Mother, Please! - By Brenda Novak & Jill Shalvis & Alison Kent Page 0,7
sitting position. “As in heart trouble?” Was that why her father wanted to sell Ashton Automotive? Was the pressure of running such a large business more than he could handle these days?
“Don’t make a big deal out of it and for God’s sake don’t tell your mother, but I’ve got a few clogged arteries. Doctor wants to do a triple bypass as soon as I get back. So—” she heard him sigh “—it would mean a lot to me if you’d come to Cabo, honey.”
A triple bypass? But Walt had always been so strong, so healthy. April wished he’d told her about the chest pains before she’d chased Gunner Stevens away. “Dad, are you sure you should even go to Cabo?”
“Of course. The doctor’s given me some nitro pills. I’ll be fine. I’d just like you there with me.”
April thought of her mother. They’d always attended the company trip as a family. Claire was going to feel completely abandoned and would, no doubt, interpret April’s actions as choosing sides, a betrayal that would be almost as painful to her as Walt’s initial affair. Especially if he wouldn’t let April tell Claire about the triple bypass. “Why keep it from Mom?” April asked.
“Because it’s none of her business. I don’t want her rubbing her hands in anticipation, hoping I’ll keel over any minute.”
“Mom would never do that.”
“Just keep it to yourself, okay? I’ll tell her when I’m ready.”
Hating how this enmity between her parents threatened to tear her in two, April removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes.
“So, what do you say?” he pressed.
Bottom line, she couldn’t refuse her father. He could have a heart attack at any time. What if she lost him? “Okay, I’ll go,” she told him. But she was cringing inside even as he thanked her. She wasn’t sure how to deal with Keith and his unrequited feelings for her, knew it was going to be miserable with her father constantly forcing them together.
And she had no idea how she’d break the news about this trip to her mother….
“WHO WAS ON THE PHONE?” Claire asked five minutes later, standing at April’s bedroom door with the antiaging, gel-filled mask she wore to bed these days resting on top of her head.
April swallowed a groan and opened her eyes. “Dad.”
“This early?”
“He’s unhappy about the fact that we ran Gunner Stevens off last night.” And so was April—now.
“Of course he is. He’s used to me playing by the rules, doing nothing against his wishes, while he does as he damn well pleases.”
“I’d say last night hardly reflects your more passive side,” April said, throwing an arm and a leg over her extra pillow.
“Isn’t Rod handsome?” Her mother grinned in appreciation.
He wasn’t to April. Gunner Stevens was her kind of handsome—naturally golden and rugged-looking. He had a cowlick that pushed his hair off his forehead and laugh lines around his eyes and mouth that made his face interesting on a deeper level than young and perfect. Most of America agreed with her.
But looks didn’t make the man, she quickly reminded herself.
“Tell me Rod was a hired escort,” she said to Claire.
Her mother bristled. “Why would he have to be a hired escort?”
April arched her eyebrows. “My guess is he’s younger than me.”
“Phooey. Oh, all right, he’s a friend of my hair-dresser’s. He needed a few bucks, and I wanted to show Walt that I’m no doormat.”
“You showed him,” April said. “Along with everyone else. Ashton Automotive will be talking about that Christmas party for a very long time.”
“Walt deserved every minute of last night.”
April couldn’t argue with her there.
“Is that all your father wanted?” Claire asked.
“Pretty much.” April retrieved her glasses and pretended to adjust her alarm clock. From the corner of her eye, she saw her mother tighten the belt of her silk robe.
“I thought I heard something about the Cabo trip.”
April bit back a curse. She wasn’t prepared to deal with Claire’s emotional reaction right now. “He just wanted to know if I was coming this year.”
“What did you tell him?”
She hoped her mother had only picked up on the gist of the conversation and not the specifics. “That I’m not sure.”
“I think you should go,” Claire said.
April tucked her hair behind her ears. “You do?”
“Of course. And I think you should take me with you. We could share a room.”
“What?”
“Why should I miss out on all the fun just because of Walt?”
The fact that they were getting divorced wasn’t reason enough?