Other than that one night, he’d ignored me most of my life, and when he did speak to me, it was clipped.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and climbed into my car. I hoped I wouldn’t see him in Meridian City. I hoped we never crossed paths and I never had to hear about him.
I wondered if he even knew I was moving there. It didn’t matter, though. Even in the same house, I may as well be on a different planet than him.
Starting the car, 37 Stitches by Drowning Pool poured through the speakers, and I accelerated down the long driveway, pushing the clicker to open t
he gate. I sped out onto the road. My house was only a few minutes away and an easy walk I’d made many times in my life.
I forced deep breaths, trying to calm down. Twelve hours. Tomorrow I’d leave everything behind.
The high stone walls of the Crist estate ended, giving way to trees lining the road. And within less than a minute, the gas lamp posts of my home appeared, lighting the night. Veering left, I clicked another button on my visor and inched my Tesla through the gate, seeing the outside lamps cast a soft glow around the circular driveway with a large marble fountain sitting in the center.
Parking my car in front of the house, I hurried to my front door, just wanting to crawl in bed until it was tomorrow.
But then I glanced up, doing a double-take at seeing a candle burning in my bedroom window.
What?
I hadn’t been home since late this morning. And I certainly hadn’t left a candle burning. It was ivory-colored and sitting in a glass hurricane candleholder.
Walking to the front door, I unlocked it and stepped inside.
“Mom?” I called out.
She had texted earlier, saying she was going to bed, but it wasn’t unusual for her to have trouble sleeping. She might still be up.
The familiar scent of lilacs drifted through my nose from the fresh flowers she kept in the house, and I looked around the large foyer, the white marble floor appearing gray in the darkness.
I leaned against the stairs, looking up the flights into the three stories of eerie silence above. “Mom?” I called out again.
Rounding the white bannister, I jogged up the stairs to the second floor and turned left, my footsteps going silent as they fell on the ivory-and-blue rugs covering the hardwood floors.
Opening my mother’s door slowly, I crept in, seeing the room in near darkness except for the bathroom light she always left on. Walking over to her bed, I craned my neck, trying to see her face, which was turned toward the windows.
Her blonde hair lay across her pillow, and I reached out my hand, smoothing it away from her face.
The rise and fall of her body told me she was asleep, and I glanced to her nightstand, seeing the half-dozen pill bottles and wondering what she’d taken and how much.
I looked back down at her and frowned.
Doctors, in-home rehab, therapy… Over the years since my father’s death, nothing had worked. My mother just wanted to self-destruct with sorrow and depression.
Thankfully the Crists helped a lot, which was why I had my own room at their house. Not only was Mr. Crist the trustee for my father’s estate, handling everything until I graduated from college, but Mrs. Crist stepped in to be a second-mother.
I was immensely grateful for all their help and care over the years, but now… I was ready to take over. I was ready to stop having people take care of me.
Turning around, I left her room and quietly closed the door, heading for my own room two doors down.
Stepping in, I immediately spotted the candle burning by the window.
With my heart skipping a beat, I quickly glanced around the room, thankfully seeing no one else.
Had my mother lit it? She must have. Our housekeeper was off duty today, so no one else had been here.
Narrowing my eyes, I inched toward the window, and then my gaze fell, seeing a thin wooden crate sitting on the small round table next to the candle.
Unease set in. Had Trevor left me a present?