Doreen braced her hand on the back of her chair to keep her balance. “Is that what this is about? You’re comparing our relationship to what I had with Paul?”
“I have a right to know.”
“What gives you that right?” The words ripped from her throat. Her body shook with outrage. “The fact that we’re sleeping together?”
“Is that all our relationship is to you?”
“I’m through with defending myself to you.” Doreen fisted her hands.
“I just want to know where I stand in your new life. What role do I play?”
“I’ve told you how I feel. I respect your right to decide if that’s enough for you. But I will not continually apologize or explain myself to you.”
Leonard nodded once. “Then I’ve made my decision. This semirelationship isn’t enough for me. I need more.”
His words took her breath away. Maybe she should have known this would happen. Instead, Leonard had caught her off guard as he turned and walked out of her home. Out of her life?
Saturday evening, Darius’s mother let him into his childhood home. He watched Ethel as she locked the front door. His mother stayed fit with aerobics classes at the university. She was well-groomed, with minimal makeup. Not a hair out of place. Her leaf green sundress complemented her smooth maple skin. Only her fuzzy bedroom slippers seemed out of place.
“Is Dad home?”
“I don’t know where your father is.” Ethel didn’t sound as though she cared, either.
Darius followed his mother into the great room. The space was large and tidy, well-maintained rather than cared for. The white walls were sparsely covered with flowers Ethel had dried and framed. The fireplace’s maple mantel on the far wall displayed her collection of ornamental birds—glass, china, porcelain, and wood. Heavy red curtains covered the two large front windows. Was Ethel shutting the town out or closing herself in?
The room was devoid of family mementoes, no pictures commemorating his parents’ wedding or anniversaries. There weren’t photographs chronicling his birth or childhood. Had they ever been a real family?
Darius looked at his mother seated on the stiff red paisley sofa in front of the television. She was watching a cable network reality show.
He checked his Timex watch as he lowered himself onto the matching armchair. It wasn’t yet five o’clock. “Will Dad be home for dinner?”
“I don’t know. Hush.” His mother pointed the remote at the television screen and pumped up the volume.
Darius raised his voice to be heard above the program. “How long has he been gone?”
“Darius.” His mother turned toward him. Her scowl had been a familiar expression since childhood. “I’m watching my show. I don’t know where your father is, and I don’t care.”
“How do you feel about his petition?” Darius knew the answer before she spoke.
Ethel’s expression darkened. “How do you think I feel? I don’t want your father to be mayor of Trinity Falls. I don’t even want him in the race.”
“Why is he running?”
Ethel returned her attention to her program. “Who knows why he does what he does?”
“When did he decide to run?”
She glared at him again. “Why are you asking me all of these questions?”
“Because I want to understand what’s going on.” Darius leaned forward on his seat, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t remember Dad ever donating to a fund-raiser, volunteering for civic events, or even signing a petition. Do you?”
“No.”
Darius met his mother’s gaze across the room. “What makes someone like that wake up one day and decide to become mayor?”
“I don’t know.” Confusion mixed with irritation in Ethel’s black eyes. “But I don’t need to understand. I just want him to stop.”
Darius stood, crossing to the front windows. He nudged apart the curtains to check the street. Where was his father?