The Bookstore on the Beach - Brenda Novak Page 0,45
someone would either let them out or Tammy would come play.
But sometimes it wasn’t Tammy who opened it; it was Nora. And Nora was so intensely jealous of both Autumn and Bailey, even though her selfish husband mostly ignored them when she was home, that she’d try to kick Autumn down the stairs or scream at them that they’d be punished if they didn’t pipe down—then slam the door whether Autumn’s hand was in the way or not.
Trying to get Autumn to stop climbing those stairs and to be quiet so that she didn’t anger Nora took up most of Mary’s day, when she wasn’t upstairs cooking, cleaning or babysitting Tammy. It, more than anything else, even the rapes, frazzled her nerves, because she was afraid Nora would do something to seriously harm the child.
Mary was so grateful she’d been able to escape before Autumn was old enough to form permanent memories, and that her daughter didn’t seem to recall anything of their time in the Skinners’ home.
“I don’t want to talk about Tammy.”
She got up, grabbed her purse and was about to walk out when he said, “I’ll tell her I couldn’t find you, if you want. But you should at least hear me out.”
She came to a stop. She didn’t believe he’d really do her that favor. She feared he was merely trying to earn her trust. She’d had reporters employ all sorts of cheap tactics. But as much as she didn’t want to hear what he had to say, she wondered if Tammy needed her, and she couldn’t let Tammy down again. It was hard enough to live with walking away from her the first time.
Summoning strength from somewhere deep inside, she pivoted to face him. “It’s Tammy who’s looking for me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She controls her parents’ money.”
“They still have money?” she asked skeptically. The Skinners had been wealthy when she’d known them. Their standing in the community and the facade of normalcy their money allowed them—which came from Jeff’s family, not from any work he’d done—was part of the reason it took so long for her to be able to get away from them. But once she escaped, they’d both had to mount very expensive defenses. She’d figured that must’ve taken a lot of the money.
She could’ve filed a civil suit and tried to take the rest—several attorneys had approached her with an offer to help her do that—but she’d chosen not to pursue it. She’d preferred to leave it for their daughter, who’d been only thirteen at the time of their trial. Tammy hadn’t done anything wrong; she deserved to receive something from her no-good parents.
“Yes. Quite a bit,” he replied. “She wants you to have a portion of it.”
She could tell he expected her to change her mind, but Mary shook her head. “No.”
“You deserve it,” he insisted. “Money can’t fix what you went through, but it might make life easier for you as you get older.”
“I don’t want it,” she said, even though she didn’t have much in savings and needed to start thinking about what would sustain her in her golden years, just as he’d suggested. “I won’t have anything to do with the Skinners, even Tammy. Tell her...tell her I’m sorry. That I always wanted her to have a good, happy life, and that...and that I hope she understands why I couldn’t be part of it.”
Eager to get away from him as soon as possible, so that she could once again start the arduous process of trying to forget that whole era of her life, she started to go, but he caught her arm. “Here, then. She told me to give you this,” he said and thrust a letter into her hands.
* * *
“Mom went where?” Autumn said when she arrived at the bookstore shortly after lunch to find Mary gone.
Laurie sat at the computer they kept on a small desk in the back room. “Richmond.”
This came as a complete surprise. “But...she doesn’t like to travel. I can’t even get her to come to Tampa.”
“She’ll go to Richmond now and then. It’s relatively close, and she can drive there. Only takes two hours.”
“But she doesn’t do it unless she has to—to get something she can’t get here or whatever. What’s she after?”
“She had the chance to meet with another bookstore owner who has a coffee shop and wanted to pick her brain,” she replied. “You know how worried she is about taking out this loan. She’s just doing her homework.”