Intercepting Love (Second Chances #5)(77)

“My, you sure do get around, don’t you?” she spat. “It makes me sick to know my son was in love with a slut. I can’t believe you would honor his memory like this … whoring around with two men.”

“I am not whoring around,” I snapped. “I loved your son and I always will, but what was I supposed to do? I was twenty-three when he died, was I supposed to stay single for the rest of my life?”

“If you still loved him that’s exactly what you would’ve done,” she snarled.

Eyes wide, I glared at her incredulously. “Are you even listening to yourself right now? You’ve completely lost your mind. Scott will always be a part of my life, but I had to move on. He was dying from cancer for Christ’s sake. Even if he didn’t overdose on pills, the sickness would’ve taken him shortly after. He wanted to end the pain.”

She paced back and forth, mumbling things to herself as if completely oblivious to what I’d just said. “Marianne, did you hear me? I told you Scott was dying from cancer. He didn’t overdose on pills just because he wanted to.”

It was as if she chose not to listen to me or to reason. She’d completely blocked out anything dealing with Scott’s cancer. It was just like Emily said; she didn’t want to listen to it.

With her finger on the trigger, she waved it back and forth as tears began to flow down her cheeks. “No, it’s lies … all lies. He did it because you ignored him, because he was unhappy. It was all your fault!”

She took a couple of steps toward me and I backed up until I couldn’t go any further. Her brown eyes were wild and untamed … if I didn’t tread carefully, I’d find myself with a bullet through my skull. Just breathe, Kate, and figure this out.

“I watched you off and on for years—living your lonely, sad life—until in rides your knight in shining armor and sweeps you off your feet. I knew Scott’s memory flew out the window once he showed up. No one will ever be better than my son.” She pointed the gun at me again and I froze, holding my breath. “I want you miserable, the same way I’ve been for the past two years.”

“I’m sorry you’ve been miserable, and I know you miss him, but Emily—”

Holding up her hand, she scoffed in disgust, “Oh, don’t even mention my traitorous daughter. I haven’t spoken to her since I left, so imagine my surprise when I see my son’s car here the other day. No daughter of mine would turn her back on me like that, or try to send me to a rehab facility that deals with mental patients. She wants to send me off so she doesn’t have to deal with me anymore.”

“She’s only looking out for you,” I replied cautiously. “She loves you, and she misses you. I know you miss Scott, but Emily is here and alive, and she wants you to see her the way you saw Scott.”

Marianne growled, “Impossible! No one can ever take the place of your first born child. They hold a special place in your heart, but now mine’s gone. I didn’t even want her, but my husband refused to let me get rid of her. Now that he’s gone, I’m stuck with her.”

If I ever felt sorry for the woman standing in front of me, I take it all back. How could anyone as sweet and loving as Scott come from such a heartless bitch? I was done trying to reason with her. Right now I needed to get out.

My breaths came out in short gasps as I searched around my room for anything that could help me distract her. There was nothing. She was getting angrier by the moment, and I knew it would only be a matter of time before she pulled the trigger. If I turned and ran she would shoot me in the back and I’d be dead.

Shit, what the hell am I going to do?

In my pocket, my phone started to ring. Immediately, I looked up at Marianne and she snapped, “Don’t you dare answer that, or I’ll put a bullet straight through your black heart.”

“Well, if I don’t and it’s Cooper,” I told her, “he’ll be here in a heartbeat. Everyone knows that you’re still around and they’ll know to come check on me. You may want to kill me, but you’ll be signing your own death warrant.”

She huffed and waved the gun in the air. “Fine, but you better get rid of whoever it is and make it believable. If you so much as squeal I’ll pull the trigger now and seal your fate.”

Swallowing hard, I carefully reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. It was Cooper. Angry and scared, I cleared my throat before answering. “Hey,” I mumbled groggily.

“Kate, are you okay? You don’t sound so good.”

Marianne glared at me and I gritted my teeth, wishing I could find something to hit her with. “Yeah, I’m not feeling so good right now. I think I need to lie down for a while. Can I take a rain check on dinner?”

“Sure,” he replied hesitantly. “Why don’t I come over in a little while and we can watch a movie?”

I knew he would be persistent.

“No, Coop, I’ll be fine. I just need to be alone.”

Marianne waved her hands impatiently in the air again, wanting me to hurry. It was then I saw Scott’s baseball bat leaning against my nightstand. If I could just move over a couple of paces I could get to it. Wouldn’t that be irony, hitting her in the head with her own son’s favorite baseball bat?

“You’re not acting right, Kate. What’s going on?”