The Staying Kind (21 page)

“How are you now? What are you doing with your life?” She didn’t tell him she heard about his second arrest. If he wanted to tell her, then he could. She didn’t want to make things any more awkward than they already were. Instead she let him have his silence, telling him a bit of what she’d been doing. She didn’t tell him where she lived. Some things were best left a secret.

The waitress returned with their order but Rio’s appetite had completely disappeared. This was not the way she’d always envisioned her reunion with her younger brother, the only person in the world she’d ever allowed to get close, up until she met Sadie, Jessa, and Travis.

They sat together at the same table, yet they might as well have been states apart. Storm held the mug of coffee up to his mouth, his shoulders hunched, and he appeared to stare vacantly out the window.

“Storm,” she said softly, trying to catch his attention. “Talk to me.”

Slowly, his gaze traveled to hers, confusion apparent in his dark eyes. “She told me you were dead. When I was twelve. Said you ran away and she heard from some cops in like Ohio or something that you’d been killed.”

“No! Oh God, Storm, I don’t know why the hell she lied to you. I did run away. I haven’t talked to her at all, not once in all these years. Why would she lie?”

“Maybe they thought . . . some other girl . . . Shit, who the hell can say? What difference does it make?”

“It makes all the difference in the world. If she lied to you it wouldn’t be a big surprise. She was always cruel. Full of pure nastiness. That’s all we ever got from her.”

He slammed his mug on the table. “No. Not now. She was all I ever had. It’s not perfect, Rio, but it’s all I have.”

Hot tears rushed from her eyes, blurring her vision until she swept them away with the back of her hand. “That’s not true. You could leave her. Just walk away. I did it when I was a kid and you can do it too.”

“Well, hasn’t our Rio grown up.”

Rio had been so caught up in the conversation, in pleading for her brother to leave, that she hadn’t noticed the woman who’d been sitting not three tables away, until she rose and wandered over to stand behind Storm, her hand on his shoulder.

Chapter 20

Katrina Presley hadn’t aged well. Not that Rio expected her mother to appear anything like she had when Rio was young. Of course, even then Katrina had looked worn. Once her hair had been nearly as dark as Rio’s. Now it was a faded bleach blond with graying roots. No taller than Rio, her gaunt frame made her seem tinier under the old, fleece-lined denim jacket she wore.

What Rio remembered the most was the rough voice, compliments of many years of heavy cigarette smoking and who knew what else.

Katrina’s physical appearance wasn’t what shocked Rio the most and stunned her into silence. She hadn’t expected to see her mother, the last person Rio
wanted near her. A bitterly sick feeling gathered in the pit of her stomach and roiled there like an evil storm cloud.

Her gaze flicked from her mother’s face to her brother’s and clung there. She didn’t want to look at the woman who had given birth to her. She had spent more years than she could count running away from the living hell of her childhood. And now the perpetuator of that hell stood there, staring at Rio with those mocking eyes.

“What is she doing here?” Rio asked her brother. He didn’t reply. He kept his dark stare pinned on his cup of coffee. “I asked you not to tell her.”

“Well, sweetie, you don’t know where his loyalties are.”

Rio shot her mother a glare, then returned her attention to Storm. “I wanted to see you and only you, Storm. She has no place in my life. She
did
this to us. If it wasn’t for her, you wouldn’t been dragged off to juvie. I wouldn’t have run away.”

Katrina chuckled and pulled out a chair next to Storm. Rio forced herself to stare at her brother, but she could see her mother’s movements from the corner of her eye.

“I’m all he’s got. You sure weren’t there for him. You think you can waltz back into his life and make things better for him?” The snide derision was heavy in Katrina’s rough voice.

“You told him I was dead.”

“How the hell would I know? I didn’t have a clue where you’d gone. For all I could figure, you were dead. Didn’t seem like it would be a real bad thing to tell him, especially when he kept asking why you didn’t come see him.” Katrina propped her hands on the table and glared at Rio, her thin lips twisted into a sneer. “Don’t pass judgment on me, Rio. At least I stuck with him. And in the meantime you been making a nice life for yourself. Look at those richy rich clothes you’re wearing, and those earrings. I bet they’re solid gold, right?”

“I was on the road for years, making my way.” Rio directed her attention fully on her mother. “I never had it easy or nice. Finally, I did find a place for myself and I’m not going to let you spoil it.”

A movement by the door caught her eye. Travis entered the diner, frowning, his shoulders tense. He stared hard at her and she knew he waited for her to let him intervene. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that. She didn’t want to bring him into this, but having him there relieved her, gave her strength to face her mother.

“Baby, I ain’t here to spoil anything.” Suddenly her mother’s voice turned cool and calm, maybe in an attempt to be soothing. Or kind.

Nothing more than a ruse
. Rio couldn’t believe her mother thought she’d be drawn in by the way she tilted her head to one side, and the smile that slid across her thin face. The smile of a sympathetic, loving mother.

On Katrina Presley’s face it was a pathetic joke. “I was as eager as Storm here to see you. See how you grown up. I’m still your mom.”

Rio shuddered. She hated to acknowledge this person as her mother. “God, just stop.” With enough force to nearly knock the chair over, Rio pushed away from the table and stood. Her stomach churned at the thought of eating. She fished her wallet out of her purse and pulled out a ten and a five to cover her uneaten lunch, Storm’s coffee and a tip.

“I’m sorry this didn’t turn out the way I hoped, Storm,” she said to her brother who’d refused to look at her since their mother’s intrusion. “You can escape her. Start out fresh, on your own. She’s sucking it out of you, and no one deserves that. She stole our childhood from us. Don’t let her steal your adulthood too.”

Katrina laughed. The sound made Rio think of a hoarse crow. “And I thought I was a drama queen.” She reached for Rio’s arm and gripped it tight. “Don’t go away, Rio. I think we need to really catch up. Tell me how you survived all those years on the road and still look like someone who stepped out of a fashion magazine.”

Rio wouldn’t have believed her mother could possess such strength. Those cold fingers bit and held so fiercely, Rio couldn’t pull away. “Let me go,” she ground out, casting a glance at Travis. She didn’t necessarily want him to intervene, but Katrina was about to make a scene and Rio needed to escape before it came to that.

Not waiting for further invitation, Travis strode across the restaurant. He filled the space behind her, his chest against her back so there was no question they were together.

“I would recommend you let her go.” He didn’t speak loud enough for anyone else to hear. When Rio glanced at him she could see the warning in his narrowed gaze.

Storm stood quickly and took a step backward, finally meeting Rio’s eyes briefly. “Come on, Mom. Let her go.”

Katrina didn’t pay any mind to Storm’s urging. Her attention was fully pinned on Travis, and Rio had the strong urge to slap her. Blatant desire burned in the depths of Katrina’s stare, and in the way her mouth curled into a smile. It was both sad and sickening.

“And what are you to her? This your man, Rio? I’d say you’ve done well for yourself. He’s quite the stud.” Slowly, Katrina released her hold on Rio’s arm and placed her hands on her hips, not taking her attention off Travis. She examined him like he was a luscious treat. The inspection was nearly gruesome.

Rio had to escape it. She swung around and grabbed Travis by his arm. “Let’s leave,” she muttered and pulled him with her as she hurried across the restaurant to the door.

Once free of the building she sucked in a lungful of fresh winter air, and then another. The need to cleanse herself of her mother’s presence surged to panic level.

It had been years since such overwhelming dread threatened to drown her, as it had after her brother had shot Pete.

Travis wrapped his arm around her, held her close to his side, and rushed her toward the parking lot where he’d left his truck.

“It’s okay. It’s over,” he said softly, dipping his head toward hers. He kissed her hair and repeated the words.

Her heart pounding, Rio resisted the urge to turn around, to make sure her mother wasn’t following them. Finally, when they were safely in the truck and heading away from the diner, she glanced back. Her mother was nowhere in sight. Still, it felt as if her stare had stuck, fast and hard.

Rubbing her sore arm, she wondered if she’d see marks on her skin. Her mother used to have a habit of grabbing her kids on the arm and digging in so there would be nail crescents bitten into the skin. Nothing that would leave more than a bruise, and it would always fade within the hour. The hurt would linger.

“I won’t let her make me feel like I’m ten again.” Rio muttered the words under her breath, not meaning to share them with Travis.

As soon as they were on the road, he reached for her hand. “She can’t hurt you. We’ll be out of town in a few minutes and you’ll never have to see her again.”

Hot tears burned and she shoved them away angrily with her free hand. “Damn her anyway. And damn me. I’m such an idiot, Travis. I should’ve known better. God, I feel so dirty.”

“You have nothing to feel dirty about, Rio. She’s not a part of your life anymore.”

“She’s my mother, whether I like it or not.”

“She isn’t a part of
you
anymore. She’s nothing. Her being your mother is biological. Nothing more.”

Until they passed into Vermont, Travis held tight to Rio’s hand and worked on convincing her that Katrina Presley couldn’t hurt her, wouldn’t come back into her life again.

By the time they crossed the New Hampshire border, she almost believed him.

“It was horrendous.” Travis took a drink of the coffee Sadie set in front of him. “This little bit of a woman had her helpless. Not that Rio is much bigger, but this woman had her pinned. Emotionally pinned.”

Sadie made a snorting sound as she pulled out the chair across from Travis. She shoved a plate of freshly baked cookies toward him. “Our girl is stronger than she gives herself credit for. A momma has a particular hold over her children. My momma sure did. She wasn’t a bad person like this Katrina Presley, but she knew how to cast a spell to make sure I minded my manners. Even when I was grown up and she was old and frail. Always had me saying
yes ma’am
and
no ma’am
right up to the day she died.”

Travis grinned at the memory of Esther Kerr. He’d only been about fifteen when she had passed, but she was a force as potent as Sadie herself. She refused to put up with any nonsense from anyone, least of all a little boy searching for a snack or the perfect hide and seek spot in the Cobble Creek house.

“If only Rio had been as lucky to have Esther for a mother.”

“Then she’d be an old battlehorse like me, not who she is. Get that notion out of your head. You love her exactly the way she is, as it should be.”

Travis nearly choked on the cookie he’d bitten into. “What?”

Sadie chuckled and took the seat she’d pulled out. “Are you really that surprised? Even if I didn’t have a nose for these things, my eyes work perfectly. I could see it from a mile away. You and Rio aren’t exactly subtle with those long looks.”

“God,” Travis muttered against the rim of his mug.

“Even your daughter has seen it.”

Travis repeated his sentiment with a more strength.

“Oh, don’t work yourself up. She approves. Even told Rio during the ice storm.”

“She did? Rio didn’t say a thing.”

“Rio is as nervous as they come. Commitment still scares the hell out of her.”

Travis nodded slowly. Somehow he’d prove to her there were commitments worth taking a risk for.

“So, what will you do about it?”

With a sigh, Travis slumped against his seat and rubbed his eyes. Ever since they’d seen her mother, Rio had pulled away even further. She’d been so convinced her mother—somehow—would ruin their lives, no matter how much Travis said it couldn’t happen.

He wondered if there could be more to it. After all, how would Katrina be able to weasel herself into Rio’s life? As far as Travis knew, Katrina and Storm had no idea where Rio was living. He couldn’t imagine she’d hand out her address and phone number to them.

“I have no idea,” he replied wearily. “Laura’s mother is trying to take Jessa away and part of her reasoning is because of Rio, and Rio knows this.”

“That woman is a viper. No wonder Laura is such a coldhearted bitch, excuse my French. She has no business being a mother. Either of them.”

“Yeah, well, try convincing a judge if this makes it that far.”

“And Rio shouldn’t be an issue.”

“She has a mysterious past. She was a drifter. I can see why Daphne latched onto Rio as the main reason why Jessa shouldn’t be with me.”

Sadie was silent for a moment, a frown creasing her forehead. Then she gave Travis’s hand a pat. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll get our happily ever after.”

Rio let herself believe, for one day, that things could be normal in her life.

After the fiasco with Storm, she threw herself into her work, avoiding Travis whenever he came around. She even kept her distance from Jessa, and only allowed herself to talk to Sadie. And only because she couldn’t avoid it.

Resurfacing fears held Rio’s heart in an ice-cold grip. Now she’d seen her mother, she was certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, somehow the woman would find her way into her life in a manner resembling a hurricane, devastating and complete, destroying everything Rio held dear.

At night, as she lay alone in her bed, staring at the ceiling, searching for sleep, Rio thought about leaving. Heading south for good. The further away from her mother the better, and knowing the woman lived in Springfield was reason enough to run as far away as possible.

Thanks to Sadie and Travis, she had a nice little nest egg growing in the bank. She could take her driver’s license test any time, so she wouldn’t have to count on public transportation if she could find a cheap car.

Now that she’d gotten a taste of horses and knew she had some talent, she could probably find a stable down in Florida to hire her. Sadie might even give her a recommendation.

No, Rio couldn’t ask that of the woman who had become so important to her. In fact, she probably would slink into the night like the coward she was.

She’d walk away from Travis and Sadie and Jessa, all because her damned mother was bound to ruin everything for her yet again.

And again, for the millionth time, Rio cursed the need to see Storm that brought her this hell. She should have known something bad would come out of it. Should have left it alone the moment she discovered Storm remained in their mother’s clutches.

Yet Rio stayed on, postponing any decisions for another day. Other things were happening at Cobble Creek to draw her mind off her own drama. Jessa had decided she would like to visit her mother for Christmas after all. Disbelief radiated from Travis when she told him.

Even without touching him, Rio could feel the tension in his body as he paced Sadie’s kitchen.

“I shouldn’t let her go. This is ridiculous. Holidays away from home weren’t a part of the bargain,” he seethed.

“What made her change her mind?” Sadie asked.

Travis shrugged helplessly. “I’m not sure. She was against it. Now she says she wants to see where Laura is living. She said maybe she can find out why her mother abandoned us.”