Betrayed By Him (Book Two in Paradise Mountains Series)

8. Motherly Love

    Cassie had a bad feeling since this morning, when she woke up and her mother wasn’t sleeping in a drunkard stupor, passed out in the sofa. In fact, if the smell from the kitchen meant anything, was that she was happily making breakfast.

    “Good morning, sleepy head.”

    Cassie frowned. Since when was her mother so cheerful? And so early in the morning?

    “Mom? What are you doing up so early?”

    “Can’t a mother cook breakfast for her baby girl?”

    Cassie’s stomach churned at the thought of eating something so greasy in the morning. It was so rare that Martha was even awake before noon that she was used to eating fruit or cereals in the morning. Bacon and eggs? She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten that.

    Even so, she sat obediently at the table, while her mother was displaying eggs on a plate.

    “What’s the occasion?” she asked, out of curiosity. This was her old mother, when she was still mum, when her father hadn’t vanished without a trace and her mom hadn’t seek out comfort on the end of a bottle. Why had her resurfaced now, ten years later?

    “Today is a very special day.”

    Cassie wracked her brain, trying to understand. It wasn’t her birthday, since that had stopped being a joyful occasion ten years ago. It wasn’t also her mother’s, since it was a remembrance that she was getting older. Frowning, she started to eat the eggs, almost chocking due to the copious amount of salt.

    “Mom! Did you just spill the salt shaker on the eggs?” she asked before drinking the warm milk.

    “Oh, too much? Well, don’t eat them then.”

    And all the fluffy eggs ended up on the trash bin. Cassie sighed. It was the first breakfast in ages and ended up on the trash. Great.

    “We wouldn’t want to put any more sodium chloride in this little body, now would we?”

    The sweetness was making Cassie feel sick. Her mother was acting weirder by the minute.

    She slipped on her mother’s sugary tune and almost run out of the door. It was still early, although not as early as usual. Cassie almost run, trying to reach her bathroom before the beginning of the classes. Once arrived, she chose an empty stall and rummaged through her bag pack until she found the small razor. Cassie looked at it, mesmerized. A cut. It was all she needed. A small cut to take off the edge, the nervousness of her mother’s behavior. Just one…

    The bell ringing startled her. She had lost too much time looking at the razor. Cursing between her breath, she shoved the razor back into the bag pack, and ran to classes.

    The day was uneventful and when Cassie returned home, she had almost forgotten about her mother’s good humor. She half-expected to find her passed out at the sofa, but again, she wasn’t that lucky. Martha was humming to herself; the house was cleaned and shiny, and the table was set for three. Something was coming out of the oven that smelled marvelously and Cassie’s stomach growled in response.

    “Mom? What’s up?”

    “We’re having a guest for dinner.”

    “It’s still early…”

    “Yeah, well, he likes to dine early.”

    “He?”

    The door bell rang and her mother all but sang a “Coming” before hushing to Cassie:

    “Go clean yourself up, you look like just you left gym classes.”

    “I did leave gym classes now…” Cassie muttered before hearing a cheerful voice booming from the entrance door:

    “Hello, dear.”

    Dread crept her stomach and she suddenly felt the urge to vomit. No, no, no..  she chanted to herself, almost to the brink of tears. And suddenly, the sugary sweetness of her mother made all sense.