Quitting this Family after Being Abandoned for Laughs novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: Mom in the Lobby

On Wednesday afternoon the front desk called up to my floor.

"Ms. Loomis, there's a woman in the lobby who says she's your mother."

I put down my pencil.

I had been in Myria for four days. I had a desk by the window, a team who brought me coffee without being asked, and a rule about walking home.

Declan looked up from his corner office, across the open floor, and saw my face.

"I'll come down with you," he said.

"No. I'll go."

"Then I'll stand at the top of the stairs."

I went down alone.

My mother was standing in the middle of the marble lobby with a gray suitcase at her feet and a clear plastic folder in her hands.

She had lost weight. Her hair was flat, her pearls were gone, and her eyes were swollen.

She saw me and went straight down on her knees on the marble.

"Tara."

"Get up, Mom."

"I flew twelve hours. I haven't slept. I came to beg."

The receptionist stopped typing.

Two men by the elevators turned around.

I put my hands in my pockets and started my phone recording.

"What do you want?" I said.

"Your father." She held up the folder with both hands. "He's been charged. Attempted drugging of a guest, and conspiracy. The district attorney says they'll drop it if the family signs a statement saying it was a misunderstanding."

"A statement from who?"

"From you. From Colin. From the family." She was crying so hard that her voice cracked. "Colin refused. He won't speak to us. You're the only one left."

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