Chapter 36 The Apple Falls Far From the Tree
Andrea didn’t have a chance to talk to Case about anything before his mother brought up the incident that had caused Sarah to make her angry phone call that morning. They were all seated around the dining table, eating the Meyer family’s traditional New Year’s Day brunch when Mrs. Meyer bluntly said, “Well, it’s too bad the pair of you had to make such a spectacle of yourself last night. The tabloids will be talking about this for months to come!”
With her mouth full of quiche, Andrea looked around the table. The others all looked embarrassed. Except for Case. His eyes were down case, focused on his plate, as if he were struggling with whether or not to yell at his mother or confess to Andrea that he already knew what she was talking about.
“Spectacle?” Andrea asked, looking from Case to Rhonda and then back again. “I don’t… what?”
“Oh? You haven’t seen the pictures? You must be the only one in the world who hasn’t. I don’t even have any social media accounts and I must’ve seen it a thousand times.”
Still not exactly sure what the woman was getting at, Andrea turned to Case again. “What pictures?”
Reluctantly, he lifted his head. “Pictures of us last night. At midnight.”
It all set in, then. They had kissed at midnight, and while she had been a little on the drunk side, she remembered it well. That was the sort of kiss one didn’t easily forget. Andrea could only assume it was obvious in the pictures how much passion she was feeling with Case’s lips on hers.
“Naturally, I’ve had all sorts of people contacting me,” Mrs. Meyer continued, as if she were personally offended that her son would be caught kissing anyone in public. “I’m so… ashamed.”
“Ashamed?” Case asked, locking his eyes on his mother. “Of what? It was a kiss at midnight, Mother. Nearly everyone who came with a date as kissing. Hell, you and Edward kissed, didn’t you?”
The business man’s eyes widened as if to say, “Leave me out of this.”
He didn’t get a chance to speak anyway. “We may have kissed, but we certainly weren’t playing tongue hockey in front of everyone!”
“Oh, Mom….” Case shook his head and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. “You’re being overly dramatic.”
Shayna had been sitting quietly but chose that time to speak her mind. “Mother, you really do need to stay out of it. If it had been Sarah, you wouldn’t have minded at all.”
“But it wasn’t Sarah, was it?” Rhonda’s anger was bubbling. “Poor Sarah had to see it, though. Had to turn on her phone on this holiday morning and see the man she loves making out with some—”
“Some what?” Case demanded, his voice much harsher than Andrea had ever heard it before.
His mom’s eyes bulged, giving Andrea the impression he’d never raised his voice to her before. Her hand went to his arm. “It’s okay,” Andrea said quietly. She caught his eyes, and he took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself.
Turning to Mrs. Meyer, Andrea said, “I’m sorry if we embarrassed you. That certainly wasn’t the intent. I don’t think either of us realized there would be photographers paying any mind to us.”
“Why wouldn’t there be? You are a famous actress, aren’t you?” The way Mrs. Meyer said the words “famous actress” seemed so condescending, Andrea had to bite her tongue.
“Yes, but there were lots of famous people there. I was under the impression they’d be paying more attention to the mayor and his family,” Andrea explained.
“And miss a chance to make money? I’m sure the photographer who took that picture made a pretty penny or two.” She shook her head an huffed a few times.
Clearing her throat, Andrea slid her chair back. “I apologize, Mrs. Meyer. There’s really not much else I can say. Now, if you’ll excuse me….”
“Andrea, you don’t have to go….”
Case’s voice trailed after her, but Andrea didn’t stop. She needed to put some space between herself and Mrs. Meyer before she said something she regretted. How someone so downright evil could’ve ever produced such kind, considerate children was beyond her. Andrea imagined the changes to Mrs. Meyer’s personality Case had alluded to after his dad died had to have been pretty drastic.
She didn’t know exactly where she was going, but she ended up grabbing her coat from the closet in the foyer and heading out to the back gardens. She hadn’t even seen the pictures herself, but she imagined now that must’ve been what Sarah was calling about. If Case wanted to talk to her, he’d have to hunt her down because she wasn’t about to pull her phone out and look at them, not now anyway. It would be so difficult to look at herself lost in his embrace and not know whether or not any of it was real.
She needed to breath, to think, to get her head clear, and then she needed to talk to Case. Everything was happening so quickly, she felt like she was standing in waste high water, being pounded by waves, unable to reach the shore. If she didn’t sort it all out soon, she’d end up going under so deep she’d never be able to find her way out.
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