Red scoffed. “She didn’t feel awful, she’s a master manipulator.”
“It’s easy for you to see her that way,” Jeb told him.
“And it’s easier for you to wear blinders,” Red replied. “What kind of mother gives her son an ultimatum in order to force him to break up with a girl he’s in love with?”
Jeb’s hands clenched and his jaw twitched, much the way Red’s did when he was angry. “You’re talking about something that happened years ago. Why would you bring that up now?”
“It’s totally pertinent to this conversation,” Red said, pointing a finger at his brother. “She did something completely unconscionable to you, and you allowed her to get away with it. You still make excuses for her behavior.”
“I’m not making excuses. She’s our mother. And whatever else she is—she deserves a little goddamn respect.”
Red stood up, pushing his chair back forcefully and planting his hands firmly on the tabletop. His expression was thunderous. “You’re lucky you’re my younger brother, Jeb. Or so help me god, I would beat you like a redheaded stepchild for talking this shit in my house. I don’t want to discuss that woman—I don’t want to hear her words coming out of your mouth like some fucking ventriloquist’s dummy. I’m finished. Got it?”
“Loud and clear.” Jeb stood up and looked at Nicole. “Thank you so much for dinner. I’ll be in my room the rest of the evening and on the first flight out tomorrow morning. Unless you’d rather I went to a hotel instead?”
Red folded his arms and refused to look at him. “I don’t give a shit what you do,” he muttered.
Nicole wanted to somehow make peace, but hadn’t a clue what to say. Jeb left the veranda and she turned back to Red. “I’m so sorry that happened.”
“Yeah. Me too.” He was staring out into the darkness now, with that same distant and guarded look on his face. She knew he was unreachable in this state.
Instead of trying to talk to him, Nicole decided to just let him be. She cleared off the table and brought everything to the sink, did the dishes. Eventually he left the veranda and went upstairs, probably to his study.
Nicole had a bit of a sick feeling in her stomach again. She told herself that this was a difficult time in Red’s life and as his fiancé she had to be willing to go through it with him.
But she still felt bad for his brother.
Jeb hadn’t meant to do anything wrong—he simply had a totally different view on the situation.
When she was done putting the dishes in the dishwasher and cleaning off the table in the veranda, wiping down the counter tops, Nicole was fairly tired. She wanted to go up and check on Red, make sure he was holding up okay.
And then she saw Jeb standing in the hallway entrance, watching her. She let out a startled noise, put a hand to her chest. “Sorry, you surprised me,” she laughed.
“No, I’m the one who’s sorry,” Jeb said, coming further into the kitchen. “I didn’t want to cause a scene here.”
“It’s okay,” she told him. “I get it. I know how it can be with siblings.”
“You have a sister or brother?”
She laughed. “Actually, no. I don’t. But I can imagine.”
Now he laughed as well, and when their eyes met, she sensed again that he was a kind person. “Ours is a complex family,” he told her. In that statement, she sensed, was much more than met the eye.
Nicole nodded, her eyes downcast. “Red is emotional lately. I don’t think he meant to be so hard on you.”
“No?” Jeb laughed, a brittle, harsh sound.
“I think that your mother is a sensitive topic for him right now. You weren’t here when she visited, but I can assure you it was pretty awful.”
“I’m sure it was,” Jeb told her. “But you don’t see the other side of it. Red is such a loose cannon. His temper is out of control and he makes it so that people walk on eggshells around him. My mother’s not the eggshell type.”
“Certainly not,” Nicole agreed, remembering the comments Erica had made and how she’d found the older woman sneaking around their master bedroom.
“Look,” Jeb said, leaning against the counter. “I’m not saying my mother is the easiest person to get along with. She’s very difficult. She’s had a tough life and she did the best she could under hard circumstances. But she loves her kids. She loves my brother dearly, and it’s killing her the way the visit ended.”