Page 9
brYNN ROSE
“Turn it off. That podcast is poison." I snap at our receptionist when I hear the sound of my mother’s robot-altered voice come through the speakers at Mane Event Salon.
Normally work is a safe place for me to decompress, but even the hustle and bustle of this place isn’t helping today. After my fight with Geoffrey this morning, nothing feels right.
I’ve listened to the podcast episode that shattered my world so many times today. I can’t take it for another minute. The thing I can’t figure out is how she knew. I haven’t breathed a word of it and I never would. Especially not to her. It wasn't my secret to tell.
“Girl, you okay? You’ve been sitting there going on two hours. I gotta go get the kids from MeMaw. But I can see if my baby’s daddy can grab him.” Our receptionist stands with car keys in hand.
“You head on out. I’m doing just fine. Thinking is all.” I try to force a smile.
“Okay you let me know if you change your mind. I’m gonna put everything up for now, but I can come back around if you need something.”
“Thanks, I’m good. Enjoy your night.”
It’s early evening and my client cancelled. Normally I’d head home or get a few things done around the salon. Instead, I've been sitting in my salon chair for the past two hours staring at myself in the mirror.
In my reflection, I see nothing but the devastation in Geoffrey's eyes. The look on his face when he held up that phone is carved into my memory like a scar that'll never heal. Geoffrey is everything I thought he’d be and more. He’s charming and confident. He has a way of making everything fun.
Most of all, he sees me as the best version of myself. Or at least he did. I wonder if all of that is gone now? The trust he put in me shattered. He crumbled in real time. His voice broke. His heart broke.
I’m desperate to fix things with Geoffrey. I need to make this right. All of it.
But then I hear that deep inner voice that has never left me. It’s become my mantra. If I don't protect her secrets, she'll cut me off. She’s all I’ve got. The thought has been my constant companion for years now. It’s only heightened since I first discovered Mom's little side project.
The anonymous podcast has given her the spotlight she craves. But it’s built on the bones of other people's private lives. I've been carrying that secret like a stone in my chest.
I’ve watched her tear apart my neighbors, my friends, and my community.
I’ve chosen to stay silent because that's what good daughters do. I’ve always known that if the truth comes out, it'll ruin her. And somehow, that will be my fault. She’s never said it directly.
But that's how it works with Brandi Rose.
When things go wrong, she's the victim. That leaves me to be the selfish daughter who didn't protect her.
When her dreams crumble, it's because I didn't try hard enough to help her achieve them.
When her reputation suffers, it's because I wasn't careful enough with her image.
If anyone ever connected her to the Boots and Bitching Podcast, the fallout would destroy her.
Somehow, she'd make sure it destroyed me too.
I don’t want to destroy Mom. She’s not perfect, but she did try.
Being my mom simply isn’t enough for a woman with dreams far too big for this small town.
She’s built something that can be enough.
As flawed as the podcast might be, it belongs to her.
That’s why I’m sad that I’m going to have to destroy it.
Ding.
The silver bell above the salon door chimes and I look up to see my mother. Speak of the devil. She glides in like she owns the place. Considering the fact that she helped me get the loan for it, it isn't entirely inaccurate.
"Darling, there you are." She settles into the styling chair next to mine with her usual dramatic flair, practically glowing with satisfaction. "I was hoping to catch you."
"Hi, Mom." My voice comes out flat. I’m already drained of the energy it usually takes to manage her moods.
"I wanted to thank you for the content from last night," she says, examining her nails with studied casualness. "Leaving the phone line open was genius. That family secret was absolutely delicious. My best episode yet."
The forgotten phone. I never thought about it again because by the time I woke up Geoffrey had retrieved it and put it in my folded pile of clothing.
“You stayed on the line.” My stomach drops even though I knew this was coming. "Mom, this is a nightmare. You stayed on the line and listened in. Why would you do that? It was none of your business and I didn’t know you were still on the line. I wouldn’t have done that. Ever.”
She meets my eyes in the mirror, her smile sharp with triumph. "The Kingridge family's little sister-secret is out there for everyone to enjoy. You should hear the engagement numbers. People are eating it up. I may run a Meta Ad to it. It’s time for the podcast to expand on a national level."
The salon starts spinning around me. Hearing her gloat about using information that came from my night with Geoffrey makes me physically ill.
“You heard the entire, private conversation between brothers and then you broadcast it.” My throat threatens to close.
"Every delicious second." Her smile widens. "From your little romantic interlude to those brothers spilling family secrets like they were discussing the weather. It was better than Christmas morning."
She continues, but all I can hear is the casual cruelty in her voice. The way she's savoring the destruction she's caused. Finally breaks something inside me. For years, I've told myself she was just lost, just hurt, just trying to find her place in the world.
But listening to her gloat about ruining Geoffrey's trust in me is too far. She’s exploiting the most intimate moment of my life for content. I finally see her clearly. She's not a wounded dreamer. She's a predator who feeds on other people's pain.
"Geoffrey thinks I betrayed him," I say, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Well, you did provide the information, darling.
Just not intentionally." She waves a dismissive hand. "Besides, men get over these things. Give him a few weeks to cool off. Or consider the fact that I did you a favor. I know you’ve been pining over him since high school. That’s fine.
Sugar, you could do so much better than Geoffrey Kingridge. Always could."
I stand so abruptly that my chair spins. "Mom, I have never met another man who can hold a candle to him. He treats me better than anyone I’ve ever met. I love him whether you like it or not. And now he'll never trust me again. You've destroyed everything I care about."
She rolls her eyes. “Consider it a blessing and let's find you someone outside of Sagebrush Creek. Come on, I’ll take you to dinner and get you a contact.”
The casual dismissal of my pain and of Geoffrey's pain. The ignoring of everything I've sacrificed to protect her secret is the final straw. For the first time in my life, I'm done being the good daughter who enables her mother's destruction.
"No," I say quietly.
She pauses, mid-examination of her cuticles. "Excuse me?"
"I said no." My voice gets stronger with each word. "This ends now."
"Brynn Rose, you're being dramatic?—"
"You're going to stop the podcast." I take a step toward her, surprising us both with my resolve. "You're going to find a way to fix this, or I'm going to tell the entire town exactly who's been spreading their secrets."
Her face goes pale, then flushes red with fury. "You wouldn't dare. After everything I've done for you, everything I've sacrificed?—"
"Sacrificed?" The laugh that escapes me is bitter. "The only thing you've sacrificed is other people's privacy for your own entertainment."
"I made you who you are, Brynn Rose. This salon, your reputation, your entire life. I built that for you."
"You helped, yes. But you didn't build my life so you could use it as cover for destroying other people's." I pull out my phone, my hands steady now. "I’m cancelling the yoga event at the farm. You have until tomorrow to figure out how to end this, or I will."
We stare at each other for a long moment, and I see the exact second she realizes I'm not the compliant daughter she's always counted on. Not anymore.
"You'll regret this," she says finally, gathering her purse with sharp, angry movements.
"Maybe. But I'll regret losing Geoffrey more."
After she leaves, I sink back into my chair and scroll to Geoffrey's number. My heart is pounding, but for the first time in years, I know exactly what I need to do.