I’ll be back as soon as I can. Do you need me to get anything for her while I’m at the apartment?”
“Maybe a few personal supplies,” Nick suggests. “I’m not sure how long they’re planning to keep her here.”
“Okay. I’ll see you in an hour or so. Nick …” I don’t know why my chest tightens when I say this. I mean, I don’t have to say it at all, but … I also need to. “I’m glad you’re there with her.” I hang up before he can respond. That’s as much honesty as I can handle sharing right now.
Needing to chill out and shut down my emotions, I sit on the edge of her bed and take a breath. I try to relax, clear my head and not let panic or even anger cloud my thoughts. I have to figure out what Vic’s up to. And what this has to do with our parents.
Everything that has happened since the night at The Point is connected in some way, like the wallpaper in my grandmother’s—and now my—bedroom that I strip while lying in bed. Every time I peel back a torn edge, there’s another hideous print beneath. Eventually, I’ll unveil the truth, no matter how marred and ugly it is.
I search my mother’s closet and place a few items in an overnight bag. I don’t know what to pack, so I choose a few comfortable clothes in case they let her wear something other than the johnny. Some toiletries. The romance novel that was splayed on her nightstand. And her favorite quilt hanging on the back of the rocking chair. My grandmother made this for her when my mother was a girl. The squares are made up of scenes from nursery rhymes and fairytales. The colors are faded after years of use and washing, but it’s extremely soft—probably for the same reason.
I draw it up under my nose and inhale it. It smells of my mother—jasmine and spice. There have been so many stories told in this house, read to me while sitting in this rocking chair, bound in the quilt. And no matter how fantastical the tales my grandmother read to me of princesses and dragons or fae and their trickery, she left out the story that started within these walls. The true story about a child—actually five children who are tied together for reasons I’ve yet to understand. The story I’m living right now, woven with lies and deceit. Anger and betrayal. Hopefully, its ending isn’t tragic.
“They’re at Stella’s,” Parker announces, his voice spinning me around.
He looks down at the quilt in my hands. I blink away the ill-fated tales unraveling in my head and stuff it into the overnight bag.
“Why would they be at Stella’s? Please don’t tell me they’re eating.” I cringe at the thought of it.
“I don’t know. But I told Nina to stay there.”
Joey appears in the doorway behind his brother. “Dad just called. He asked me to pick up some papers that need to be delivered to the courthouse this morning.” He looks to me. “I’ll meet you at the hospital after?”
“Did you hear anything about Allie?”
He shakes his head. His eyes dip sorrowfully. “Not yet.”
“You don’t need to go back to the hospital with me,” I assure him. “I’ll be okay.”
He hesitates, conflicted. “Okay. Uh, your sandwich and coffee are on the table if you still want them. I’ll give Parker your backpack and check in with you later. Okay? I may go to the hospital anyway … for Allie.”
“Thanks.” I smile softly and watch him leave.
I know he wants to be there for me, but I fear I’m blurring the lines between us, depending on him and letting him comfort me. I feel connected to him; that’s undeniable. But I’m not in love with him. Even the threads of lust that once entwined us have snapped. I didn’t realize it until now. They’re gone. The enchantment has been lifted. There’s only one person that I’m entwined with now.
“Um, can I meet you downstairs in a minute?” I ask Parker as he waits patiently, leaning against the doorframe. “I need to make a quick call.”
He eyes the Blackwood phone in my hand and nods in understanding, his mouth drawn.
My call goes straight to voice mail. I consider leaving a message, but I don’t know what to say, how to explain any of this in a recording. I hang up and stuff the phone in my back pocket. Slinging Mom’s bag over my