“Get inside!” he roared. “Go to your room. And stay there, do you hear me?”
Gigi turned on her parents, her hands in fists, eyes flooding with tears. “I knew this would happen. You’re stealing my power! Just like Sugar Beth said you would!”
Oh, boy . . . Sugar Beth winced.
Winnie looked ashen, Ryan furious, but Gigi wasn’t done. “I’m not going to let you! I’m not letting anybody steal my power.”
Ryan’s fist punched the air. “Get inside right now.”
Gigi gave Sugar Beth a beseeching glance, but there wasn’t a thing Sugar Beth could do that wouldn’t make the situation worse.
Gigi stomped off toward the front door. A moment later, Sugar Beth heard it slam. She wished she could go to her room, too. She braced herself for Winnie’s attack, but Winnie focused only on Ryan, who was looking at Sugar Beth as if he hated her. “She’s only a kid,” he said. “How could you have done this? You know we don’t want you around her.”
Gigi was in too much trouble already for Sugar Beth to rat on her. “She’s my niece. I was curious.”
Winnie came out of her daze. “Don’t you ever come near her again. Do you hear me? I won’t have it.”
Sugar Beth ignored her to concentrate on Ryan. “Exactly what do you think I’m going to do to her?”
“We don’t care to find out,” he said pompously.
“You can’t protect her from life.”
“We can protect her from you.”
Sugar Beth couldn’t bear his self-righteousness and her temper flared. “You’re too late. I already told her everything I know. How to smoke a joint. Steal money from her dad’s wallet. Get laid in the back of a Camaro.” It was a low blow, and Sugar Beth was ashamed of herself. Or at least she would be soon. “Go to hell, both of you.”
Winnie watched numbly as Sugar Beth strode away from them, moving with her familiar long-limbed grace. Panic welled inside her. What if Sugar Beth stole it all? Her husband and her daughter?
“If we hadn’t left the reception early—” Ryan broke off. “I’d bet this was Gigi’s doing. She’s been curious about Sugar Beth for weeks.”
He was going to defend his old lover. Heartsick, Winnie turned away and headed back into the house.
Upstairs, they had the predictable scene with Gigi, who stood in the corner of her room, an ink-stained Laura Ashley pillow clutched to her chest, and proceeded to blame Winnie for everything. “I needed somebody I could really talk to. Sugar Beth listens to me. She understands me.”
“I’m your mother, Gigi. I understand you. And you can talk to me whenever you want.”
“No, I can’t! You just want me to do everything your way.”
Winnie found herself wondering who this demon child was living inside her precious daughter’s body. “That’s not true.”
“At least Dad listens sometimes!”
Ryan stepped in. “This isn’t about your mother. This is about you. And you gave away something precious today. You gave away our trust.”
Gigi tucked the pillow under her chin.
“Why don’t you think about that?” he said, curling his fingers around Winnie’s arm. “And about how long it’s going to take you to get it back.”
He drew Winnie from the room and closed the door behind them. They heard the mattress squawk and Gigi’s sobs. She was Daddy’s little girl, and Ryan hesitated for a moment.
“Leave her,” Winnie said. “She needs time to think.”
They walked downstairs together and into the family room. Winnie felt sick to her stomach. Ryan tossed aside his sports coat and loosened his tie. “Sooner or later we’ll have our daughter back.” But he didn’t sound convinced.
Upstairs, rap began blaring from Gigi’s room. Winnie snatched up the sections of the Sunday paper he’d left everywhere. “When did I turn into the enemy? I have no idea. One morning I woke up, and there it was.”
“This isn’t about you. It’s about her.”
“It doesn’t feel that way.”
He unbuttoned his collar and slumped into the burgundy leather chair she’d bought at an estate auction. “I should have known she’d find a way to meet Sugar Beth. She gave me enough clues.”
“What do you mean?”
“She asked a lot of questions. I forbid Gigi to contact her, but she’s so damned hardheaded. I might as well have waved a green flag in front of her.”
“You didn’t say anything about this to me.”
“You’re not exactly rational where Sugar Beth is concerned.”
“And you are?”
He came out of the chair. “Don’t start this again.”
“Why not? Shoving it under the rug isn’t working.”
“You’re so completely out of line.”
“I don’t care. I’m sick of it.”
His lips thinned. “You know what I’m sick of? I’m sick of having to walk on eggs around you, afraid I’ll say the wrong thing and hurt your delicate feelings.”
“Then stop doing it.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. He reached for the remote. “You need to get hold of yourself.”
She knocked the remote from his hands and sent it skidding across the carpet. His eyes widened in shock. She turned on him. “You need to be honest! If you want Sugar Beth so badly, go get her!”
He looked stunned. “Is that what you think of me?”
“I’m tired of pretending.”
“I’ve been faithful to you for fourteen years.”
“Let me find a medal.”
“I married you, goddammit! I knew you’d gotten pregnant on purpose, but I never once threw it in your face.”
“You wouldn’t. You’re too decent for that. I was the liar.”
“You said it, not me.”
“Because you’ve never had the guts to.”
“You are not turning this back on me. It’s your guilt that’s making you overreact to everything. This is your problem, Winnie, not mine.”
Her fury turned to despair. She sank down on the edge of the couch. “I saw the way you looked at her last night.”
“You saw what your imagination created. You’re paranoid.”
An eerie sense of calm came over her. Her hands fell limply in her lap, and she pressed her fingers together. “I’m jealous. I’m so jealous I can’t see straight. But I’m not paranoid. After all these years, you still haven’t gotten over her.”
“That’s bullshit. For God’s sake, I married you.”
“You wouldn’t have if I hadn’t gotten pregnant.”
He hesitated for a moment too long. “Of course I would have.”
The pain cut deep.
“I would have,” he said, as if repeating the words would make them true.
She drew a deep, unsteady breath. “I don’t know who I am anymore. Maybe I never did. All I know is that I’ve worn myself out trying to be worthy of you.”
“That’s garbage.”
“I don’t think so.” She stood up, gazed around at the antiques she’d collected. She loved this room, this house. She loved being surrounded by objects that spoke of the past. “I’m going to move into the apartment over the shop for a while.” Her voice came from far away. She hadn’t planned this, hadn’t even thought of it until that very moment. But the idea beckoned like a shady grove.
His voice hit a low, dangerous note she’d never heard. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“We need some time.”
“You need counseling, not time.”
“I know you’re angry.”
“Anger doesn’t begin to describe what I’m feeling right now. What do you expect me to tell Gigi? That her mother has up and left her?”
“I don’t know what you’re going to tell her.”
“Just dump the whole thing on me, is that right?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, that’s right. For once, I’m dumping everything on you.” She rose from the couch, walked to the door.
“Don’t you leave this house, Winnie! I mean it. If you leave, you’re not going to like the consequences.”