The Summer Deal (Wildstone #5)(59)

Brynn opened her mouth to correct the name, but saw the light in Raina’s eyes.

“I know his goddamn name,” her mom said softly. “I just refuse to say it. Because he hurt you.”

“Not like you think.”

“Then tell me.”

“Mom—”

“Baby, please. My imagination is killing me. I need to know all of it. What happened before you left him?”

Brynn looked away. “I . . . didn’t leave him. He left me. Actually, he vanished, with everything. He ran up my credit card, withdrew my savings, and even cashed my bond from grandma. He took anything I had of value, including great-grandma’s necklace. He was charming and charismatic and sweet, and I didn’t see it coming or suspect a thing.”

“Oh, honey. Did you call the police?”

“Yes. But Ashton had told me he was a financial planner, and I stupidly believed him. He was supposedly mobile and traveled to his clients, and didn’t have an office. I never met any coworkers. No friends either, since he was so busy. So I didn’t have much to give the cops to go on. He never left his laptop around. Never let me see his phone. There were a million red flags, and I didn’t see a single one of them,” she said bitterly. “One morning, I kissed him good-bye to go to work, and when I came home, he was gone. With everything. The building manager had changed the locks because he’d been given notice that we were leaving—three months prior. All that’s left is a few boxes of stuff to remind me of how stupid I was.”

A sound from behind her had her going still and closing her eyes. Crap. Shit. Dammit. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and turned around.

Everyone was crowded in the kitchen doorway. Max. Kinsey.

Eli.

“I’m sorry,” Kinsey said softly. “We came in to see if we could help get dinner ready.”

Eli’s gaze never wavered from Brynn’s. “I’d like to help.”

“Me too,” Max said. “With my foot up that guy’s ass.”

Raina swiped at a few tears on her cheek, hugged her daughter tight, and then smiled brightly at everyone. “I’m so glad you’re here for my girl.”

“Always will be,” Eli said in a voice of steel.

Raina hugged each of them in turn, then pulled back and looked at Kinsey. “Dinner’s ready. When do you think your mom might arrive?”

Kinsey grimaced. “I’m sorry. She’s always late. I called and left her a message, but she didn’t get back to me. Please don’t hold up dinner for her.”

“Maybe she got caught in traffic. No mom wants to miss family night.”

“Just don’t hold your breath,” Kinsey said with a smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes. “She’s usually too busy for stuff like this.”

The doorbell rang.

“Look at that,” Raina said, smiling at Kinsey before moving toward the door. “She surprised you.”

“Oh, I’ll get it,” Kinsey said, trying to rush past Raina, but Raina was the ultimate hostess. She and she alone greeted the guests. “I’ve got this,” she said to a worried-looking Kinsey. “You just relax.”

A minute later, Raina was back, leading the way, with Kinsey’s mom right behind her. “Everyone, Teresa’s here.”

Teresa looked like Kinsey plus a decade, which meant she either had great genes or she’d had work done. She breezed toward the group, all smiles.

“Sorry I’m late, I got here as soon as I could.”

“She means she got here as soon as she wanted to,” Kinsey muttered.

Teresa didn’t appear to hear. She waved at everyone including Kinsey, but mother and daughter didn’t share a hug, which Brynn thought was odd.

“Mom,” Kinsey said. “I asked you to call me back about tonight. We didn’t know if you were coming. Plus, I really needed to talk to you first. Can we go outside for a minute? Alone?”

“Sorry, darling. Busy week. We can talk later. I’ll tell you all about Rick. He’s why I was late—I was waiting on him. Turns out, he meant he was going to be permanently late. The asswipe dumped me by text, if you can believe it. Men, am I right?”

Olive nodded. “You are right.”

“I honestly can’t believe it,” Teresa said. “A damn text.”

“I can believe it,” Kinsey murmured.

Teresa looked at her. “What does that mean?”

“It means it’s the same pattern as always, so I don’t understand why you’re surprised. You let someone into your life, you let him hurt you, he leaves, then next comes you using it as an excuse to fall apart.”

Teresa blinked.

So did Brynn. Because that was her pattern too. And that wasn’t exactly a fun epiphany to have in front of a crowd.

“So,” Olive said into the awkward silence. “How’s it been renewing childhood friendships?”

Teresa looked around the group. “Childhood friendships?”

“Mom,” Kinsey said, sounding a little panicked. “I really need to talk to you for a minute. In private.”

“In a minute, darling.” She was eyeing everyone curiously. “You’ve all known each other since you were kids?”

Raina beamed. “Eli, Brynn, and Kinsey were in summer camp together for years. Isn’t that cute? There’s nothing deeper and more meaningful than a childhood friendship, right?”