Page 2 of Call It Love (Sterling Mill #5)

The wind picked up again, and lightning flashed in the distance as I opened the back car door for Jack. He leaped out like he’d been sitting on a spring, eager to stretch his long legs. His nose immediately went to the ground, checking the unfamiliar scents as he wandered behind the car.

“Whatcha doin’ here, girl?” my father demanded.

“Wayne,” my mother scolded, but she might as well have been talking to a wall.

“Can’t a daughter want to visit her parents?” I answered, moving closer.

“Depends,” my father said. “Why are you here? Why didn’t you come earlier? It’s been months since you’ve been widowed. City life ain’t all you thought it would be without some rich sugar daddy payin’ your bills?”

I hadn’t expected an especially warm welcome, but neither had I expected to be blocked from my childhood home like a trespasser.

“Wayne, it’s fixin’ to storm. Let her come in out of the weather. Please?” Her gentle touch on his elbow got his attention, and he softened slightly.

His mouth twisted, but he turned sideways, allowing just enough space for me to pass. The moment I did, my mother immediately wrapped her arms around me, the first genuine affection I’d felt in a long time outside of Mallory.

“Come in and get a cup of tea,” she said predictably. “Then you can tell us what brings you here. Have you been okay? Are you still living in the same house? How long will you be staying? How?—”

“Too much yammerin’,” my father grumbled loudly as he sat in his armchair by the stone fireplace.

“I’m fine, Mama. But I’ve decided Nashville isn’t the place for me anymore.” It was the truth, if not the whole truth. But then, this wasn’t a court of law.

“So, you’ve decided we’re worthy of you after all this time?” My father sipped from a small Mason jar, most likely from a batch of his own moonshine. “After we weren’t good enough for you years ago?”

Maybe I was on trial after all.

“It’s not like that, Daddy.”

“The hell it ain’t,” he barked. “We weren’t good enough for you. You always wanted to hang out at the Allen family’s place. And when that wasn’t good enough for you, you hooked your wagon to some no-good politician, buyin’ into all that crap he promised you. How’d that work out for you, huh?”

His words stung. Even if it hadn’t happened exactly like that, there was still truth to some of it.

My mother sank into her worn rocker, her fingers flexing on the arms of the chair with her head bowed. “Wayne,” she pleaded softly.

“I never meant to hurt you,” I said, the urgency punctuating my words. “I loved growing up here.”

“Not so much that you didn’t think twice about turnin’ your back on it. On everything I built here. ”

“This was never the life I wanted.” The words tore loose from me before I could stop them. “Did you ever once ask me what I wanted?”

His eyes flashed. “The earth is in your blood, girl. You can deny it all you want, but you had a gift for growin’ things.

Instead, you turned your back on everything I taught you for some dandy who had everything handed down to him.

Never worked an honest day in his life. He never loved you. You were just a plaything for him.”

I couldn’t stop the tears that dripped down my face. How did he know? He didn’t give Mason the time of day when I brought him around. And somehow, he had pegged Mason for exactly what he was.

But why was he holding it against me?

Daddy had always been suspicious of everyone after he moved here. He preferred to avoid the world unless he had to, such as going into town for supplies. He’d always been strict, but never cruel. Had the isolation extinguished his sense of humanity?

His scowl deepened. “Not a visit once from you when you came to town, struttin’ around in your fancy clothes and car with your slimy husband. Like we were the dirt beneath your shoes.”

“That’s not true, Daddy! Mason wouldn’t let?—”

“You made your bed, girl. Now you get to lie in it. You’re no longer welcome here.”

Mama and I both gasped at the same time. Even Jack, who lingered near the door as if he couldn’t wait to leave, lifted his head with a whine.

“Wayne, no!” Mama cried.

But Daddy shook his head. “I won’t stop your mama from seein’ ya, but you don’t have a home here no more.”

“Wayne! She’s my daughter, too!” Mama stood up, but Daddy cast his angry eyes on her, and she practically shriveled beneath his arctic gaze, like a delicate flower that didn’t stand a chance against a cold snap.

I swallowed hard. “It’s okay, Mama,” I tried to soothe her, although my voice wavered. “I’ll be in town for a while.”

I glanced at my father. “I hope you change your mind sometime. Even if I’m not welcome to stay here right now, I hope you’ll come to understand in time that I love you and always have.

I’m sorry that choosing my path hurt you.

I really am. But you taught me long ago how to be independent and how to survive in a crazy world.

I’m sorry you think I used that against you. ”

I picked up my bag and smiled tremulously at my mother. “I hope I’ll see you soon, Mama.”

Her eyes glistened, but she didn’t make any move toward me as I walked away.

Outside, rain had started to fall. Frequent flashes of lightning lit my way to my car. Jack whined and clung to my side until I opened the door for him.

As much as I wanted to break down and cry, I wouldn’t give my father the satisfaction, so I started the car and made my way toward the main road.

The meltdown I felt coming would have to wait until I found a place to stay and could figure out a new plan.

I’d known my father wouldn’t make it easy, but I hadn’t expected him to reject me.

The weather already appeared to intensify, and the back roads were going to get dicier with muddy puddles and washed-out gravel patches.

A quick decision had me turning the opposite way I’d come in.

It would take me past Silver Creek Farm, a place I knew would make my heart crack even further, but it was the fastest way to town.

If I was lucky, maybe there would be a place at The Dogtrot, the local bed-and-breakfast. But what would I do with Jack, unless they had a kennel to house him?

Maybe I’d just find a quiet place down by the lake and sleep in the car until morning.

Jack barked at a loud crack of thunder, causing my heart to practically beat out of my chest.

“Jack! It’s okay, boy. Lay down.” I tried to soothe him, but my nerves were just as on edge as his.

I slowly made my way through the driving rain, doing my best to concentrate on the road so I didn’t drive off the gravel into the culverts that ran along both sides. Funny, I didn’t remember it being this dark when I lived here. I must have gotten used to the bright lights of the city.

“Just a few more miles,” I reminded myself. “Then you’ll find a nice, warm place, even if we have to go back down the mountain.”

All at once, the high beams of my headlights picked up a brown blur just yards in front of my car.

A doe, her surprise and fear matched by my own, froze in the middle of the road.

Instinctively, I yanked hard on the steering wheel, and for a second, I thought I had avoided an accident.

But then my car lurched, and I felt my tires lose traction.

The world felt like it was tilting, and then it came to a hard stop.