Surrender

Chapter Twenty Six

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

I let go of her and hold her at arm’s length to get a better look at her. Her hair is down, falling in long waves and it’s a nice change from the tight pony tail it’s usually in. She’s wearing a red blouse and dark jeans, I hardly recognize her. She looks years younger, her face lit up with a youth I didn’t know she had. Her coat is a little wet from the rain and there are bags at her feet. I look past her and see that Cal is standing at her shoulder, watching us very carefully. She touches my face, a sad smile on her lips.

“Have you been staying here?” She asks. Even her voice sounds different, more alive somehow.

“Um yeah, for a little over a week now.” She nods, dropping her hand to her side.

“Boys,” Cal says, clearing his throat, “Why don’t you help me take the bags into the other room.” Louis and Harry jump into action, grabbing the bags and filing out of the room one by one. Before the door swings closed, Louis looks back at me, a worried look on his face. She shrugs out of her coat and sets it on the counter, taking a seat on one of the stools around the counter. I clear the empty bottles away and place them in the sink, trying to ignore the fact that she’s watching me.

“Rae, honey, sit down.” She says gently, leaning over to pat the stool opposite her. I feel nervous and uneasy, like I finally have to confront my demons. I want to go get Louis, but this conversation can’t include him right now. This is about me and my mom. I sit down and clasp my hands in my lap, avoiding her eyes for now.

“How have you been?” She asks, leaning her elbow onto the counter.

“Fine.” I lie, the word scratching my throat on its way out of my mouth.

“A Detective called a little while after you did and filled me in on everything. She told me you had been questioned, that you’re a suspect?” She’s trying to hold it together for my sake, but she can’t protect me anymore, not after everything that’s happened over the past few days.

“It’s…a theory the police have, everything is still up in the air until they find Peter.” She nods along with me, most likely already aware of the current events.

“You haven’t heard any news yet?” She asks in a desperate voice, wanting closure just as much as the rest of us.

“Not yet. The detective in charge put us on house arrest for the time being, but it’s only been a day so we still have a lot of waiting ahead of us.” More nodding occurs and then a silence falls, a thick tension hanging between us.

“Rae, why didn’t you confide in me? Why didn’t you ask for help?” I’m not sure if she’s angry or hurt, the emotion in her voice is one I haven’t heard before.

“There was so much going on and then you left, what was I supposed to do, ask you to come back? I thought I had it handled, but I was wrong.” She tucks her hair behind her ear and presses her palm into the table, staring at me intently.

“I’m your mother, I deserve to know what’s going on in your life.” She says in a firm voice, scolding me for withholding information from her.