“Oh god, Lita, you think anyone will care? No one in their right mind would bother with a case like that.”
“They will if I make sure of it. And just imagine all the lovely publicity that will surround you for the rest of your life. I’m aware of how much you adore the spotlight, dear daughter. Loren Savage will go from being Failed Actress to The Girl Who Fucked Her Cousin.”
“This is insane. You are insane. You think no one will realize there’s no biological connection between us? And by the way, I know that Mina never actually adopted him so that means his last name is not even legally Savage.”
Lita sighs. “It saddens me that you’ve learned absolutely nothing. Truth is merely incidental. The story is whatever will sell. Always. The world will see you as cousins because I will make sure of it. And as far as legal trouble goes, if one charge doesn’t stick we can just try again with another. For instance, I believe we will discover that there are some valuable things missing around here. Do not underestimate my resources, girl. What do you think his chances will be by the time I’m finished with him?”
Ren won’t believe that. Even though she’s seen the evidence her entire life she doesn’t want to be part of a world where Lita is right. She holds her head up. “No. You’re just so pathetically twisted that you don’t understand that the truth actually matters to people.”
“Well, by the time you get all that sorted out you won’t be able to set foot outside the door without a camera in your face and your lover will be passing time somewhere in the Arizona penal system. You called me a liar, Ren, and sometimes that’s true. But believe me when I tell you that I will not sleep until that boy is gone, one way or another.”
Ren stares at her mother, true horror settling in. Lita believes in a scorched earth policy. She will set the world on fire to get her way.
“What do you want from me?” Ren whispers. “You just want me to be as miserable as you are?”
Lita’s lips quiver and anyone else might believe she’s trying not to cry. Ren knows otherwise. Her mother is stifling a smile, barely holding in laughter.
Ren turns beseechingly to her weary father. “Daddy. Do something.”
But August Savage’s tired eyes ask her to understand that he simply doesn’t have it in him to stop his wife this time. He doesn’t even want to try. He just wants to remain buried here in the peaceful desert and let all the noise disappear. “I’m sorry, honey. He’s a grown man and he’s not even a member of the family. There’s nothing I can do for him.”
Ren backs away toward the door. She opens it and flees the room. The two people who are responsible for her life are repulsive. She needs to get free of them. She needs to find Oscar. But she needs a few minutes first. Just a few minutes to think.
Her bedroom is hardly a refuge, especially with Brigitte and Ava in there, heads together, watching some inane reality television show on a tablet.
“Oh my god,” Bree exclaims. “What a fucking tool if he did it. You think that’s what happened?”
“Of course it’s what happened,” Ava says with confidence, swinging her long, artificially blonde hair. “It’s on camera.” She glances up when Ren enters the room and shuts the door, giving Bree a little poke in the side.
Brigitte props herself up on her elbows and looks curiously at Ren. “You look like you’re about to hurl.”
“I might,” Ren says, crossing the room and heaving her mattress off the box spring. She picks up a small velvet pouch and removes the contents. Six hundred and seventeen dollars. Not enough. Not nearly enough.
Ren holds the wilted bills in her hand and drops to the floor. She needs more time to think and there is no time. After everything that’s been said, a critical stage has been reached. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen tonight. There will be time for doubt and regret later. That’s something she knows with utter clarity; later on there will be too much time.
Her sisters are watching her, their solemn faces excessively painted with makeup.
Ren clears her throat. “You guys. If I ask to borrow whatever money you have, would you give it to me? I don’t know when I’ll be able to pay it back.”
The girls do not say a word. They search briefly through their belongings and deliver every bit of cash they find. The gesture, just a small favor between sisters, means the world right now.
“Thank you,” she whispers and leaves them, praying for a few minutes of quiet so she can find Oscar, so she can make him understand what needs to happen now.
But there is no such thing as quiet. There is her mother charging from August’s study, her father’s tired protests, her sisters’ confused whispers.
Ren flings open the front door and her first deep breath is full of smoke and dust. The rumbling approach of thunder, the crack of nearby lightning, and the sight of Oscar Savage all collide. Every nerve in Ren’s body begs her not to descend those stairs and face them. Not because there is anything terrible waiting. But because she will make it all terrible herself.
“Hey,” Oscar calls above the wind, waving from where he’d been lingering by the old hitching post, likely waiting for her. Ren stops and merely watches as he hurries over. She forces her body to be rigid when he tries to take her hand.
Oscar frowns. “What is it?”
I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Ren, what the hell is wrong?”
“You are.”
“Baby, what are you talking about?”
She feels a slow tremor as it begins in her heart and spreads everywhere. She clenches her fists at her side. It’s the only way she can avoid throwing her arms around his neck.
“I know,” she says quietly.
“You know what?”
Ren forces herself to look into his face. He’s full of confusion, concern. She’ll break his heart. She’ll break hers too. “I know all about you, Oscar. All about you and Lita.”
Immediately he lets out a snort of laughter. Of course. Because it’s absurd. He won’t believe she’s serious. She has to make him believe. She takes a step back and looks at him with loathing.
“I know you fucked my mother and then moved on to me. It’s disgusting. You’re disgusting!”
“Are you crazy? If this is a sick joke it isn’t funny, Ren.”
She remembers Lita’s words, hears her cold voice repeating terrible things that are a lie. “You are the sort of trash who’s only looking for the next hole to satisfy yourself.”
“Loren.”
“You got what you wanted. Now you need to go.”
“This is bullshit! I don’t know what the hell this is really about but I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yes, you will. You have to.” She pushes the wad of bills against his chest. “Here.”
He stares down at the money. “What the fuck is this?”
“It’s not much, but I’m sure my father will give you more if that’s what it takes.”
Oscar grabs her by both wrists just as a cannon of thunder explodes overhead. “You don’t fool me,” he whispers, his breath hot on her neck. “I know this is not you talking.”
She almost wavers. She closes her eyes and nearly tips forward right into his arms, knowing if she does she won’t have the will to ever leave them again. Rain begins to fall; slow, fat drops. When she opens her eyes the scene is full of people. It’s no longer just her and Oscar.
As of right now there can’t be any more Loren and Oscar.
Monty has chosen this moment to return. He parks the truck less than ten yards off and doesn’t cut the headlights, perhaps just stunned and perplexed by the sight of everyone hanging around in the muddy yard. The harsh yellow light of the beams let Ren see everything, more than she wants to see. Spencer stands about ten feet away, two shotguns slung over his shoulder. Brigitte and Ava have emerged from the house, wide-eyed with bewilderment, sharing the shelter of a pashmina scarf to keep the rain from their carefully teased hair. Lita and August are not far behind, Lita trying to elbow her way closer to enjoy the chaos she has caused.