They might as well deal with his mother first. He didn’t even know if his parents knew he was coming.
“You tell them?” he asked over his shoulder as he continued toward the back of the house.
“No, I… wasn’t sure if you’d show up. I didn’t want to disappoint them if you didn’t.”
Rev doubted they’d be disappointed if they never saw him again. They probably thanked God every day since the day he disappeared.
Since they weren’t expecting his arrival, this would be a surprise family reunion.
Perfect.
When they stepped into the kitchen, his mother was at the stove, he swore wearing the same apron she wore when he was a kid. Her dark blonde hair, now with a few strands of gray, was pulled up into a tight bun and her back was to them.
“Sister Rachel,” Matthew called from behind them.
Rev stood frozen in place, his fingers tightening on Reilly’s hip as the mother he hadn’t seen in about twelve years turned and looked at him. With those few strands of gray hair and the wrinkles lining her make-up free face, she looked a lot older than her forty-six years.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that the way his parents lived their lives had aged them faster than normal. Or at least his mother.
It took her a full second before recognition filled her face. As soon as it did, it turned hard. And about as welcoming as Pastor Thomas’s.
Her blue eyes landed on her brother, who pushed past them to act as a buffer between mother and son.
“What’s the meaning of this?” she asked sharply, wiping her hands on her apron.
Yeah, this would be no loving family reunion. Not even close.
No smile. No tears. Just a frown marred her face. “Why is he here?”
From the corner of his eye, he saw Reilly’s face tipped up toward his and her eyes flicking back and forth from him to the woman who gave birth to him.
“I figured it was time for everyone to make peace,” Matthew said to his sister. “It’s time for things to be settled between you all.”
“Didn’t come here to see you,” Rev announced, shooting his uncle’s peace-making efforts to shit.
“Where’s your sister?”
Not “You look great, son,” or “Thank God, you’re alive. We’ve been worried,” or “We’ve missed you so much.”
Nope. That might mean they cared.
Matthew stepped between them, turning to face Rev. “I didn’t get a chance to tell them yet.”
“Sarah’s dead.” No lie was told when he spouted that out without bothering to soften the blow. Sarah had been dead for a long time. It was Saylor who lived in her place now.
He waited for his mother’s reaction to the knowledge that her only daughter was dead. Again, nothing. No tears, no gasp, not even a look of surprise.
She didn’t even ask how Sarah died.
His mother was emotionally frigid. She always had been. But then she’d been married to a man who had controlled her and her thoughts since she was seventeen. Women in their religious order were only allowed to serve God, their fathers and then their husbands. And, of course, bear children.
That was it.
They did not work outside of the home. They did not drive. They didn’t have one damn unique thought.
And sex was not supposed to be enjoyed, it was to be endured only for procreation. A woman who enjoyed sex was a whore. Even though, as many times as Rev was forced to read the bible, he never read anything in the “good book” that said a woman couldn’t enjoy sex.
Because the men sure did. Even with their daughters.
Seeing his mother reminded him what life Saylor would’ve lived if she hadn’t found a way to escape on her own. By acting out and committing crimes.
Though, Rev would’ve done his best to get her out of there as soon as he could’ve. But when he finally escaped at sixteen, he couldn’t raise his baby sister.
So, she did things to get herself out of the situation by stealing, fighting and anything else she could think of that would get her thrown into juvie over and over. She’d hardly be out for a week before she would do something to get thrown back in. A week home was probably too long. Hell, a day was probably too long.
Finally, she made sure to do something that would keep her locked up until she was eighteen. With what she did, she was lucky she wasn’t charged as an adult, skipped juvie and went right to prison.
Once she was released that final time, Rev brought her to Manning Grove—using the excuse she wasn’t welcome at their parents’ home—because there was no fucking way she’d ever go back to Coatesville, this house and their father.
Over Rev’s dead body.
He’d felt guilty leaving her behind in the first place. But his parents never would’ve tolerated him taking Sarah with him. He would’ve ended up charged with child abduction and, once found, she would’ve been delivered right back into their hands.