The slight flaring of her nostrils. The twitch of the little finger on her left hand. Things just about anyone else would miss, but ones that told me things were more wrong than even I'd guessed.
"Mom—"
She squeezed my hand. "Risa, you are my daughter and I love you more than anything, but sometimes you read far too much into things. I'm simply tired, that's all."
She was simply lying, and that was a fact.
"Then why don't you go away for a while? Just pack up this afternoon and go somewhere exotic?" Get out, I wanted to add, before whatever it was she feared could catch up with her.
She smiled. Warmth mingled with sadness, and it made the fear in me rise. "Ris, it's nothing." She hesitated briefly, then added, almost reluctantly, "A decision I made a long time ago—a decision I could never regret—is about to catch up with me, that's all. And that's okay."
"Dia, if there's anything I can do—"
"No," Mom said, cutting Riley off. "I don't want anyone else dragged into this mess."
"But—" I got no further than Riley.
"No," she repeated, with a touch of anger. "This has to be. Trust me on this."
I glanced at Riley and saw the determination in her expression. She'd work on Mom, and hopefully get something more out of her. But she couldn't do it while I was here—Mom obviously wasn't going to tell me anything.
Which was frustrating, but I guess she simply didn't want me involved in whatever the problem was. We might have a very close and loving relationship, but there were lots of things I really didn't know about my mom. Still, I guess all children could say that about their parents.
"Ris," she added, squeezing my hand a final time before withdrawing it, "if you need to go, then go. There's nothing you or anything else can do about my problem. Some things are simply meant to be."
Which didn't make the twisting sense of wrongness ease any.
Riley's gaze met mine and there was a strength in her, a belief that everything would be all right. I wished I could believe it. I gathered my bag and stood. "If you need me, call. I can be there within minutes, you know that."