“Oh shit.” I panic. “My mom’s up there having sex with your dad right now, and Stella’s gonna come home and find them. This is bad. We have to stop them!”
He cocks his head. “I don’t think—”
“I can’t go. My mom can’t know I’m here. But you have to. You have to go stop them before she gets here.”
He looks at me like I’m crazy. “You want me to go bust up our parents having sex?”
I grab his hand and drag him to his feet. “Just—I don’t know, knock on the door until they answer and warn them.” I push him in the direction of the open door.
“What are you gonna do?” he asks.
“I’m gonna go get in her car so that when she takes off, I don’t get left. Please,” I beg, shoving him over the threshold. “Go.”
“Okay, crazy.” He laughs.
“Whatever you do, don’t tell anyone you saw me!” I whisper.
He flashes the thumbs-up and jogs off in the direction Cole and my mom went. I dash through the dark yard to my mom’s car, where I once again crawl under the blanket in the back, proud I’ve saved my mom from the wrath of the famously jealous Stella Rivers.
I haven’t been in the back of the car for long when I hear the gate open and headlights sweep the driveway. I peer out the window to see Stella step out of a white Range Rover and rush into the house. Shit. This is bad. My mom is still in there. But what can I do? I wait on pins and needles, praying that Jackson at least had time to tell them she was coming so they didn’t get caught in the act. Surely he had time.
Unless he chickened out.
Finally the front door opens back up and light spills down the wide steps. But it’s not Iris. It’s Cole, and he’s—no. It’s Cole and Stella, and they’re carrying my mother.
My heart stops. He’s holding her under the arms, and Stella has her feet. She’s not moving. Oh God, what’s happened? Is she sick? Is she hurt? Did Stella do something to her when she caught them?
Stella and Cole are arguing as they carry her down the walkway, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. She’s hysterical, sobbing and yelling, dropping my mother’s feet, and he’s frowning, trying to get her to shut up. Suddenly the car door opens. I duck as they place Iris in the back seat, arguing about which hospital to take her to. She’s a foot away from me, on the other side of the seat. “Mom?” I whisper. No answer. My breath is shallow. What do I do? Should I show myself? But what if they won’t let me go with her to the hospital? I need to go with her to the hospital.
Cole slams the door, and for a brief moment I’m alone in the car with my mom. I listen for her breath, but the car is eerily quiet. “Mom?” No answer. “I’m here. I love you.”
I peek over the seat and gasp. Her skin is ashen, her eyes open and unblinking. Rivulets of blood run from her bruised and swollen nose; the back of her hair is matted and red. My heart crashes. “Mom!” She doesn’t move. I reach over the seat and touch her face. It’s warm, thank God. But maybe it’s not as warm as it should be.
What did Stella do to her? I grab her wrist, trying to feel for a pulse. Her hand is limp, and there’s a new hole in her arm, but I can’t find a pulse.
A spear of ice in my heart. I can’t breathe; I’m numb, outside my body, watching as Cole opens the driver’s door, and I duck under the blanket. He backs out of the driveway fast and hits the gas as soon as we’re on the road.
I reach my hand around the side of the seat and find the top of my mom’s cooling head, stifling a scream. I silently sob as I stroke her sticky hair, knowing she’s gone by the gaping hole in my heart.
Part III:Turbulence
Taylor
Saturday, June 22
The last place I wanted to be on my day off was aboard a boat with my narcissistic boss, his delusional ex-wife, and the guy I had a crush on who had a girlfriend, but it was unavoidable. Things could have been worse, I supposed: the boat could have been smaller than the fifty-foot sportfishing yacht from which we were currently admiring the sunset. Well, they were admiring. I was hiding in the kitchen.
I’d tried to convince Francisco to come, but he’d begged off. He wasn’t exactly Cole’s biggest fan, and his darling Ben was spending the afternoon at the pool, so that was where he planned to be. “You do love a challenge,” I’d teased him.
“Nearly as much as you love an unavailable man,” he’d returned.
I snorted with laughter at that. Learning the truth about Rick had confirmed it: I only fell for unavailable men. “Oh, I don’t love them; I just make love to them,” I quipped, though it wasn’t true. “Big difference.”
“Touché.”
I tilted up the remainder of my Kalik Gold, tossed it in the trash, and grabbed another from the refrigerator. Hiding in the kitchen had its advantages.
“You like Kalik?” I turned to see my personal-hero-turned-villain Rick, sporting a wide grin. I was dying to ask him about JeanieBabie24, but obviously I couldn’t let him know I’d been stalking him online—which also meant I had to act normal around him. He clearly wasn’t bothered by juggling women; he looked more relaxed than I’d felt in my entire life. I hated that I was so pleased he’d come down to say hello, if that was in fact what he was doing. I would not be the other woman ever again.
I nodded, struggling with the cap. “May I?” He held his hand out, and I placed the beer in it. In one swift motion, he knocked
