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The Tessarae Inn |
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Suspicions In Scarlet Repose CHAPTER 25
Something shut down inside of her. The room felt as if it was filled with a pulsating gel that had absorbed everyone around her and encased them in a sealed block. Everyone seemed to be talking—yelling—but all she heard was silence. She glanced at Bryan and he stared back at her. Slowly his face devolved into a mask of alarm. She tried to speak to him but instead of moving her lips, her knees gave way and she found herself free-falling through a cold dark space. The next thing she knew she was in Bryan’s arms and he was walking toward the staircase. She closed her eyes and let herself drift through a consciousness littered with unanswered questions. He took her upstairs and gently placed her on her bed, then left. She studied the walls of her bedroom that were painted a beautiful robin’s egg blue. It had been an inside joke between she and Robyn. Suddenly she felt tears rolling down her cheeks. It was all too much to take in. You lost some things, you gained some things but it never seemed to balance out. Bryan returned a minute? Ten minutes? Ten hours later and sat next to her on the bed. “They’re gone,” he said. “I made them all get out. You don’t need to deal with all of that right now. By the way, your mother is every bit as fierce as you father. I guess I see where you got it from.” “What about you?” He blinked then shifted his gaze. “What about me?” “Bryan, I don’t want to fight. I don’t want to talk. I just want to be alone.” “Sorry, but that’s not going to happen. I’m here. I’m staying. And I’ll take care of you… and our child.” “This is my child.” “The hell it is. Don’t even think about trying to pull that shit on me.” “You didn’t care about the baby when you left me sitting in that jail cell.” “I didn’t know about the baby.” Heather whipped the cover off the bed and jumped up. She rushed toward the bedroom door without looking back. She made it half way to the first floor before Bryan caught up with her and touched her shoulder. She turned around and he reached for her but then pulled his arm back quickly as if he couldn’t decide whether holding her would hurt or help. She continued to stare at him for a few moments but then turned and quickly made her way to the first floor. Her “family” was indeed gone and she breathed a sigh of relief. “We need to talk about his Heather,” Bryan said softly as he walked up behind her. “No we don’t.” “I love you. I have always loved you. I loved you even when you left me standing in front of a church full of people. I loved you when you ran after Travis and even when you threw that jerk Manning in my face.” She whipped around and faced him. “But not enough to tell me the truth about Carmen, right?” “There are things you don’t understand.” “I’m sure there are.” She walked to the front door and released the locks. “Let’s talk about it some other time.” “We’ve wasted too much time already.” “What the hell is wrong with you, Bryan,” she yelled. “You treated me like shit and stripped my soul. What the hell more do you want from me? “Oh, baby, please.” He moved toward her. “You just don’t get—“ “I get it,” she screamed. “I damn well get it!” There was a knock on the door and she opened it quickly. Cal was standing there with wide eyes. “What’s going on here?” Treyscott bristled. “We’re in the middle of something, man. Go away.” Cal walked into the townhouse. “I don’t think so.” He put his hand on Heather’s shoulder. “Are you all right? Do you want me to get him out of here?” She felt like such a traitor, but she nodded her head. “You heard the lady, Treyscott.” Bryan stared at her for a second then said, “I’m going to get the whole story then I’ll be back and we’re going to talk about it—all of it. Whatever you think, you’re wrong about me.” “Treyscott,” Cal said impatiently. Treyscott grunted but then walked past Cal and out of the front door. He slammed the door behind him. Cal smiled then looked at Heather. “What was all of that about?” She didn’t answer. She couldn’t find the words to explain the situation. Instead she threw herself into his arms and wept.
Blair crossed her legs carefully and smoothed her skirt with an exaggerated gesture. Dorian was about to go on a tear and there wasn’t a thing she could do to stop the speeding train, except cling onto the balance bar and pray that it was a short trip. Cassie openly glared at Dorian then turned her head away. It was obvious that she and Dorian had had one of their legendary fights and one reason for this meeting of “The Cramer Women” was for Dorian to try to marshal support for her side, regardless of how wrong she probably was. And as usual Dorian was probably totally at fault, which only meant she would scream louder and longer Kelly stuffed an extra-large, cream-cheese-filled sweet roll into her mouth and bit off a huge chunk. Powered sugar flew everywhere. Blair sighed. Kelly, it seemed, was still as frustrated and unfulfilled as ever. So much for the wisdom of relying on a married man, who was on a mission to find his wife while he juggled two children and his mother, to satisfy her emotional needs. Cassie continued to look off into the distance with her nose in the air. Kelly continued to stuff her face. Dorian continued to pace back and forth in the living room of La Boulie in silence except for the soft hissing sound of steam escaping from her ears. And Blair continued to feel impatient with the whole situation. “Dorian, can we get on with this, please?” asked Blair. “I’m supposed to meet Todd and Toni at Capricorn in a short while.” “Are they family?” “Well, Todd is. And Toni is as close as a sister. And—“ “Blair, for god’s sake. Your real family is more important than that husband of yours or R.J. Gannon’s little friend, but for you sake I will try to move this along. “Fine, I’ll start,” Cassie said and jumped up from her chair. She fixed her gaze on Dorian and narrowed her eyes. “Once again mother, you have—“ Dorian patted her hair and said quickly, “Now. Now. Cassie, I think you’re too emotional to handle this properly.” “Too emotional! Too emotional? What the hell do you expect? You slept with my boyfriend!” “What?” Blair and Kelly said in unison. They were now both sitting up straight and staring at Dorian. “Cassie tends to exaggerate.” “Oh, so I just imagined seeing you in his bed—naked?” Dorian blushed but then straightened her back. “I think you misinterpreted what you saw. You know how… how challenged…challenged your emotions have been lately.” “Cut the crap, mother. You should be ashamed of yourself.” Dorian crossed her arms over her chest and rocked her head gently but then sighed and let her arms drop to her sides. “Yes, I slept with Carl Shuttlesworth and I must say that he was magnificent. He knows how to curl a girl’s toes. Any ol’ girl he happens to meet in a restaurant or bar.” “You’re not a girl, mother.” “Well, there’s no need to be rude, but you’re right. I’m not a girl. I’m a woman, fully grown and I can handle a man like that. I will say in all modesty that if anyone’s toes got curled, I did the curling. You, my dear, would be out of your depth.” Cassie exhaled loudly. “Do you have any shame? Any at all?” “How could you do that, Aunt Dorian?” Kelly asked as she wiped sugar from around her mouth. “Didn’t you care how much that would hurt Cassie?” “Of course I did, but that was the point. Carl Shuttlesworth is a cheat and a liar. The type of man who would sleep with the mother of his… girlfriend.” “Oh, for heaven’s sake, mother, just can it.” “I did it for you, Cassie. I couldn’t let him hurt my baby.” “So you decided to hurt your baby, instead.” “Oh, Cassie, the man is not worth all of this. He is scum. Surely you can see that now.” Kelly jumped up and waved her sweet roll in Dorian’s direction.. “You always do that, Aunt Dorian. You make up your mind about something and then shape things to suit your purposes.” Dorian sighed loudly and then fixed her gaze on her niece. “Kelly, wipe the sugar off of your face, then sit down and try to act like a big girl.” “Dorian,” Blair said in a warning tone. Dorian glanced at Blair then once again sighed loudly. Kelly sat back down. Dorian walked close to Kelly. “Did I make up Angela Wright Moore?” Dorian asked in a soft menacing voice. Kelly’s eyes grew wide. “What does AB’s mother have to do with this?” “What indeed.” Blair was getting really exasperated. “Dorian, will you just spill it already, please. I have to go.” “Angela Wright Moore is Heather’s mother.” Blair stared at her. “Wait a minute. I thought Heather’s mother was dead.” “Ummmm. So did she until a few days ago. It seems that bastard lied to the children all of these years.” Cassie sat down on the couch slowly. “No. Carl wouldn’t do something like that. He loves his daughters.” “And wants to control and possess them totally. Just like he would want to control and possess anyone he married. No do you see? This is the man I saved you from.” Blair glanced at Kelly who was rocking back and forth. Suddenly Kelly stopped moving and frowned. “So this means that AB is Heather’s brother! How in the world could that be? Blair uncrossed her legs. “That’s a good question. I mean Heather is a triple A, grade A prime bitch, but Albert seems like a nice guy.” “Albert, poor boy, had no idea until yesterday from what I understand. And Carl had no idea about Albert.” Dorian looked around smugly. Blair studied her for a moment. So Angela and Carl split up and she found someone else and had a child. Carl lied to Heather and Robyn about their mother. Angela should be steaming. Heather and Robyn should be livid. Even Carl would probably be over the top because his ruse was discovered, but why would he care about Albert. Unless… “OMG!” Blair said, “Is Albert Carl’s son?” “Yes, Blair,” Dorian said and appeared to wipe an invisible tear away from her eye. “Carl told me last night that he has a son. It seems Angela was pregnant when they broke up and didn’t tell him about the child. He is devastated.” “Which is it, mother?” Cassie asked. “Is Carl a monster or a victim?” “Stop trying to win an argument through distraction, Cassie,” Dorian hissed. “Albert and what Carl did to those girls are two very different things. Of course he is upset that he missed out on his son’s life, but only a monster would lie to his girls the way he did.” “So Angela Wright Moore is a monster too.” Dorian sighed. “I wouldn’t go that far. She had her reasons for getting out of that situation with Carl, but he is devastated. I can’t help feeling for him. He is just so hurt. And, of course, Albert wants to have nothing to do with him.” “Tell me this, mother. Did you comfort Carl last night? Comfort him in bed?” “That is quite enough from you, young lady. I am your mother and—“ Blair stopped listening. She walked over to the French doors and looked out at the yard. This was all hitting too close to home. Could she really honestly say that Todd wouldn’t have done exactly the same thing to her if she had decided to leave once and for all. She couldn’t say that he wouldn’t have taken Starr and run then told Starr her mother was dead. Bastard. The fact was that Todd had already done something very close to that on more than one occasion. He told Starr that her mother didn’t love her or want her and only wanted to be with Max. Bastard. She thought she had gotten over it and all of the other betrayals but sometimes at the most unexpected moments like this, it all came raging back. But only for a second or two. There had been so much lately to counteract those feelings. Yet it was still sobering that Carl had seen a kindred spirit in Todd and every now and then something happened to remind her that Carl was not totally wrong.
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Suspicions In Scarlet Repose FAN FICTION SLIDESHOWS
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