The Day He Came Back

“You shouldn’t have to live like this, Dad. I know you’re not happy. I wish—”

“It doesn’t matter if I’m happy. At this point in my life, I just want peace. Sometimes happiness comes at too big of a price.”

Genuinely curious, I asked, “Why are you so afraid to get divorced? The money?”

“It’s not the money. I don’t want to rip this family apart.”

“Weldon and I are adults now. You don’t have to worry about us.”

He massaged his temples. “I can’t deal with the stress of a divorce, Gavin. Your mother would rake me over the coals. I don’t want any of us to have to go through that.” He sighed. “And this may be hard for you to believe, but a part of me still loves her. Maybe it’s more that I’m still in love with the memory of who she was before she changed.”

It made me sad to hear him say that. I wished I had known my mother before she changed.

“Son, please just be careful. I understand what it feels like to be young and in love. I know I can’t tell you how to feel, and I’m reluctant to say you would be better off without Raven, either. I don’t want to give advice I’ll regret. So all I can do is tell you to be cautious. I do want you to be happy.”

I stood up. “Thank you, Dad. And again, I appreciate your discretion.”***Later that night, I showed up at Raven’s bedroom window.

“Are you okay?” I asked as she let me inside.

“Yeah. I’ve just been worried about you,” she said.

“Me? I’m fine. I’ve never been better.”

“What did your dad say? Did he give you hell?”

“No. He scolded me for not being more careful, but he’s not going to say anything to my mother. He wouldn’t do that.”

She breathed out a long sigh of relief. “That was a really close call.”

“You didn’t tell your mother my father caught us, did you?”

“No. That would stress her out. She has her next treatment tomorrow, and I don’t want to upset her.”

“Good. There’s no need to tell her.”

She gripped my shirt. “I wish this wasn’t so hard.”

I couldn’t help but kiss her.

Speaking over her mouth, I said, “It will be easier when I leave. I mean, it will suck in some ways, but in other ways, it will be easier for us.”

Raven pushed back a bit. “If my mom is not doing well for some reason, I won’t be able to leave here to come see you in Connecticut.”

“Of course. I’ll just come here more. We’ll work it out.” I searched her eyes. “You do want to work it out, right?”

“I’m not sure I could walk away from you if I tried.”CHAPTER THIRTEEN* * *RAVENIn the days that followed—Gavin’s final days on Palm Beach—he and I only grew closer. He’d sneak into my bedroom at night, and we’d have sex. Then after, he’d hold me until I dozed off. Sometimes I’d cry myself to sleep because watching my mother feel so sick from her treatments and lose her hair was too much to handle. She’d somehow managed to work at the Masterson estate through it all, with the exception of one or two days when the nausea became unbearable.

One afternoon while my mother was working at the Mastersons, the doorbell rang at our house. I was expecting to see Gavin or Marni when I opened the door. Instead, I got the shock of my life: Gavin’s mother stood before me with a cold look on her face.

“Ruth...how can I help you?” My stomach dropped. “Is everything okay with my mother?”

“Everything is fine with your mother. I didn’t mean to alarm you.”

I expelled a breath.

“May I come in?” she asked before making her way inside.

I swallowed. “Uh...sure. Yes, of course.”

Ruth’s blond hair was pulled back tight into a bun. She looked around with a critical eye. I was certain she hadn’t been inside a house this small for a long time, possibly ever.

“I don’t appreciate being lied to by my own family,” she finally said.

My pulse raced. “What are you talking about?”

“I think you know what I’m talking about.”

My eyes flitted back and forth. I couldn’t be sure if she meant Gavin and me—or worse, if she’d somehow found out about Gunther paying my mother’s medical bills.

“I actually really don’t know what you’re referring to, Mrs. Masterson.”

She reached into her purse and took out a gold chain before throwing it at me. It fell on the ground, and when I picked it up, I began to feel sick. It was my necklace—the nameplate one I’d been wearing the night I spent at Gavin’s house.

I attempted to play dumb. “Where did you get this?”

“The maid who was filling in for your mother found it in my son’s bedroom the other day. Do you mind telling me how it got under his bed?”