Part 6 (1/2)

An uncomfortable silence fell over us. The past day had been filled with things to do, helping us to break the awkwardness, but now, all we had was conversation.

”How do you like New York?” She sipped her wine.

”I like it.” I shrugged, then reached for more to say. ”I spend most of my time on campus. Im really enjoying my cla.s.ses.” It was the truth. After I earned my GED, I was able to enroll at a community college and transfer to the university. I think Gage pulled some strings to get me accepted, but he denies it.

”And what about Gage?” She jumped right into her main concern with a smile, but all I could see was pain under it. ”What is he doing? How is he?”

I hadnt expected the polite talk to end so soon. I took a large drink from my gla.s.s, forcing the bitter taste down. I couldnt meet her eyes. Instead, I focused on the deep purple liquid in the gla.s.s. ”He seems to like it.”

”The club is doing well? It keeps him busy I guess.” She slid her hand over mine on the table.

Shocked by her touch, I slipped my hand away, tangling it with my other hand in my lap. I looked up at her, sorry that I had reacted so cold. ”He stays busy.”

”I saw an article about him after his win, that he made appearances at some school programs for kids. Im glad to see he still has that pa.s.sion.” She stood, walking to the wine rack by the refrigerator and grabbed another bottle. Undoing the foil, she placed the electric wine opener over the top. The machine hummed as it removed the cork. ”He reminds me so much of his father.”

I held my breath, unsure of how to navigate this conversation. I was curious, but wary of this lady.

She brought the bottle to the table, pouring herself a full gla.s.s and gesturing to my cup. I flicked my fingers over the top, signaling I didnt need anymore.

”Did his father, Aaron, work with the community?”

She raised her eyebrow as she took a sip. ”Among other things. Im afraid Gage follows in his fathers footsteps a little too closely.” She set the gla.s.s down. ”I was so happy when he won the t.i.tle, I thought maybe...” She shook her head. ”That club, how did he come about owning that? Does he have silent partners?”

My stomach twisted, knowing what she was questioning. ”I dont think its my place to tell you anything about him.”

She quickly spoke up. ”Im sorry, youre right. I can only imagine what hes told you about me.” She put her hand up, keeping me from speaking. ”But its probably all true. I...made a lot of mistakes. Im trying to fix them now, but hes not ready to accept that. But really, I just want him to be happy.” She paused to take a sip, and I did too. ”You must hate me. Does he talk about me any?”

I choked down my sip and met her eyes. ”I dont hold anything against you, but Im not going to talk to you about him. Its up to him what you know.” I also didnt trust her just yet. She was supposed to be clean, but she had been drinking all day, and I wonder how much that affected her boldness right now.

She ran her finger up and down the stem of her gla.s.s. ”Youre right. Im glad he has you.”

It only made me sink deeper. ”I think Im going to go-”

”No, please, stay and talk. It wont be about him. Id love to get to know my new daughter a little better.”

I stilled in the chair. Daughter. It sounded strange.

She took a sip and giggled dryly. ”You know, Hun, I dont know anything about you really, except what I read in the news. But,” she shook her head, eyes narrowing, ”did you grow up in Maryland?”

”Yeah, in Baltimore mostly.”

”Me too. You know, I dont even know what your name was before you became a Lawson.”

”Sommers. Regan Sommers.”

”Sommers?” she questioned, a frown pulling on her lips. Finis.h.i.+ng off her gla.s.s, she reached for the wine bottle to refill it. ”Youre not related to Angela Sommers, are you?”

The air was vacuumed out of the room, along with all heat, and I nodded.

”Really? I use to work with her at Indigos. We were servers together, good friends, too.” She smiled with the memory, then shook her head. ”Shame what happened. How are you two related?”

I finished off my gla.s.s, pus.h.i.+ng down the lump in my throat. ”She was my m-mother.”

Her lips formed a silent O as her eyes widened. ”No s.h.i.+t?” Then she slapped her hand across her lips, sealing in her response. She snapped her other fingers a couple of times and then dropped the hand from her mouth. ”I should have realized. You look like her, I just didnt- I didnt think to put two and two together. Well, huh, that explains how you got involved with my son.” She sat back in her seat, still stunned. ”d.a.m.n. Just, d.a.m.n. So...did you-” she put her hand up. ”Im sorry if this comes out rude but, who raised you?” She was already pouring more wine into her gla.s.s and I didnt stop her from topping mine, I couldnt do anything. ”It wasnt Nikolai, I know that. But Jared maybe?”

”Jared?” I jumped to the new name.

”Well yeah, that was...” She trailed off as she finally looked at me. ”Are you all right, hun?”

I shook off her question. ”Whos Jared?”

She looked around the room, possibly for escape, before chugging half her gla.s.s. ”That was some guy your mother was dating when I first met her.” She waved her hand dismissively with a little laugh. ”I thought maybe he was your father, but obviously if you havent heard of him, I was wrong.” She put the gla.s.s back to her lips and finished it off.

”What was his last name?” I twisted my fingers in my lap, sure they would shake otherwise, but my voice was even and calm.

She licked her red stained lips, setting her gla.s.s back on the table with wobbly hands. ”Oh, I dont remember.” Rubbing one hand over her temple in a circle, she cringed. ”I think the wines getting to me. Dont mind me, Im just running my mouth about things I know nothing of. You would have been born already when I met your mom. He was just someone she was dating, and he didnt stick around very long once she got the job with me.”

”Thats when she met Nikolai, right? At the restaurant?”

She reached for the bottle, but stopped herself at the mention of Nikolai. I had only questioned about him because she had brought him up earlier. Obviously she knew things, I wanted to find out what.

”Right.” She rose from her seat, chair dragging over the tile floor. ”Im tired. Im going to bed. Its been a long day, with a lot of sun.” She looked down at me with a shaky smile. ”Good night and have a safe flight since I wont see you in the morning.”

”I was raised in eight different homes.”

”What?” her ponytail swung as her head shook, but she sank back into the chair.

I took a deep breath, stilling the storm in my stomach. ”I wasnt raised by anyone I knew or that knew Angela. I was in foster care.”

”Thats awful. Well good thing youve found my son, youve got a family now with us-however crazy we may be.” Her smile seemed genuine, but I waved it away.

”I was saying that so youd understand. I was asking questions because I dont know anything about her really or who she was with,” my throat was closing up, but I forced out the words, ”or who my father could be.”

”And that makes it even worse that I was just talking.” She leaned closer to me over the table. ”Hun, I dont really know anything. That was a bad time for me and Im afraid I pulled Angela right into it with me. When I said we were friends, I guess I should have said we were users. We mostly got high together, until she left to go work for Nikolai and I stayed at the restaurant. I really didnt know her for very long.” Her chest was rising and falling with her heavy breathing and she leaned back in the chair. ”Im sorry. Thats a time thats hard for me to think about, a time when I completely lost myself, and it took a long time to find my way back to me.” She stood up. ”Theres nothing I can tell you anyways, except you dont want to know any of those people. Gage may remind me of his father, but hes different. I know he is.” With those cryptic words, she nearly ran from the room.

I replayed the conversation in my head, over and over, but all I knew was that I wanted to find out more about Jared. And more about Gages father, Aaron.