Page 67 of WASP

“Over the years, I’ve had the immense pleasure of watching Caroline blossom into the beautiful, thoughtful woman she is today. When I think of Wellington Point, I can’t imagine a single person more perfectly equipped to be our town commissioner than Caroline McHenry. She embodies honor, trust, and commitment to doing the right thing.”

In the seconds following Colleen’s statement, a number of things happened in very rapid succession.

First, Annie’s loud outburst of “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” drawing every pair of eyes away from her mother directly to their cocktail table, followed by Austin’s equally loud snort of delight.

Then, a bolt of lightning cracked across the darkening sky, winds whipping around as party decorations went airborne. Red, white, and blue cocktail napkins danced in the air around them, mixed with big, heavy raindrops beginning to fall. But it was her mother’s face, frozen in horror at the audacity of Annie’s very public outburst, that told her how much trouble she was about to be in before the sky fully opened, dumping sheets of rain onto the party.

People scattered in all directions, running to the house for cover.

“Annie, let’s go; it’s not safe out here,” Max urged, tugging at her arm, but Annie was rooted to the spot, rain soaking through her dress, hair matted to her face, eyes never leaving her mother.

“Annie, inside. Now,” came Drew’s gruff instruction as he pushed her gently, enough to get her moving.

The four of them—Max, Jack, Drew, and Annie—ducked into the house to escape the rain, but the moment they were inside, her mother joined them. Her mother, someone who usually looked so put together, was anything but right now with wet hair and mascara running down her cheeks. She looked angrier than Annie had ever seen her, but her words were sickly sweet as she spoke to the group.

She turned first to look at Drew. “Andrew, sweetheart, why don’t you go make sure everyone has what they need and that your father has things under control.” Her attention shifted to Jack and Max next. “Jack, Maxine, food is set up in the dining room. Please continue to help yourself to anything you want.” Finally her attention landed on Annie, her dark blue eyes stormy with rage and embarrassment. “Annie, a word upstairs please,” she said, her hand gripping Annie’s elbow as she led her away from the group where Max was looking helplessly at her, unsure what to do.

I’ve got this, she mouthed to Max, following her mother up the back stairs and down the hall into her father’s study. The room was one Annie always associated with being in trouble. Whenever she or her siblings needed to be reprimanded as kids, their father would call them into his study where he sat behind his expansive mahogany desk, doling out punishments fit for whatever crime they had committed.

Raindrops pelted glass window panes as the storm raged on outside, lightning illuminating the darkened room in eerie flashes that only further energized Annie.

“Anne Elizabeth Dillinger,” her mother said, soft and dangerous. The lethal combination of her full name had always been an indicator of how badly Annie had fucked up, but tonight she didn’t care. “What on earth were you thinking, causing a scene like that?”

Annie crossed her arms, rolling her eyes because she wouldn’t even call what transpired on the lawn minutes ago a scene—more like a sacrifice of Annie’s dignity at the hands of her own mother.

“All I said was you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. What was that out there, Mom?” She pointed to the window, to the yard beyond, her voice cracking as she tried to understand the betrayal. “Caroline of all people?” was all she managed to get out, tears threatening to push past the wall of strength she braced herself against.

Her mom gave an exasperated sigh, raising her hands up in the air before dropping them. “Annie, you need to grow up. There is life and a bigger purpose beyond you and your feelings. We’re talking about the good of Wellington Point here. Your father and I have always supported Kent and his politics. Why would that change with Caroline?”

A blinding flash of light illuminated the floor-to-ceiling bookcases, casting long shadows across the room. Booming thunder followed immediately—the storm now directly over them.

“Because she broke my heart. She lied. She manipulated me and she cheated on me.” Annie’s breath shook as she hoisted her deepest hurt to the surface. “Because I’m your daughter and you should have taken my side.” Her words shook as they spilled out of her.

“You’ve always been so dramatic. This has nothing to do with any of that,” her mother mumbled, crossing her arms defensively and completely sidestepping every one of Annie’s hurt feelings. “There are two sides to every breakup, honey—a public and a private side. I’m sorry that privately Caroline hurt you, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to change the way our families have publicly interacted for decades. How would that make me look to all of our friends?”

Perception. The curse of Wellington Point that held her in shackles, unable to break free. Everything here centered around managing perception and other people’s expectations, and Annie was over it.

Another flash of lightning, followed by a subterranean grumble that started low and built, shaking the very foundation of the house, rattling the panes of glass as it filled Annie’s quiet rage.

Her mother’s voice attempted to mimic a soothing tone as she spoke softly. “The sooner you learn to accept that, the happier you’ll be, sweetheart.”

Tears rolled silently down Annie’s swollen cheeks, her arms wrapped tightly around her body in an attempt to self-soothe. Her mother’s gaze trailed over her before she stepped forward, reaching her hand out to wipe away her tears. But Annie didn’t let her.

She took a step back, away from her mother’s touch. “How can you turn around and try and comfort me now?” she asked, truly not understanding.

Her mother’s aggravated sigh followed her question. “I’m doing my best, Annie, but your feelings have always been too big, too much. You’re never settled.”

Annie’s heart shattered hearing those words fall from her mother’s perfectly lined lips. Too much. She had spent her entire life bending herself into different shapes trying to find the ones that pleased her mother the most, always coming up empty-handed.

She hiccuped, drawing on her inner strength to say the thing she needed to most. “I’m not too much, Mom.” Her voice cracked, hidden in the rumblings of the passing storm. “I wanted my mother to actually stand up for me and love me when I needed it most. Not repeatedly try to push me back towards someone who hurt me. But for the last nine months you’ve made me feel so bad for what Caroline did to me. Made me feel like I should have tried harder to make things work with her when I was the one who got my heart obliterated. And now that I’ve finally gotten myself to a place where I feel like I’m in love—” She choked, her words vulnerable and full of the very real feelings she carried for Max. “Now that I’m healed and have some semblance of a plan again you’re still here rubbing it in my face that at the end of the day, you loved Caroline more than you have ever loved me, your own child.”

The room was growing lighter as the gray storm clouds moved on, the sounds of thunder becoming a distant noise paired with an occasional flash of lightning still hanging in the sky.

“You know how much I love you.”

“How. How would I know, Mom? You never tell me,” she shot back. Wanting to hear her mom say it, Annie racked her mind; she couldn’t recall a time since she had moved home when her mother had uttered those three words to her.

“Because I cleared the way for you to have a big life. Don’t you see that?”