Keep My Baby Safe

by Bella Grant

  Diana closed and locked the door and followed her mother to the kitchen. She reached over and grabbed the cigarette out of her hand, tossing it in the sink before speaking to her mother, who sat down at her table in front of her plate of food. “Mother, what are you doing here?”

  “Hoping you’ll invite me to dinner. This smells good,” Ellen said, winking lasciviously at her.

  Diana felt her face mold into an expression of disgust. “I think you invited yourself. Eat that. I’ll make myself another plate.”

  “Thanks, baby.” As Diana turned away from her to make another plate of food, her mother dug in and hummed. “The chicken is a little dry.”

  “Thanks, Mother,” Diana said monotonously, completely used to her mother finding nothing to compliment her daughter on. Diana watched as her mother drank her wine as well and, with a sigh of irritation, poured herself another while she waited for her food to warm.

  “So, what’s going on in your life?” Ellen asked after Diana had finished making her plate.

  Diana sat across from her and looked at her with narrowed, suspicious eyes. “Why do you ask?”

  “I saw an interesting picture on your Facebook the other day,” Ellen announced, smiling around a bite salad, which she pointed at. “What is this dressing? It’s weird.”

  “It’s a raspberry vinaigrette,” Diana answered automatically. She hadn’t begun eating. She wanted her mother to leave and decided answering her quickly would get her out. “And what picture are you talking about?”

  “A picture of you with that handsome ex-husband of yours,” she said, tittering out a laugh that grated on Diana’s nerves.

  Diana pursed her lips and lifted her fork to eat, yelling at herself internally that she had let her mother bully her into being friends on Facebook. That would be remedied as soon as this conversation ended.

  “Yes. Travis and I are seeing each other again.” Diana’s answer was as sparse of useful information as she could make it without lying. Her mother used every scrap to get what she wanted.

  “So, are you two getting close?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, are you going to marry him again?”

  Diana shrugged and ate a bite of chicken, her irritation flashing to anger. “We don’t talk about that.”

  “Why not?” Ellen said, coughing at the sudden expulsion of air. “I assume you know he’s a millionaire.” Diana slammed her utensils on the table, nearly toppling her mother’s wine when the table jumped. They both instinctively grabbed their glasses, and Ellen glared at Diana. “What the hell are you doing, Diana?”

  “Wondering how you know Travis is a millionaire,” Diana hissed, “something that is absolutely none of your business.”

  “Hey!” Ellen growled, her voice rising as she pointed a lacquered nail at her daughter. “That man broke your heart. I’m here to make sure he doesn’t do it again.”

  “Bullshit.” Diana stared at her mother as she pretended to be hurt by Diana’s disbelief.

  “What?”

  “Bullshit. You’re here because you’re hoping for a damn handout. I’m not stupid, and you’re not subtle,” Diana fumed, glaring at her. “You don’t show up in my life unless you want something.”

  “That is harsh. I love you. You’re my only daughter,” Ellen sniffled, and Diana rolled her eyes and stared at her, waiting on her to crack. “Well, you are my only daughter!”

  “And you’ve been such a great parent,” Diana grimaced as she rose and carried her plate to the sink, having eaten only a couple of bites. Her appetite had vanished.

  Ellen shot to her feet, her hands slamming down on the table. The wine glasses bobbled again, but neither of them moved to protect them. “You watch your damn mouth! I took care of you when that piece of shit left us. I sacrificed for you, over and over again.”

  “Sacrificed what?” Diana interjected, her voice rising as well. “You left me at the house alone more often than not, you stole money from me, you treated me like shit! And now that I’m away from you, you keep showing up when you’re desperate!”

  “I’m not desperate for anything except my daughter’s love,” Ellen whispered, real tears starting to fall.

  Diana crossed her arms over her chest, leaned against the counter, and harrumphed. “What a show. Your acting has certainly improved.”

  “Acting?” she spluttered, a sob catching in her throat. When Diana simply stared at her, she swiped the tears away and blinked quickly. “Fine. I need some money. Got myself in a little bit of a bind.”

  “Shocking,” Diana replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “I don’t have any extra money right now.”

  “You could ask your rich boyfriend for some,” Ellen hinted.

  “Oh, my God!” Diana scoffed, shaking her head in amazement. “You are unbelievable.”

  “Why can’t you ask him? He has plenty. It wouldn’t hurt him to help out his former mother-in-law,” Ellen whined.

  “Oh, please. You barely even spoke to him,” Diana returned. “And he hated you because of the way you treated me. The answer is no.”

  “You ungrateful bitch. After everything I did for you,” Ellen replied.

  “My conscience no longer feels guilty when you try that shit on me, Mother.” Diana straightened away from the wall and walked to her door. She unlocked it and opened it. “You need to leave. And I don’t want you to come back. Ever.”

  Diana had told her this before, but she had always backed down, had always found a little extra money to give her so she would leave. She meant it now, and Ellen’s wide-eyed expression told Diana she understood that.

  “You’re not seriously throwing your mother out, are you? I’m your only family!”

  “I don’t need family like you. Get out.” Diana’s resolve wanted to crumble as real hurt flashed across her duplicitous mother’s face. But she reminded herself that her mother was a talented liar and could convince almost anyone of anything. She hardened her heart and pointed a thumb at the door. “Get out.”

  Ellen grabbed the bag she’d carried in and stomped past Diana, the smell of smoke following her like a cloud. She turned on the doorstep. “You were always such a disappointment, Diana. So stupid, and so ugly. I’m surprised you could even find a man.”

  “Mother, I look like you, or what you would look like if you took care of yourself,” Diana reminded her. “So I guess we’re both ugly. But at least I’m not ugly on the inside as well.”

  “Fuck you, we’re done. I hope I never see you again!” Ellen screeched.

  “Same to you.” Diana slammed the door and locked it, hoping her mother would leave and not start banging on the door like a maniac. The woman yelled a couple more insults and left, and Diana slumped against the door and released her emotions.

  Sobs tore through her body. She hated her mother and wanted nothing to do with her. But the woman was her only family, and now Diana was alone. She sobbed until her body hurt and her face was soaked. She let herself wallow in her sadness for ten minutes, and then she picked herself up off the floor.

  You aren’t alone! she reminded herself as she cleaned the plate her mother had used. She dug out the matches she used to light candles and lit all five she had around the apartment, hoping to dispel the scent of cigarettes left by her mother. You have Alyssa and Travis, Cameron and Ronnie. You are not alone, she repeated internally as she loaded the dishwasher. She stared at the plate filled with her food and decided she needed to eat it. No use wasting good food over that woman.

  She glanced at the clock and frowned. She still had an hour before her Skype date with Travis, but her excitement and lust from earlier had gone. Their chat tonight would be like the others, smiling and laughing. Except she didn’t feel like doing either of those things, and if she faked it, he would know. She would have to tell him about her mother’s visit.

  “Fuck.” Travis was furious. What should have been a simple correction of paperwork had turned into a huge conspiracy that went back to the 198
0s. Doctor Smith had won the heart of the woman the city manager had been in love with when they were young, and he’d held the grudge for forty years. When the doctors decided to buy the building, the guy had started working every avenue to keep them from buying it, and when unsuccessful, from renovating it.

  It was already two o’clock, the Ed Sheeran concert was at eight, and there was no way he’d be able to make it. Telling Diana this only a few hours before the concert was going to be a terrible experience, but he had to do it. She’d told him about her mother visiting her, and he’d hated that he hadn’t been there with her. She’d needed his comfort. And now he was about to jerk the rug out from under her with this.

  He was grateful he’d given her the tickets before he’d left so she could hold on to them. He tended to lose things like tickets. She would at least be able to take someone with her. Since he’d figured out he wouldn’t be able to leave, he’d been composing his reassurances that he was not slipping into his old habits. He’d missed several events while they were married, and he didn’t want her to think he would start doing it again.

  Michael walked into the makeshift office they’d set up in the business center at their hotel just as Travis picked up his phone. Rather than irritated, he was happy to see his friend, who was interrupting what was going to be an unpleasant conversation.

  “Any luck?” he asked. Michael had been working with a private investigator all afternoon. They needed proof that the city manager was doing something illegal, not just hiding papers.

  “Not yet. As far as we’ve been able to find and see, the man is as clean as he seems to be. He just hates Smith.” He flopped down in a chair next to Travis, releasing a pent-up sigh.

  “What are we going to do?”

  “We’re wining and dining this guy tonight. We have to convince him and his wife—his second choice, apparently—that letting the doctors have this building will not put them in danger.”

  “What kind of danger could they possibly be afraid of?” Travis asked skeptically.

  “I think the second-choice wife is afraid if first-choice gal moves back to town, which will probably happen, that the hubby will try to cheat.”

  “Jesus Christ,” Travis mumbled. “Are we in a soap opera?”

  Michael chuckled. “Feels like it, huh?”

  “Well, I have to call Diana and tell her I’m not gonna make the concert tonight,” Travis told him. He glanced up at his friend and sighed. “You’ll probably want to leave the room.”

  “Who are you supposed to see?”

  “Ed Sheeran.”

  “I don’t even know who that is.”

  “You’re not a woman,” Travis informed him. “He is a talented guy, though. Diana is very excited.”

  “Can’t she take a friend?”

  “I’m sure she’ll take her best friend, but she really wanted to go with me. So this is going to be an ass-whooping of a conversation.”

  “You know what you should do?” Travis lifted his eyebrows in question. “You should get her and her friend a hotel room near the venue so they can make a night of it. Great surprise, and she might not be as mad.”

  Travis chuckled and nodded his head, though he wasn’t sure Diana would like that as much as another woman might. But it was sound advice. “I think I’ll do that. Thanks.”

  “I’m out,” Michael said, lifting his hands and heading out. “If you call her now, you’ll have time for a nap before dinner.”

  “Or a drink,” Travis mumbled after he closed the door behind him. He typed in the location of the venue and found a hotel within walking distance. He prayed they had a room free, and after a search, he discovered they had a suite available. He booked it for the weekend and hoped he’d be home tomorrow to join her. He also hoped Alyssa would go home.

  With a deep breath, he picked up his phone and hit her number, hoping she’d answer.

  Diana glanced down when her phone buzzed on her desk. She was busy with the sexual harassment case, so busy she had skipped lunch. When her phone buzzed, her stomach answered, growling angrily so the world knew it was empty.

  Cameron, who sat across from her, laughed. “We missed lunch. Take your call and I’ll order us something.”

  “Okay,” she said with a smile. Her smile widened when she saw Travis’ name on her screen. “Well, hello, handsome.”

  “Ah, my gorgeous girlfriend, how is your day?”

  “Busy, busy, busy,” she said with a sigh before perking up. “But don’t worry. Cameron promised I’d be finished early enough to get dolled up for the concert tonight. I’m so excited!” There was a hesitation on the other end of the line, and Diana’s smile dimmed when another few seconds passed and he hadn’t said a word. “Travis? Did I lose you?”

  “Um, no. But listen,” Travis began, and Diana felt her heart sink into her stomach. “I’m not going to be able to come home tonight.”

  “What? Why?” she asked, the words leaving her mouth so quickly they almost became one word.

  Travis cleared his throat. “Well, this deal has become a thorn in our sides, but we’ve invested too much money to just drop it and walk away. I have to do some wining and dining tonight to convince the city manager to let this project go through.”

  Diana was both sad and angry, and she wasn’t sure which of the two emotions she should give power. Was he becoming a workaholic again? As if reading her mind, he continued speaking.

  “Babe, listen. This is the first trip I’ve had to take in six months. I rarely have something like this come up, and when I do, I’ll try to make sure it doesn’t interfere with our time,” Travis explained, a note of pleading in his voice.

  “You know, I’ve heard that before,” Diana reminded him gently. “I’m trying not to be angry, but I can’t go through what I went through last time. I had to heal a broken heart and my credit score.”

  Travis chuckled at her little joke. “Well, at least you can joke.” When she didn’t speak, he continued quickly. “I had no idea when I got here this would turn into the clusterfuck it has. I would never bail on you like this.”

  She sighed, a sadness in the sound. “Do you promise you’re not still a workaholic and have been hiding it the past few weeks? Because that’s a lie I don’t think I can forgive.”

  “I promise. You can ask Michael, if I can find him,” he said, and she giggled a little. He’d told her about Michael dating the secretary and wondered if he meant he was with her.

  “Okay,” she conceded. “I won’t be mad.”

  “You shouldn’t be,” he teased. “I mean, you get to listen to Ed Sheeran in the third row. You might get to touch his hand if you’re crafty enough to sneak up front.”

  “Oh, I’m crafty,” she told him, giggling again.

  “Good. You can take Alyssa. The two of you can swoon all night, and you won’t have to worry about me being jealous,” Travis joked. “And I have another surprise.”

  “Oh really? Think you can buy my forgiveness?”

  “You are a female, right?”

  “Whoa whoa, watch it, now,” Diana growled, though she wasn’t really offended. “Better be careful.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I am properly chastised.”

  “What’s my surprise, smart ass?”

  “I booked a suite for you and Alyssa tonight, and I booked it tomorrow night for you and me,” Travis announced.

  Diana’s gasped loudly. “Oh, my God, Travis! That’s not necessary. I wasn’t really mad.”

  “I know you’re not, but I want you to have a good time with Alyssa tonight, and an even better time tomorrow night with me,” he said. “I’ll text you the info when we’re done talking.”

  “I can’t believe you did that,” Diana said, shaking her head. “You are too good to me, you know.”

  “Lot to make up for.”

  “I do, too, and I think we’re doing a splendid job of it,” Diana told him, smiling.

  She could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “I agree.”<
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  They finished their conversation, saying sweet I love yous at the end. Diana felt like she had won the lottery with this man. He was like a new man, and she felt as if she were a new woman. They made each other better, and she hoped they’d keep doing it for years and years. Decades, even.

  “What is that ridiculous grin on your face?” Cameron asked when he returned a second later. “Have you gone daft due to hunger?”

  “No,” Diana said with a roll of her eyes as she set her phone on the desk. “Travis can’t make the concert tonight and felt so guilty, he reserved a suite at some fancy hotel downtown near the venue.”

  “That’s fantastic! And so exciting!” Cameron exclaimed as he sat down heavily in the chair. “I want your boyfriend to be my boyfriend.”

  “I know!” Diana laughed, slapping his leg playfully. “Anyway, I’m taking Alyssa with me. We’ll have so much fun.”

  “Ah, honey, you will have fun. I’m so happy for you,” Cameron said. “However, if we don’t get this nonsense finished, I won’t let you leave. You’ll have a terrific boyfriend and an asshole for a boss.”

  Diana snorted. “Like you could ever really be an asshole. Let me text Alyssa and I’ll get back to it. We can work while we eat.”

  Chapter 16

  “I can’t believe this is our room!” Alyssa shrieked as she ran about looking into every nook and cranny. She threw herself onto the bed and squealed again.

  Diana snickered as she wandered the room, depositing her luggage in a chair. “I can’t believe how fancy this room is. And it’s right across the street from the venue.”

  “We can go to dinner and have several drinks, then scream our asses off at Ed Sheeran,” Alyssa said. She grabbed her phone and hurried to the window. “Get over here and let’s do a selfie of us and the view. Post that to Facebook and think about all the jealous bitches.”

  Diana rolled her eyes but posed with her friend. After about five, they found one they agreed they both looked good in, and Alyssa plopped on the bed again to post it. As Diana headed for the bathroom, she called to Alyssa, “Hey, tag me in it so Travis can see it. He needs to see what he’s missing.”