save you from a lot of humiliation later. Trust me on this.”
Angela was being haunted. She was being haunted by the soul of her living ex-mother-in-law. There was no justice in the woman’s intrusion. And no. She’d never allow Lorene to go shopping with her. She was finally beginning to put her footprint on the house. Honey butter walls and mocha in the library. The last thing she wanted was the Baker Stamp blotting out all her shine.
Where was Jesse? Earlier she’d wanted to rescue him, now she was the one in need of liberation. She tossed a longing look toward the backdoor, willing him to appear.
“Are you expecting someone?” Lorene said over a teacup. She’d dragged the dainty china down from the high cabinet instead of getting a coffee mug like a normal human being. Pieces of china dotted the counter.
Angela threw a glance at the wall clock. “Jesse was supposed to be here by now.” She failed to add that was because she’d in fact invited him to furniture shop with her.
Lorene waved a hand through the air. “Oh, I let him go.”
Angela stopped in mid-drink. Surely, she couldn’t mean literally. “What did you say?”
Lorene lifted her brows. “I’m staying for a few months and since you’re planning to stay indefinitely, there’s hardly need for a caretaker.” She shrugged. “Besides, a woman alone shouldn’t have a single man living on the property. Even though he’s twenty years your senior, how would it look?”
Fire shot down Angela’s spine. Her hands were trembling when she placed her coffee cup on the table. It teetered before coming to a full halt. “You—you fired him?” She could barely get the words out.
Lorene only pursed her mouth in answer.
Angela fisted her hands. “Tell me you didn’t.”
Lorene took another sip.
Angela’s anger burned. Her teeth were clenched together so hard she thought the back ones might break.
“Angela, you’re insisting on making a fool of yourself. It seems there’s little I can do to stop that, but after all of this blows over, Brice has to be able to come here and hold his head high. I let Jesse go because of his insolence.”
Angela face was engine hot. “His what?” Insolence and Jesse did not belong in the same sentence.
Lorene—still cool as a cat—placed her teacup on the delicate saucer. “Brice had given him direct orders not to get the house ready and to leave. He let him go. Jesse completely ignored those orders. He admitted as much to me this morning.”
Angela’s stomach churned. Once, she’d watched the boys play a video game that had a weapon that rolled then exploded. She took a single step toward Lorene. She must have looked a sight because Lorene’s eyes widened with fear.
“Lorene, you had no right,” she hissed. Roll, then boom! That’s what the weapon on the video game had done. Angela was a weapon and right now, she was rolling toward Lorene.
Lorene stayed planted in her spot, statue straight. “When I spoke to Brice last night—”
“Get. Out.” Angela took one more step.
When the woman didn’t move, only gave her a pitying look, Angela pointed in the direction of the front door and yelled, “Get out.”
Dimples appeared on the wrinkles of Lorene’s face. “Really, a tantrum?”
Angela was trembling. “Leave, or I’m calling the police.”
Lorene threw her head back and laughed. “And what? Tell them I’m loitering in my own beach house?”
That was it. Angela broke. “In all my life I’ve never met anyone as delusional as you, Lorene. You walk around like the world owes you, but you know what the world sees? A pitiful waste. You offer no joy to humanity and you spend your time sucking up other people’s happiness in an attempt to make them as loathsome as yourself.” She ended it with, “Your only saving grace is Cog. I don’t know how he has put up with you all these years. As far as your son, Brice, he’s as far from perfect as a human can get … and still be considered human.”
Lorene’s face paled as Angela completed her rant. Surely, the woman would leave now. But true to her form, Lorene pulled a deep breath and said, “Are you finished with your little tantrum, because it’s time to stop acting like a child.”
Unbelievable. Angela pressed her mouth closed. Without a word, she turned from Lorene and headed straight to the phone on the wall. She hit three numbers and said, “Can you give me the number for the Wishing Beach Island police department,