Page 37 of It's One of Us

On impulse, she dials Peyton. They established ground rules when he left for school—calls on Sundays only, no surprise visits, all the things she knew he needed to have comfortable boundaries and autonomy. It’s worked well for the first two years he’s been at school. But she wants to hear his voice. She wants to warn him of the storm to come.

He answers on the first ring.

“Mom? Are you okay?”

His voice is so deep, it sometimes surprises her. She’s made a man. He’s still a boy, her little boy, but he’s a man now, too.

“I just wanted to say hi. Sunday felt like a long way off.”

“Well, hi.” He laughs. “I always like hearing from you.”

“Anything exciting happening on campus?”

“Nothing unusual. I have an early midterm, so I’ve mostly been in the library, studying.”

“Aren’t you a good boy?”

“You brought me up well.”

She hears voices in the background, a murmur, and what sounds like crying. “Do you have people over?”

The noise stops. “Sorry. YouTube. An ASMR room to help me focus. I don’t want to rush you off, but I am in the middle of something. Want to tell me what’s really going on?”

She explains as succinctly as she can. “I can’t imagine this isn’t going to be big news locally, maybe even nationally, and I’m sure people will seek you out.”

“Wow. Is Scar okay?”

“She’s justifiably upset.”

“I bet. I’ll text her, see if I can calm her down. But, you know, it doesn’t affect me otherwise. He’s not my donor. The media and police shouldn’t bother me at all.”

“You know how the press is, sweetie. They will hunt down every angle they can. Proximity will be enough.”

“I wouldn’t worry so much about the press. I’d be more concerned about the lawyers.”

“What do you mean?”

“Winterborn will most certainly be sued, I would assume in some sort of class action, and there will be discovery, and every family who’s used their services regardless of whether they belong to Scarlett’s donor or others will be scrutinized.”

Darby sighs. “I suppose you’re right. You planning to go to law school now?”

“I’ve considered it,” he says lightly.

A spike of pride in her heart. This is news. She won’t think about the money, the time, the effort, the challenges, will only be happy for him finding his own path, deciding the course of his life.

“That’s great, honey.” The background noise starts up again, his video coming off pause. “I better let you go.”

“Okay. Keep in touch, though. I can come home this weekend if you want. I have plans, but I can break them. It might be good for Scar to have someone to talk to. You know, someone that she doesn’t blame. Sorry, Mom, that sounded bad. I just assume she’s upset with you? Though you haven’t done anything wrong,” he adds quickly.

“No. You’re right, she is upset. I’ll text you, all right, honey? I love you.”

“Love you, too, Mom.”

There is a squawk as he hangs up, and Darby can swear she hears a woman’s voice calling as the phone dies.

She freezes, listening, as if the connection hasn’t been cut.

Nothing.