“She did what?” Delilah pushed past her mother and took off her coat. Thankfully she didn’t look too different from when she left. “Threaten you how?”
“Answer my question.” Her mother crossed her arms.
“I was with... with... Queen.”
Her mother narrowed eyes on her.
“What?” Delilah asked.
“You’re lying,” her mother said.
“Huh?”
“Queen was here. She went looking for you. Where were you!” Delores demanded.
“What time was Queen here?” Delilah looked around. “Cause I saw her later. I went for a drive and then...”
“You’re lying!” Delores snapped.
Delilah walked away. She went to her closet to undress but remembered she had no underclothes because she left them with Maverick. Her mother marched in, blocking any retreat. “What is going with you, girl? What did you do at that brunch? It’s all over the internet. They said you sent that video to everyone. That crazy video on the news went viral because of you? Did you do this on purpose?”
Delilah closed her eyes to keep from spiraling out of the isolated happiness Maverick created for her. “Mama, it’s complicated. Can we drop it, please?”
“Oh baby, I know that. Believe me, I know. What did you do?” Delilah found herself once again unable to explain her feelings. She was trapped in the same frozen silence Maverick found her in. When it came to digging into the pain, she preferred to shut down. Delores hugged Delilah from behind until the spell broke. It gave Delilah such comfort.
“I’m worried about you, girl,” Delores said. Delilah turned and hugged her mother. The release forced her to stare at it all, not from her new perspective, but from the perspective of the other woman that lived inside of her and carried doubt and regret in her heart. That woman did love Charles once; that woman believed in him, too. It was that woman who fought to keep him alive when his mother and doctors said she should let him go. The secret and lies were the most devastating truth of their union. It meant to her that he never loved her. From the moment she arrived to when she hit send on her phone to deliver the truth to the world, she shared the entire story with her mother. Crying every and now and then between the heartbreak.
“I’m sorry, baby, I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” said Delores.
“I just needed time to clear my head. That’s the truth. I needed to go somewhere and be free of all of it for a while.”
“Okay, okay.” Delores let her go and returned to the room. Delilah took the time to unzip her dress and then slip on her kimono. Her mother returned with tissues.
“Ma?” she said.
“Yes?” Delores said. Her mother assumed the role of caregiver and dried her tears.
“Mother Abigail was her true nasty self today.” Delilah escaped the closet with Delores on her heels. “She said some nasty things about you and Daddy.”
“Like what?” her mother asked.
“The past. When I was ten. Did she threaten you, mama?” Delilah asked.
“What are you talking about?” Delores said as she rubbed the side of her arm.
“You said she called and threatened you. Not me. She threatened you. How? Was it the way she threatened you before?”
“Before what?” Delores asked.
“Before I was the rising star of Falcon Cove. Before I knew who the Montgomery’s would become in my life. You knew who Mother Abigail was. Right mama? Like when Mr. Collins hurt my friends and you and Mother Abigail told their parents to drop the charges?”
“I did that to give you girls a future. One I never had. You’re smart, beautiful, and talented. We left Falcon Cove and went to Massachusetts for you to start school. That wasn’t for the Montgomery’s or your friends. That was for you. I had no idea that you would meet Charles in college. Or that you would come home barely eighteen and tell me that you wanted to be a wife instead of a lawyer. I was shocked.”
“So was I,” Delilah mumbled.
“You’re stubborn, Dee. I prayed for your marriage and for you, Delilah. I prayed hard. My prayers were answered. You were happy. You thrived. Then I see that video. I see what he was, and I know you must have lost so much faith in people after this. My sweet Noah. He belongs to that man. It’s all a nightmare.”
“How did she threaten you? What is it that I don’t know?” Delilah demanded.
“Forget Mother Abigail! She said some stupid stuff about our family being nothing and returning to nothing. She can’t touch any of us with the truth out there.”
“Is that all, mama? Is there anything else?” Delilah asked. “Because I can’t take any more lies and secrets in my life. No more.”
“Everything’s fine. There’s nothing else,” Delores promised.
Delilah sighed in relief.
“Alright, I’m tired. I need to take a shower and get in bed,” Delilah said.
Delores agreed. She walked over and kissed her daughter on the cheek. Delilah gave her mother a reassuring smile before she walked her to the door. Alone Delilah went to bed. A part of her wanted to talk to Maverick, but she found it dead when she got her phone. She put it on the charger and got nothing. She feared it was destroyed in the cold. Delilah sat on her bed, picked up the house phone on the dresser, and dialed her friend. While it rang, she turned on the television and used her remote to switch to her security feed. The cameras she had installed were for security purposes before she knew Maverick. It gave her the option to check in on him. When she did, she found him sitting in front of the television watching the late-night news and drinking a beer.
“Hey? You home now? Good. I’m ten minutes away,” Queen said.
“Wait, what? Queen?” Delilah said.
The phone disconnected.
Delilah sighed. She stripped her robe and hurried into the shower.
QUEEN HAD HER OWN KEY to the Ranch. She was uncertain if the house slept. Still, she hit the doorbell to give Delilah the notice she was there. She unlocked the door and came inside. Delilah was already halfway down the stairs in her robe when she entered. Her friend had a towel wrapped up and around her hair. She was fresh out of the shower. Queen rolled her eyes at the cheery smile on Delilah’s face. She pointed for them to head to the back of the ranch, to the television room. Delilah nodded and followed her.
Earlier, when she couldn’t find her friend, she was pushed into extreme anxiety. Goodiva was missing, and now her only other friend in the world was at that moment. Queen went to the cottage to talk to Maverick to see if he had heard from her. There was no answer to her knocking at the door. She returned and spoke to Delilah’s parents again. For Queen, it didn’t make sense. Delilah was not the kind of mother to disappear. She went to her room to see if there was something she’d left, and for some reason, she decided again to check on Maverick. This time she relied on the security feed she installed under Delilah’s request to the cottage. They didn’t know what kind of man he was and wanted to keep an eye on him. The first thing she noticed was Delilah’s coat and dress left on the floor. Queen should have known the answer to her question. But she checked the bedrooms and caught a glimpse of the two making love.