one hundred percent lies, Mom,” she said. “Anyone who knows you won’t believe a word of that. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, but this is going to kill any hopes I have for a career if stories like this keep circulating. Who’s going to want to cast a forty-eight-year-old drama queen?”
Britt opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when the front door crashed open and Paul called, “Joy!”
“Oh, shit,” Joy muttered and buried her face in her hands.
Britt reached over and rubbed her mom’s arm soothingly. “Don’t worry. He’ll get over it.”
Paul barged into the kitchen, holding a copy of the Premonition Perspective up in the air. “What the hell were you thinking going to a drug-fueled Hollywood party half naked?”
“Dad!” Britt yelled, turning to face him. “You’re out of line.”
The tall man with thick black hair and plastic black-rimmed glasses did a double take when he saw his daughter standing in Joy’s kitchen. “Britt. Why are you here so early?”
She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. “I’m home for the weekend, visiting my mother. If you hadn’t just up and left her, I’d be visiting you, too.”
“Britt!” he admonished, scowling at her. “That was unnecessary.”
“Was it?” she shot back. “How dare you come in here and yell at Mom while you’re off starting a new life without us!”
He took a step back and then blinked at her. “That’s not—”
Britt held a hand up to stop him. “No. I don’t want to talk about this right now. I have other important life matters to deal with.” She spun around and met her mother’s gaze. “I’m going to go check on Kyle.”
Joy nodded and stared at her ex until Britt disappeared down the hall.
“Britt’s never spoken to me like that before,” Paul said, his tone cold. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared Joy down. “See what kind of example you’re setting for your daughter?”
“The kind of example I’m setting?” Joy asked incredulously. He’d lost his damned mind. “You have some nerve.”
“Me?” he scoffed. “I’m not the one going out and acting like a fool in some pathetic attempt to reclaim my youth.”
The amount of rage building in Joy’s blood was almost more than she could handle. Her entire body started to vibrate, and she had to mentally talk herself down from decking him. She sucked in a deep, cleansing breath and in the most neutral voice she could muster, she said, “You have no idea what I’m doing. And you gave up the right to know when you decided you didn’t want to be married to me anymore. So save your lectures for someone else. I’m not going to stand for it.”
“The whole world knows what you’re doing!” he roared as he brandished the paper at her. “When you run around like a twenty-year-old whore, don’t think I’m not going to step in when our kids are involved.”
“Whore?” She threw her head back and laughed. “That’s rich. Since when did you become a misogynist?”
“I’d imagine that was right about the time he became a homophobe,” Kyle said from behind his father. He was dressed, his hair tamed, and leaning on his crutches.
Paul’s shoulders hunched at the sound of his son’s voice. He turned around and looked at him warily. “Kyle. I didn’t realize you were here.”
“Why would you? You haven’t even called to check on me since my accident. I figured you didn’t give a shit. If you did, you’d probably have stopped by or texted or hell, even asked Mom how things were going. But instead, I suppose you’re too uncomfortable with the fact that I’m dating a guy. So who cares that I broke my leg, right, Dad?”
“I’m not a homophobe,” Paul insisted. “I’m not.”
Joy snorted. “Is that why you told him to find someone with a better job and preferably a woman so he could start a family?”
Paul sank down into one of the kitchen chairs and ran a hand through his hair. His face was pale and gaunt, and Joy thought she’d never seen him look older. “I don’t have any hard feelings toward Jackson,” he said to Kyle. “I just don’t think he’s your intellectual equal. It’s going to be hard enough to be in a same-sex relationship. You don’t need the added problems of dating someone who doesn’t have your drive.”
Joy met Kyle’s gaze, and the hurt she saw reflected there made her want to eviscerate her ex. Her heart was breaking for her son, but as much