Shame the Devil (Portland Devils #3) - Rosalind James Page 0,49

firing her?”

“He offered,” Jennifer said. “To have me work in Portland for him, doing … something else. Some office thing. I’m thinking about it.” Or panicking about it, but Dyma didn’t need to know that.

“What about Grandpa Oscar?” Dyma asked. “What does he think about it?”

Jennifer considered lying, except that she was a terrible liar. She turned red and stammered and was completely unconvincing. Besides, Dyma would know tomorrow anyway, as soon as she got home and talked to her great-grandfather. “He says he doesn’t want to move,” she admitted, “but that I should go anyway. This isn’t an interesting conversation for anybody else, Dyma. We can talk about it later.”

Dyma said, “Mother. I’m not a child. I can put college off a year and work, if that’ll help. I could save a lot in a year if I live with Grandpa Oscar, or I could live with you, because I think you should move to Portland if it means you can get a better job. You couldn’t finish college because of me, and high school was horrible because of me. You can’t keep not … not living forever because of me, just because one bad thing happened! Blake’s the one person who isn’t going to care if you have a college degree, because he knows you’re good at your job, so you should let him help you. Maybe I need you to fly too, did you think of that?”

That was all kinds of alarm bells. Jennifer said, “No. You’re not putting college off. You’re not. I’ve got this. It is not your responsibility.” She was so uncomfortable with this whole thing, she wanted to walk out the door. Unfortunately, she was miles above the ground, and she didn’t have a parachute. “I don’t know who told you high school was horrible for me or why they’d even care, but even if that was true, it was a long time ago. I didn’t stop living. I have a great life.”

“Yeah, right,” Dyma said. “Responsible for everybody. No help from anybody. Yeah, that’s a fantastic life.” Her face was flushed, and her voice was shaking a little. Jennifer loved her daughter’s passion as much as she loved her confidence. Just not right now.

She was about to point out all the help she had had, but Dyma told Harlan, “She’s not going to fall in love with you, you know. Just like she probably never fell in love with Blake one bit, even though every girl in town and every girl’s mom thinks he’s the hottest guy they’ve ever seen in person. That’s probably why she stayed with Mark, even though he was boring and he totally took her for granted. Because she thought he was safe, and he didn’t come on to me. I’ll bet she’s more cautious than any woman you’ve ever met. I used to think that was stupid, but then I figured out why. Also, now that she knows who you are, she’s probably going to make us fly home coach again.”

Harlan said, “I think you should let your mom tell her own story.”

Dyma said, “Yeah? Except it’s not just her story. It’s mine. Wouldn’t you feel like it was your story, too, if your father was your mother’s rapist?”

“He wasn’t a rapist,” Jennifer said. “Or not exactly. There were two people there, and I own my own mistakes. Dyma, just no. Please. Not now.”

“Then why did he go to jail for two years?” Dyma said. “Why did he have to register as a sex offender forever? Mom. We need to discuss this. You need to make decisions for you for once, and quit trying to protect me from the truth, and from … from life. You can’t, not anymore. The truth is the truth.”

Oh, boy. Not now.

Jennifer said, “The truth has been the truth for more than nineteen years. Do we have to discuss it at this exact moment?”

“You’re always busy,” Dyma said, “because you pick up the phone or run out the door for Blake 24/7, and then there’s your so-called personal life. And so am I, because I’m rocking that apron all the time. I’m the assistant manager at Burger King,” she told Owen, “which mostly means that I’m the only one they can count on to show up for my shift. But now here we are, stuck on this plane, both not busy, and we need to talk about it. Why wouldn’t this be the perfect time?”

“You could be doing your homework,” Jennifer suggested.