Chapter 252: Patty
- RORY -
Hearing the lilt of concern in Dad’s voice touches the walls around my heart with a soft knock, but this one I’m used to: the part of me that seeks parental care. It’s easy to turn that hope away, because even when Dad seems to show care, the distance and silence that follows always lets me down. Every time.
Instead of answering, I smile politely. "Hey, Dad."
"We found out Rory still has that issue from childhood," Raya answers at my side. "The hole in her heart. Remember?" There’s this ripple of accusation or protection in her tone that surprises me even as she walks forward and gives him a hug. "Thanks for coming, Dad," she says quietly.
William Gray looks between us with a blank, stunned expression, before his gaze fixes back on me. "What happened, Rory? Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I shrug and give him a one-armed hug.
"How did you find out about your heart?" He asks, hanging onto me and squeezing my shoulder.
For some reason when people ask me questions I don’t want to answer, I always look at my hands. So when I bring up my injured hand and stare at the stitches marching across my palm, it doesn’t even occur to me that this will be another shock for our father until he takes my hand in his.
"Rory, what happened?"
Being embraced like this, like a baby bird tucked under a parent’s wing, is making my chest hurt. So I back away, slide my hand out of his, and fold it in front of me.
"An accident."
"There’s a lot that’s happened," Raya says. "That will be along conversation. Where’s Patty?"
The concern on Dad’s face pinches more, making his forehead cleave and deep indecision flicker in his eyes.
"She’s here," he says, clearing this throat and shoving his hands in his pockets. "There’s something else we need to have a conversation about. I wish we could have found a time sooner, but..." I watch my father swallow with apparent difficulty. "The time hasn’t been right."
A snort comes out of me. I can’t help it. I was truly going to try behaving myself, but there is only so much I am capable of.
"A lot has been going on, that’s for sure," Raya says noncommittally. She’s not glaring at me for my rude reaction or sounding accusing toward him anymore. And now I feel terribly guilty. Her wedding is tomorrow, and I can’t even keep my noises to myself.
"We should have done it before now," Dad mumbles. "I’m sorry, Raya. Now you’re getting married tomorrow, but there is no way we weren’t going to show up. Even if... well..."
Raya and I are staring at the man fumbling for words, and I’m annoyed that he’s making this big of a deal out of meeting this stupid woman. But if she’s young like I suspect, then he’s at least aware of the reaction we’re likely to have. It will be uncomfortable standing next to my father’s twenty-something year old girlfriend when I’m supposed to be feeling only joy for my sister on her wedding day.
The image is so amusing and irritating that I almost miss the significance of the woman who walks up next to my father and stands next to him. She’s not young. No. That’s not what’s surprising about her. That’s not what has made Dad uncomfortable and unable to find words for this meeting.
Every little hair on my body stands straight up, and all the thoughts leave my head.
"Oh, you must be Patty," Raya says, extending her hand.
"Only your father calls me that," the woman replies, glancing back at him lovingly. She’s so... composed. So warm. "It’s Patricia. My friends have always called me Trish."
"Trish," Raya repeats, and then she has to sense it. Or see the resemblance. We were both just looking in the mirror making faces, talking about this very woman. The woman whose eyes are overflowing with things... things that are foreign to me.
"I don’t understand," I finally say, finding my voice. It’s shaking and strained, but it’s there.
Dex and Luciano walk up, both evaluating the woman our Dad is with and then looking Raya and I over. Is it possible they have some kind of sixth sense that alerts them to drama?
Luci’s brows furrow when our eyes meet, and one thing I love about him is that he doesn’t let formalities stand in his way. If I wanted him to slug my dad, I know he would.
That’s why it doesn’t surprise me when he ignores Dad altogether and comes to my side. It isn’t until I feel his touch on the small of my back that I realize I’m shaking—all of me. Not just my voice. And that’s when the tears come—hot and silent, and there is no point in trying to keep them in. These are from a place way too deep. A place I didn’t even know exists.
"Hello, Will," Dex says, shaking our father’s hand. "Thank you so much for coming. And you must be Patty."
"That makes you Dex," Patty or Patricia or Trish says. I don’t know what to call her, but I know ’Mom’ is definitely not one of them, though it’s the name that keeps repeating itself in my mind louder and louder.
"It’s wonderful to meet you," she says. Then her gaze flicks back to Raya and I. And then Raya looks at me. And then everyone is looking at me. So it’s definitely not the greatest time to be crying.
"Lorelei..." she says, and my chest constricts, my senses narrowing in on every single little detail about her. Her voice... I never knew what her voice sounded like, but somehow I recognize it anyway.
"No," I shake my head, cutting her off. "No. We shouldn’t be doing this here."
"You’re right, we should go somewhere else," Dad says, but he doesn’t get to be the sensible one. Not when this is so outrageous... not when he’s been hiding her. Not when she’s been hiding herself. Not when there are so many questions without answers.
"Why?" I croak accusingly. It’s the only other word besides ’Mom’ that I can focus on, but it should be enough for them to get my meaning.
"What’s going on, Dad?" Raya asks, sounding panicked. She grabs my arm and squeezes it.
I have Raya on one side and Luci on the other, and both of them are touching me like they’re worried that if they don’t, I might combust. Well, that’s not happening. Not now. Not when there’s this mystery looming.
"Lorelei, I’m worried about your heart. We should at least find a place to sit down," Patricia says, but her expression is so calm and serene.
It’s bizarre. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s the good witch who has been orchestrating this dream all along, and now she’s ready to send us back to Kansas with her magic wand.
"My heart is just fine," I say through clenched teeth. "It’s handled not having you around for a lifetime. What makes you think it would give out now?"
Patricia takes in a heavy breath in place of all the things she could say. Instead, she stays silent, and maybe that’s wise. Because I’m ready—I’ve never been more ready with the venom of words to attack whatever excuse they think justifies her disappearing for over twenty years without so much as a peep and then reappearing just as mysteriously.
"Wait wait wait," Raya lets go of my arm and takes a step toward her. "You’re... our mother? How? How is that even possible?"
