Page 51 of Shadows Within

He steps toward the door. “And she doesn’t want to talk.”

He reaches behind him. “So, it’s time you leave. Goodnight Callum.”

He shuts the door in my face.

Ricochet

Scarlett

The sun’s morning rays poke through my curtain, warming my face. I’ve already hit the snooze button twice. I roll over and face the door. In my four years of studies, I have yet to miss a class. If I don’t hurry, today I might.

My phone vibrates on the nightstand and thoughts of last night flood my mind. My cheeks burn—either from the sun, or the embarrassment of my finding my mom, naked at a party. I knew that she hasn’t been honest about her lifestyle, but now I want to discover the true extent of what she does. I sit up, my head leaning against the headboard. My phone buzzes again. I don’t want to look at it.

There’s a faint knock on my door.

“Scarlett, are you awake?” Dad says from the hallway.

I don’t want him to see me like this, but there’s no point in hiding. He is my dad after all.

“Yeah, I’m up.”

“I just wanted you to know that I’m here if you need to talk about last night.” His voice is muffled through the door.

I don’t want to push him away, but I can’t help to think that if he knew the truth, he wouldn’t be so calm about it. I don’t answer him. Instead, I get up off the bed and open the door. He holds a coffee in his hand—a peace offering.

“I know about your mom, Scarlett.” His words startle me. I try to read his face. His eyes have bags under them. I wonder if he knew or if Callum told him—I heard him here last night. He came to talk to me, and Dad wouldn’t let him in.

“You know that she was at the party?” I take a sip of the hot coffee with a bit of cream and sugar, just the way I like it.

“I know everything, honey. Callum told me what happened at the party, and then I found out more from some people I know in town.” His face looks older today, like stress has warn him down. The hair framing his face isn’t pushed back with oil—I can tell he hasn’t been into the shop yet.

“Who did you ask about mom after?”

He hesitates.

“Daryl from the Sheriff’s office. You know that we’ve been friends for a long time. He’s known for a while, but he didn’t know how to tell me. I guess he’s not sure of the full extent and didn’t want to come to me with missing pieces. Can’t blame the guy, I wouldn’t want to tell someone that either.”

I wonder how much he knows. “What did he tell you?”

He looks to the floor, then back at me. “How much do you know?”

“What does it matter what I know, Dad. I’m going to find out either way. Wouldn’t you rather be the one to tell me the truth?” His eyebrows shift, each word firing directly into his soul. His frown tells me that this has broken him too.

“Your Mom works at the Steakhouse, that isn’t a lie. But I guess that over the last few years, she has transitioned into, um, escorting men on dates.”

“As a prostitute?” I ask. Nothing about this feels real.

“I think so. I’m not sure. I don’t know Scarlett, this is just what I’ve been told.” His words are scattered, like he isn’t sure what to believe either.

“I just want to know why. I think it’s more than that, Dad.” My eyes focus on the mug in my hand.

“I don’t think we’ll get the answers we want, honey.” He reaches for my hand and grabs it in his. We lock eyes.

“I know that you don’t want to forgive her for leaving us Scar, but this didn’t take her away from us. She couldn’t be here. She wasn’t with us for a while before all of this. It was time.” The words hit me hard.

“I know you’re just trying to help Dad, but I just need to sit with this for a while before we talk about it anymore.” I face him with a broken smile.

He squeezes my hand, then let’s go.