Page 74 of Tangled Memories
Both Tyler and Mrs. Lowery were standing. Tyler had his back to her, much the way she had first met him in this very room. If only she could turn back the clock!
Mrs. Lowery, though, was on alert for her entrance. “There you are,” the parole officer said so firmly that Stormy wondered if she were to be marched off to prison again without so much as a by-your-leave.
She could think of nothing more momentous to say thanhello. A stealthy glance at Tyler showed his expression to be carefully devoid of emotion.
“Do I need to make introductions?” she asked, gesturing them both toward the sofa.
“Mr. Mangus and I are acquainted,” Mrs. Lowery said.
Tyler remained standing as if distancing himself.
Stormy had never felt so awkward in her life.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to lead me through a home visit,” she said, sinking down into an overstuffed chair opposite Mrs. Lowery. “I don’t know what to expect.”
“This visit is a bit more involved than usual, I’m afraid. It seems we have some serious matters to discuss.”
Stormy sat dead still, bracing herself. “What serious matters?”
Mrs. Lowery reached into her briefcase and pulled out a notepad. “Your sister, Mrs. Dawson—Nina—has called me twice during the past week.” She glanced up from the notepad. “Then, today, she came to see me.”
Stormy’s heart stopped, her vision blurred, her stomach churned, and her blood ran cold. Through the haze, she glanced at Tyler, then back to Mrs. Lowery.
All she could think was that it wasn’t possible. It just could not be possible. Nina had made good on her threats.Insults, Stormy could accept. But this! Not even taking her money compared to this! She did not want to believe Nina capable of such betrayal. It made no sense. Was there any twisted way in which it made sense?
A vision of Liane swept into her mind’s eye. Liane looking up over her shoulder as if to make certain her mother was there, home from prison.
“What did my sister have to say about me?” she heard herself asking.
14
Stormy braced herself as Mrs. Lowery flicked through what looked like pages of notes. Notes on her, she realized.
After flicking through several pages, the woman stopped and started reading aloud, “You don’t take proper care of your daughter. You stay out until all hours of the night. You associate with undesirable dements. You sleep around with strange men. You pawned the family’s television. You drink to the point of intoxication…”
Stormy’s stomach thumped with a sickening heaviness as she listened to the litany of half-truths and utter fabrications.Oh, Nina! she mourned silently.How am I ever to forgive you for this?
From beneath tear-dampened lashes, she glanced at Tyler. Was he part of it, too? Part of this conspiracy to…to what? Did he still harbor doubts? Why else wasn’t he helping her? No matter what, it was awful having him see her humiliation.
“Stormy?” Mrs. Lowery said. “Did we lose you there for a moment?”
“Yes. I mean—no,” she said, indeed lost in inner suffering.
“That’s about it, then.” Mrs. Lowery closed the notepad with a snap. “However, I like to think I’m fair-minded, so I want to hear your side of this.”
Stormy picked over a minefield of possible answers to find one that seemed safe. One that would do no more damage.
She replied slowly, “My sister and I haven’t been getting along. Beyond that, there’s not much to tell.”
Mrs. Lowery sat back against the sofa cushions, her eyebrows raised in skepticism. “My dear, I recognize an understatement when I hear one. You’re going to have to do better than that.”
“Does Tyler have to be here?” Stormy asked.
Mrs. Lowery sighed. “We’ll get to Tyler after a bit. For the moment, just tell me about your sister.”
Stormy threw up her hands. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“I want you to tell me what is happening in this house. I don’t want to ask you questions because that would be leading you. I need to hear what you have to say. No embellishments. The truth. The plain and simple truth.”