Sweet Obsession

“Is that true, Maggie? Did you blackmail the Smithers by using their daughter’s abuse against them?”

“I did it for us, for the family. We couldn’t afford to have our names associated with that. If they hadn’t cut ties with her, it would’ve come out somehow, and the business would’ve been affected by it.”

Dad laughed a disparaging laugh and shook his head as he looked at me. “Your mother promised me that she had nothing to do with that girl being ostracized.”

“I’m sorry, dad.” I started to leave, but mom came towards me.

“Look what you’ve done. All for that whelp of a….”

“She’s an Amery. She’s as much of an Amery as you are since you only married into the family as well. I am the Amery heir, our children, her children will be my heirs after me. So you see, we’ve come full circle. You destroyed her mother’s life, and now I’m going to spend the rest of mine using the Amery name and money to make it up to her if she’d let me.”

“Wait up, son.” Dad walked into the closet with mom following behind him. All I heard was her questioning where he was going for the next five minutes before he returned with an overnight case in hand. “Let’s go, boy. My show starts in half an hour.”

He didn't look back at her as we left; neither of us did. While she wailed and had one of her tantrums. I knew my dad was just burning off steam that he’d be back because he loves her. But I was serious back there; I’m done. “Where to dad?”

“First, take me to meet your wife. We’ll take it from there.”

MADELINE

I didn’t know what to think when Garrick came back to the house with his dad. Did he bring him to kick me out because he was afraid to himself? The strange tall man with my husband’s face only with a full head of salt and pepper hair looked at me with an expression I could not decipher. “Hello, young lady. No need to look so scared. I’m not going to harm you; I’m just here to meet the mother of my future grandchildren.”

He opened his arms to me, and I looked at Garrick, who winked at me. I don’t know why but I all but flew into the man’s arms, and when those arms came around me, I burst into tears. “It’s alright; it’s alright now.” He turned me into Garrick’s arms, and I bawled like a baby.

It was a huge adrenaline crash. After spending the last two hours worrying about what was going on between Garrick and his mother, I’d begun to feel sick to my stomach when so much time had gone by, and there was no word from him. I was sure his mother had finally convinced him to get rid of me, and I was so paralyzed by the thought that I wasn’t able to do anything but sit where he’d left me after locking up like he’d asked.

Maybe it’s the expectation of the worst only to be given a gift that had me acting like a ninny; I don’t know, but I knew it felt good to be in his arms once again. His dad didn’t interrupt us as Garrick soothed me, and then I felt embarrassed to have lost it like that in front of both of them. This was the second or third time Garrick had seen me cry in less than a month, and I felt dreadful.

I know how much he hates tears. Once, when I was about sixteen, I’d fallen and twisted my ankle really bad. Garrick had clenched his fists really hard, and there was a look on his face I’d never seen before. He’d been short and yelled at everyone, and the next day, the neighbor’s son who was teaching me to skateboard was sent away.

From that day on, I never let him see me cry, and now here I am, another blubbering mess. We sat down to the dinner of stuffed salmon and wild rice, which was glad I’d made enough since his father was here. “You made this?” I was still too embarrassed to look him in the eye, so I just kept my head down and answered.

“Yes, sir!”

“You can call me dad like he does.” He inclined his wine glass towards Garrick and then carried on with his conversation as if he hadn’t just shocked me, and I’m sure his son as well. But looking at Garrick, he didn’t seem at all unnerved by this turn of events.

And then the questions started, things I didn’t mind answering but was so long in the past that I no longer thought it mattered. Things like how things were with mom before she died. Where did we live, how did we live, things like that. I was too afraid to ask him why all the questions; I just let him ask, and I answered.