Page 63 of Her Brother's Billionaire Best Friend

So I made up my mind as the yacht came toward the jetty on the opposite side of the lake. I’d take Laura for a walk under the ancient trees, which stood beside the jetty on the opposite side of the lake. And I’d tell her who I really was. She might be angry—might be confused and hurt. But I knew she’d understand after she’d left me so suddenly. She might even be happy to see me again.

But as we stepped down along the gangway and onto the jetty, I could feel something was wrong. Someone was watching us from the trees, a shadow. I tried to think who it could be—almost everyone in town was back there at the festival.

As we approached the bank, Laura took my arm. “Who’s that?” she murmured at the person making their way through the trees, trotting down the bank to meet us.

“Thought it was you,” said a harsh voice from the shadows ahead. And for a moment I thought someone had recognized me.

“Laura,” I said. “Let’s go.” I was frantic. I squeezed her hand, but Laura was frozen in place, her eyes wide with shock. “Mom?” she whispered, disbelief evident in her voice.

“I recognized you as you were coming into dock.”

It was only as the figure stepped forward, out from under the thick, gnarled roots, that I realized they weren’t even speaking to me. As she stood in the blue light, I could see her grey hair, tousled and cut short on the sides. Her face was lined and weathered with months of hard living, and she was dressed in jeans and hiking boots, an old flannel shirt beneath her raincoat.

The woman standing before us was Tracey Solomon, Laura’s mother.

Chapter 19

Laura

“Mom?” I whispered, my voice already hoarse, my heart shaking. It had been over ten years since I’d last set sights on my mom. Her hair seemed to be grey and the lines on her face had deepened. But she was unmistakable, thanks to the glaring blue color of her eyes. Even in the Twilight, her eyes stood out. I felt as if someone had crept up on me in the near-dark and shone a torch into my face.

“Hello, Laura,” said my mom. “Who’s your friend?”

She gestured at me, without taking her hands out of her coat pockets.

I didn’t know what to expect from seeing my mom again. I really didn’t know whether I'd hug her or whether she’d yell at me, or whether something entirely different would happen that I hadn’t predicted. There was no way to tell. Conor always said that getting conversation out of my mom was like trying to get blood from a turnip. And he was right. Tracey never showed you anything unless she wanted to. And now, as we stood a few meters away from each other on the pebbled shore, I realized that I knew almost nothing about what she’d been up to.

“I thought you lived by the depot now,” I said weakly, trying to make conversation, trying to avoid the inevitable.

“I got a place out here I use for research,” my mom said. “I came over to see the fireworks.”

I turned to Lucien. He gave me a firm look, and turned towards my mom. “Mrs. Solomon,” he said.

My mom peered at Lucien in the dark. She blinked, and then shook her head before peering again at Lucien. “Well I’ll be…” she said. “Doesn’t he remind you of Conor, Laura?”

I frowned. I could hear the mocking tone in my mom’s voice, so I replied quickly.

“Lucien’s a friend. We were just exploring.”

“Uh huh. That your fancy boat, Lucien?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Well, aren’t your manners nice,” she replied.

Lucien said nothing, but stood close to me. Even from here I could sense his mood darkening. Whatever had made my mom come over and say hello, it obviously wasn’t for a nice family reunion.

“What do you want, Mom?” I frowned.

I saw my mom’s jaw clench, and she looked around, as if we were just part of the scenery. That was my mom all over. If it wasn’t a tree or a moss or a soil sample, she didn’t want to know. My mom taught biology at the community college in Freetown, but she’d always been more interested in collecting her samples than teaching her students. People weren’t interesting to her. David had told me that she’d retired a few years after I skipped town. And now that my dad had died, she was out here.

“I don’t want anything, Laura. Just came to say ‘hi’ that’s all. Since, you know. You couldn’t be bothered.”

I pursed my lips. “You could also have come by.”

“I’m busy. I’m not often in town these days. Mostly only come in for supplies. And besides, thought I’d let you settle in. Speaking of which, how’s my grandson?”

“He’s fine.”