by Olivia James
The anguish in Shaw's tone was easy to hear. One look at his new girlfriend and Luke would have known she felt terrible about it. Her mother, however, wasn't looking at her daughter. She was looking at her husband.
"Did you hear that, Oliver? My only daughter forgot all about me. First, she spends her birthday without me and then she simply forgets me. Soon I'll be just a distant memory, I suppose. Next thing you know she'll be spending holidays with strangers instead of her family."
Bingo. Luke now completely understood what Shaw had been describing. If he'd thought she'd exaggerated - and he didn't - he would have been set straight this morning.
"Mom, I'm sorry," Shaw groaned, stepping out onto the front porch. "It wasn't on purpose. There's been a lot going on here last night and this morning."
Her mother feigned relief, her hand fluttering up to her throat. "Oh, thank goodness then. There's a lot going on. That makes me feel so much better. I was just one thing to forget when other issues took your attention. I feel so special now."
Luke almost opened his mouth to tell her that she was making all of this about her but then he thought that perhaps he should keep quiet. Shaw hadn't asked for his help and they had their own family dynamic. They hadn't dated long enough for him to know what she'd want him to do at a moment like this.
So I'll zip it. For now.
Burying her head in her hands, Shaw expelled a noisy breath before lifting her head up again and looking her mother in the eye.
"It wasn't on purpose, Mother." She sighed again and Luke could see that she was fighting an inner battle. Ah, she didn't want to tell her mother what had happened but if she didn't tell her, then her mother would think that Shaw was a bad daughter. A nasty catch-twenty-two. "To be honest, someone broke into my house last night."
Her mother clutched at her chest and then grabbed onto her husband for support. Luke stepped forward in case the woman collapsed but she seemed to steady herself fairly quickly.
"My god, you were robbed? Someone was in your home? I told you living alone wasn't safe, Shaw. I told you that you should move in with us. How else can you be safe?"
Luke could think of a myriad of ways. In fact, he was installing them.
"I am not moving home, Mom. We've talked about this."
"Look what's happened. You're not safe in this neighborhood." The woman's gaze ran contemptuously over the serene and upscale row of homes. "You need to move home immediately. I'll help you pack."
"I'm not moving."
Shaw's voice had gone up, her frustration and irritation showing.
Her mother nudged her husband. "Oliver, tell her she needs to come home with us.”
Luke wasn't sure why she thought Shaw's stepfather could convince her. From what she'd described they weren't particularly close or friendly. They barely knew each other.
"Your mother is right, Shaw," Oliver said with an affable smile. "You need to move home. We can take care of you there."
Luke was amused that the three of them had seemingly forgotten he was standing there, a witness to this drama. Even Shaw hadn't given him a glance, her focus honed in on the two people standing across from her on the front porch.
Time to take this inside. She didn't need her neighbors to witness a family brawl.
"How about we all step inside? Have a coffee or some iced tea?" Luke suggested, moving the ladder out of the way. "What do you think, Shaw? Good idea?"
"Yes, let's do that," Shaw replied in the affirmative while shaking her head no. Clearly, she was conflicted about this.
With Ryan hiding in the backyard, Luke and Shaw ushered her parents inside. The three of them settled in the living room but he wasn't sure he should sit down as well. This was her family and her issue. He could be there to help explain the security measures they were taking but dealing with their pressure to move home?
This wasn't his battle to fight.
He didn't want to abandon her either, though. He wanted to be there for support but not be in the way. So he decided to make coffee in the kitchen. Shaw's house wasn't huge so he'd only be a few feet away, he could hear what they were saying, but he wasn't standing in the middle of it all.
"I can make some coffee," he announced. "Shaw, would you like me to do that?"
She gave him a grateful look that he took for a yes. Backing into the kitchen, he began to fill the carafe with water.
"Who is that young man?" her mother asked. "Why is he here? He's certainly making himself at home. Is he living here with you?"
The mother's scandalized tone only served to ratchet up the tension. Luke wasn't even in the living room and he could feel the waves of frustration and animosity in the air.
"Luke is a friend and he's just trying to help. He doesn't live with me."
"It doesn't matter. You need to come back home. It's not safe here."
"It isn't safe anywhere," Shaw argued. "The world isn't an oasis of personal safety, but people go outside and take their chances every day. I'm thirty years old–"
"I know. I didn't get to spend your birthday with you."
"Mother, can we focus on one of your complaints at a time?" Shaw took a breath before continuing. "As I said, I'm thirty years old. I am not going to sell my house and move home with my mother. It's not going to happen. You need to drop this crazy idea."
Uh-oh. She'd called the idea crazy. Luke didn't think that was going to go over well.
"Crazy?" Her mother's shrill tone hurt his ears. "It's crazy to want to protect my daughter? My own flesh and blood. I can't believe how ungrateful you've grown up to be after all I've done for you, sacrificed for you. I always put you first, Shaw, before my own happiness and health, and this is how you repay me. It's such a betrayal. My heart is in a million pieces."
Wow, Shaw's mother knew how to play the guilt game. No wonder any boundaries Shaw put into place were completely knocked down time and again.
It only took a few moments for Luke to find three mugs and a tray. The drip coffeemaker was almost done and soon he'd have no other excuse to stay in the kitchen.
"I'm not trying to hurt you, Mother. I'm trying to explain to you that I'm an adult and I'm going to solve my own problems."
"How can you do that? Oliver, tell her that she can't stay here."
That poor bastard Oliver. Shaw's stepfather seemed harmless, but he kept getting shoved in the middle of these arguments. Luke had to wonder if this happened often. Probably it did.
"I think you should listen to your mother, Shaw," Oliver piped up. "She knows best."
It was like being in some weird television show where reality wasn't a thing. Luke's parents would rightly be worried about him if he had a stalker or someone had broken into his home but there was no way they'd pressure him to move back.
Was it different because he was male? Would his parents do this to Melissa or one of his other sisters? He didn't think so, but he might be wrong.
Carrying the tray of coffee cups out to the living room, Luke set it on the table in between three people.
"Here's your coffee," he said, a bit louder than he needed to. "I'm just going to go back into the kitchen and then check on Ryan in the back yard. See if he needs any help."
He slipped back into the kitchen and then out of the back door where Ryan was sitting on a lawn chair and fiddling with his phone.
"Did you hear any of that?"
Looking up, Ryan shook his head. "The windows are closed and I'm not a wolf. Is it bad?"
"It isn't good. I feel badly for Shaw. She's getting the shit end of the stick in there."
Grinning, Ryan stood up and stretched. "And you want to go in there and save her. Right?"
"I do," Luke confessed. "But I think she'd take off my arm if I did. She's definitely not into that damsel in distress stuff."
"It's best to stay out of family disputes," Ryan replied. "You two haven't been seeing each other that long either. Discretion is the way to go here."
"Is that what you'd do?"
; "Absolutely...probably. Unless it got violent or something. Then I'd intervene for sure."
Luke didn't think it was going to get that bad in there. It was bad enough, though. Shaw didn't need these extra problems at a time like this.
With parents like that, a stalker might not be her biggest issue.
14
Shaw was at her wit's end. She'd had a shitty birthday, a restless night, and now she was operating on too little sleep, not enough, caffeine, and the fear that she couldn't shake. To add to her misery, Julia was being a pain in the ass. More so than usual. Her mother had always had a flair for the dramatic but even Shaw hadn't predicted that it would be this bad.
"You aren't safe here," Julia insisted. "You can't live by yourself."
I definitely can't live with you.
Taking a steadying breath, Shaw tried to talk her mother down from the ledge she'd hopped up on.
"Luke and his friend are setting up a secure alarm system with cameras around the house. Rock stars don't have this much security. I'll be fine."
Hopping up from her spot on the couch, Julia paced the small area in front of the picture window.
"I can't believe how foolhardy you're being. You could be killed."
"I could be killed in a car accident. We all take chances every day. I'm actually taking far less chances now that the security system is installed. I'll one able to monitor every corner of my property from my phone."
"From your phone?" Oliver asked, his brows shooting up. "How do you do that?"
"It's easy. I'll show you." Retrieving her phone, Shaw opened the app that Luke had installed for her. He'd shown her how to switch from camera to camera and there was even a panic button to call the police. "See? I can see Luke and Ryan in the back yard, plus see all around the house and partially down the street."
Her stepfather studied the screen and then handed it to Julia. "You have to admit, honey, that this is impressive."
"They also installed motion sensors outside, and on the windows and doors. If anyone walks into the yard, the floodlights go on. If anyone tries to open a door or window, the alarm will sound and automatically call the police."
Julia dumped the phone on the end table. "If someone wants into your house, they'll find a way. Right, Oliver? Tell her that this isn't foolproof."
"Your mother is right about that, Shaw. Where there's a will there's a way."
Luke had already explained the shortcomings in the system. A determined hacker could get into it and there were jammers sold that could turn off the cameras, but it was better than having nothing. They were going to continue down the path that her stalker wasn't a professional criminal and wouldn't have a working knowledge of remote cameras and alarms.
"It's a deterrent," Shaw insisted. "Robbers want easy targets."
She didn't want to tell them that this break-in wasn't about stealing her laptop. This was about so much more. If Julia found out, she'd probably faint dead away on Shaw's maple flooring.
"I can see you're not going to listen to sense," Julia replied, sweeping her arm toward the back door. "That new man in your life has filled your head with nonsense. It wouldn't surprise me if he was the one that broke into your house last night."
"He couldn't have. He was with me."
Oops. She hadn't intended to mention that either. It only served to make Julia even more enraged, her face a bright red.
"Were you even going to tell me you had a new boyfriend? I guess I know where I stand." Julia whirled around on her high heel and grabbed her purse and coat. "Oliver, let's go. I've been hurt about as much as I can stand by my only child. I need to lie down."
Julia was known for taking to her bed when life wasn't cooperating. Now Shaw was responsible for the latest episode.
Awesome. This is just great. I'm a terrible child.
Oliver gave Shaw a reproachful look as he gathered his own coat and they marched out of the front door. Shaw followed, feeling absolutely miserable about...well...everything. She didn't want to hurt anyone, least of all her own mother. But if she told Julia the truth the shit would truly hit the fan.
"I'm sorry, Mom," she heard herself saying. "I wish you could understand where I'm coming from here."
Julia paused at the bottom porch step. "I don't think we should talk about this right now. I'm going home."
It wasn't over though. Shaw was sure that her mother would be back with more arguments and more tears. This was only the opening salvo in an ongoing war.
Her parents had zoomed out of the driveway so Shaw went back into the house, falling back on the couch cushions with a huge sigh. She should never have brought up that someone broke into her house. She should have taken the hit that she'd simply forgotten lunch. Julia would have lost her mind and been angry but then it would eventually be over. This was going to go on forever.
"Is the coast clear?"
She'd briefly forgotten all about Luke in the back yard. Dammit, he'd seen all her dirty laundry when it came to her family. He'd see that while she could give advice she sure as hell couldn't take it.
"It is," she confirmed. "You were smart to clear the premises. I would have if I could."
"Were you disowned?"
"I wish." She levered off the couch and came to stand by him. She needed a hug or something, but she didn't know how to ask for it. "She's taking to her bed which is far worse. I'll be blamed for that, of course, and anything else that happens for the next week or so."
"I didn't hear anything after I went outside but I can see that you have a few issues with your mom. You're right about her knowing exactly how to guilt you for maximum pressure."
"I feel like shit," Shaw said bluntly. "Like absolute and utter shit."
Luke cocked his head. "Because you didn't cave and put the house up for sale?"
"Because I..."
She didn't know what to say.
"Because I made her upset."
"You're upset too," Luke reminded her gently. He reached out and slowly pulled her into his arms, letting her move away if she wanted to. She didn't want to. This was heaven, being held like she really mattered. "The last twenty or so hours for you have been hell. Don't you get to be emotional about that too?"
"She doesn't know all of the facts. I didn't want to tell her about the stalker. She would have been even worse if I had. She would have packed my bags personally and dragged me bodily to the car."
"Honey, think about what you've just said to me. You're saying that your mother would have treated her grown daughter like a child. Is that okay with you? You've made a decision to stay here. I don't agree with it because I think you should stay with me or Melissa until we catch this guy, but I respect that decision because you are an adult. I don't have to like everything that you do. She doesn't either, but she needs to understand that you're grown up. She doesn't get to make the rules anymore."
"Tell her that," Shaw muttered, resting her cheek against Luke's broad chest. She could hear the strong and steady thump of his heart under her ear and feel the warmth from his skin through his clothes. For the first time today, she felt...safe and protected. Was she being stubborn saying that she was going to stay in her own home? Was she being foolish as her mother had said? "You should have seen the fit she threw when I bought this place. She took to her bed for a week that time."
Julia had given Shaw the silent treatment for almost a month too.
"She’s trying to control you, and you know it. You can't change your mother, but you can change how you respond."
"I know that, it's just..."
"It's your mother," he guessed. "There's a bunch of emotional baggage between a parent and a child and she's had years to install the guilt chip."
"It's deeply embedded into my psyche," she agreed. "I know that she's doing this to try and control me. I know that our relationship is dysfunctional. But when I try to change, she goes ballistic and then we fall back into our old ways."
"You know what you have to do. If there's any way I can h
elp, let me know. I'm here for you."
She cuddled against him more closely. "Yes, you are."
Chuckling, he dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "Do you think we should let Ryan back into the house?"
Groaning, she slapped her forehead. "He must think I'm an idiot. Of course, he can come back in."
"He doesn't think you're an idiot. He's made mention of his family once or twice. I think he has about the same relationship with them that you have with your mom."
"Then I feel sorry for him. I'll go out and apologize and then maybe we can order a pizza. Are you hungry?"
Stepping back, Luke spread his arms out wide. "Look at me. I'm always hungry."
Pizza wouldn't make all of this go away, but it might make her feel a little better.
"You know, Ryan made a suggestion this morning that I think might be a good idea. How about you and I take off for a few days? Just you and me. Get out of town and see some new sights. We can try and celebrate your birthday a second time."
"I don't want this guy to chase me away."
"It's not running away, you're running to something. Specifically, Vegas. Just think about it. We could get on the next flight. I'll talk to my boss."
It was on the tip of her tongue to say that if she left after her argument with Julia it would upset her mother even more.
I can't worry about how she'll react when I make perfectly normal adult decisions.
Shaw had to insert her spine and make some changes with her mother or they were going to be caught in this never-ending cycle until one of them died.
And the way her luck was going lately with a stalker and all, it just might be her first.
"I'll think about Vegas."
Luke didn't want to leave Shaw but she was determined that she wasn't going to be run out of her own home. He'd left Ryan there to finish the motion sensors and he'd told Shaw that if she changed her mind he'd be there as quickly as possible. No questions asked. No saying I told you so.
He had a suspicion that when the sun went down staying in that house all alone was going to look a hell of a lot different than it had when it was shiny and bright outside. It was easy to have bravado at two in the afternoon.