Page 86 of The Fractured

There was a light but abrupt slew of knocks on the doorframe, and Lily suddenly pulled back. Clasping her hands in front of herself, she put on a pleasant, unbothered mask.

I looked over my shoulder to find Kate standing in the doorway.

Her lips were pursed, as if the words she wanted to say tasted sour. “I came to ask if Dean is staying for dinner…”

Lily and I looked at each other briefly. Her gaze reiterated the plea from seconds ago.

When I gave her a small nod, she let out the faintest of sighs and relaxed her shoulders.

“He is,” Lily said to her mother. “If that’s okay with you?”

Kate painted on another of her fake smiles. I swear I saw her eye twitch too, as the polite response left her mouth. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

The tension in the room was minimal, but there. We ate in near silence save for the sound of knives and forks scraping on plates, or the softthunkof a wine glass being set on the table.

Mark was at one end of the table, and Kate the other, while Jane sat opposite Lily and me, my seat being between Lily and her dad’s.

After another sip of her wine, Kate set the glass down and turned her attention to Lily. She reached across to her daughter’s hair, briefly playing with the ends as she scrutinized the golden-brown waves. “You’re growing out your hair?”

I chewed my sirloin steak a little slower and cast my gaze side-on to her end of the table, and then to Lily beside me too, to gauge how she felt about the question.

Lily smiled politely at her mother. “I don’t think I want to cut it yet…”

“Oh dear… We should organise a day at the salon to get our hair styled together. Sometime after the open house this Wednesday. Just us girls,” Kate beamed.

“What a good idea,” Mark threw in.

“Please, god, no,” Jane muttered.

Lily brushed her hair behind her ears. “I kind of like it longer—”

“Shorter hair is much tidier,” Kate said matter-of-factly, lifting her glass and swirling the white wine within it. “And easier to keep. It also looks more professional. Especially since you are one of the first faces our clients see when they come to the office. I think you should get at least a trim—”

“No!” Lily blurted.

Everyone stopped eating.

Beneath the table, I placed my hand on her thigh to comfort her, despite the fact my jaw ticked with irritation.

Lily took a breath, lowering her tone. “I want to grow it out. It’s my hair.”

“Well.” Kate bristled. “I was only making a suggestion. There was no need to snap…”

“Was it a suggestion, though?” My question flipped everyone’s attention to me.

Except for Kate’s as she sipped her wine.

“I asked you a question, Kate,” I said, keeping the tone in my voice as civil as possible. I doubted my expression matched it.

Lily stayed silent. There was no indication she wanted me to stop — one look from her and I would.

“That’s enough,” Mark warned.

Kate fiddled with the napkin in her lap, but she still couldn’t look at me. “That was a discussion between my daughter and I.”

“Seemed more like an ambush.”

“The conversation is over.” Her eyes were full of loathing when she brought them to me. “If you plan to stay the night, you will respect that.”