The Mother-in-Law: a twisted psychological thriller by Kiersten Modglin

Author:Kiersten Modglin [Modglin, Kiersten]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kiersten Modglin
Published: 2020-03-16T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Loren

When we got home that night, the house was lit up—the whole bottom floor bright with lights. To my surprise, Jack’s sedan was in the driveway. It was rare that he arrived home before me.

I pulled Rynlee from her car seat and headed into the house, surprised to smell cinnamon when I hit the door. As I pushed the front door open and stepped inside, the warmth of the house hitting me quickly, I gasped.

“What’s going on?”

Jack was standing in the foyer. He spun to see me, a giant smile on his face. “Welcome home,” he said, holding his arms out for me. I leaned in for a cautious hug.

“What are you doing? What’s that smell?”

He shook his head, his smile growing as he jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen. “It’s not me.”

“What?”

Before he could say any more, I heard footsteps coming our direction—the unmistakable sound of her heels clicking across our hardwood floors. I braced myself, my stomach literally clenching at the thought of seeing her.

“Hello!” she said, smiling and waving as if she were a candidate in a beauty pageant.

“Hi, what, uh, what’s going on?”

“Well,” she stepped down off the tiny step from the kitchen into the foyer, “Jack and I spoke this morning and he mentioned how upset you’ve been with me.” My eyes darted to Jack in a scowl.

“It’s just been a difficult—”

“I know,” she cut me off. “I know I haven’t made any of this easy on you, but I want to fix that, Loren. I don’t want you to resent me. Two separate families, all these separate lives under one roof…it puts a lot of strain on a person. I get it. You’re trying to adjust to having my son here, and now I’m here too, and I’m an old woman set in my ways, not used to having a child around who I have to be careful with. All I’m saying is, I know my stay here has been difficult. I’ve been suffering, grieving, lost in my own world…but that doesn’t excuse my behavior. So, I’ve spent the day cleaning the house for you—” I felt the dig in her words, though I knew Jack wouldn’t hear them. I’m not a good enough housekeeper, she was saying. “And I’ve prepared meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and corn casserole. Jack said it’s your favorite. Along with an apple pie.” She smiled, obviously proud of herself. “I know it’s not enough to totally earn your forgiveness, but I’m hoping it’s a start.”

Again, I noticed what I often noticed with Coralee’s apologies, there was no semblance of the words ‘I’m sorry’ anywhere in them.

“Thank you, Coralee,” I said after a moment because they were all waiting on a response. “That was very kind of you.”

We walked into the dining room after I’d stopped by the kitchen to wash my hands, and I saw that Coralee had, in fact, prepared all of my favorite foods—coordinated by Jack, I was sure—and they were sitting out, ready to be served.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.