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I just hope he has the patience to wait for me to figure out how.
Because I don’t want to be his burden. I want to be a person he can lean on, a person he can tell about his restaurant… and not this selfish thing I am right now.
Not like my mother.
I need to do better than her.
My phone lights up.
Speak of the Devil.
“Mom?”
“Naomi, darling.” Her voice carries that sickly sweet tone that makes my skin crawl. “You need to come home right now.”
I squint at my phone’s clock. “It’s almost midnight.” After working nonstop all day, the last thing I need is my mother’s presence.
“I’m well aware of the time.”
“Can’t it wait till morning? I’m?—”
“It cannot.” The sweetness is completely gone. “You will come home. Now.”
“I’m not a kid. You can’t order me around like that.”
“This isn’t about your age, Naomi.” She pauses, and I hear her take a measured breath. “Please.”
I blink, my grip tightening on the phone. Please? That’s new. The word sounds foreign coming from her mouth. Lydia Smithdoesn’t say please. She demands, she manipulates, she guilt-trips. But she doesn’t ask nicely.
Never.
“Naomi.” Her voice cracks slightly. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
“What’s wrong? Did something happen to Dad? Mykel?” Anne? No, if it would be Anne, my mother would probably celebrate.
“Nothing happened to your father or brother. They’re both on a business trip.” Mom’s voice steadies, but something’s off. Like she’s forcing herself to sound normal. “Just come home. Now.”
“Mom, it’s late. I have work tomorrow.”
“This is more important than work.”
I rub my temples. The salad sits half-eaten on my counter, a reminder of Brandon and everything else I’m trying to process. “Can you at least tell me what this is about?”
“Not over the phone.” She lowers her voice. “Please, Naomi.”
That ‘please’ again. It sends a chill down my spine. I’ve never heard her like this, uncertain, almost afraid.
My mind flashes to that phone call I overheard about bodyguards. To the garage years ago.
“I’ll be there in twenty.”
“Make it fifteen.”
The call ends.
Part of me wants to text Brandon, tell him where I’m going. But what would I say? ‘Hey, my mom’s acting weird and I’m scared’?
No. This is family business.