Red Lily

time . . .”
    “The kitchen,” Roz murmured.
    “Yes, yes. You see?” She shuddered. “And that same night, she tore his kitchen apart. So I realized this wasn’t something that could happen just because I’ve got the . . . because I’m attracted to Harper. I told him that I wasn’t interested after all, and I probably hurt his feelings. But it’s better his feelings get hurt than something else happen.”
    “Mmm-hmm.” Roz nodded as she watched Hayley over the rim of her glass. “I don’t imagine he took it well.”
    “Not exactly, so I was like, what’s the big deal.” She set her glass down so she could gesture freely with both hands. “Then he said something deliberately crude, and it upset me. Because it wasn’t like that. It was just a kiss—well, two,” she corrected. “But it wasn’t like we stripped down naked and had monkey sex on the kitchen floor.”
    “Difficult when Lily was there,” Roz commented.
    “Yeah, but even so, I’m not like that, even though I got pregnant with Lily the way I did. And it might seem like I’m a big ho, but—”
    “It doesn’t seem,” Stella cut in. “Not for a minute. We all know what it is to need someone. Whether for the moment, or for more. Personally, I don’t care to hear you talking about a friend of mine that way, or to intimate that I would.”

    Roz smiled, stirred herself to lean forward and tap her glass to Stella’s. “Nice.”
    “Thanks.”
    “I forgot where I was,” Hayley said after a moment.
    “You were arguing with Harper,” Stella said helpfully. “You big ho.”
    It made her laugh, settled her down. “Right. We were arguing, then it happened, the way I said. I sort of faded back, and there were these things coming out of my mouth I didn’t put there. About how men are all liars and cheats, and just want to fuck you, and treat you like a whore. It was ugly, and it wasn’t true. Especially not about Harper.”
    “The first thing you have to remember is it wasn’t you saying it,” Stella reminded her. “And the second is, it fits with what we know of her, and the pattern of her behavior. Men are the enemy, and sex is a trigger.”
    “During the argument, before Amelia’s participation, Harper said something to make you feel cheap.”
    Hayley picked up her glass again, looked at Roz. “He didn’t mean it the way I took it.”
    “Don’t make excuses for my boy.” Roz angled her head. “If he was perfect, he wouldn’t be mine. The point is, you felt that way, and she moved in.”
    “Roz, I want you to know, I’m not going to pursue this thing with Harper. This personal thing.”
    “Is that so?” Roz raised her eyebrows. “What’s wrong with him?”
    “Nothing.” Blinking, Hayley looked to Stella for support and got a smile and a shrug. “Nothing’s wrong with him.”
    “So you’re attracted to him, nothing’s wrong with you, but you’ve dumped him before things really got started. Why is that?”
    “Well, because he’s . . .”
    “Mine?” Roz finished. “Then what’s wrong with me?”

    “Nothing!” At her wit’s end, Hayley spread a hand over her face. “I can’t even believe how embarrassing this is.”
    “I expect you and Harper to work this out, and to leave me entirely out of the equation. I will make one observation, as his mother. If he knew you were showing him the door in order to protect him from possible future harm, he’d turn right back around and kick that door in. And I’d applaud the action.”
    “You won’t tell him.”
    “It’s not my place to tell him. It’s yours.” She pushed to her feet. “Now I’m going downstairs, and I’ll discuss this with Mitch over our dinner. Meanwhile, I think you have another hour coming—for sulking time. After that, I expect you to straighten up.”
    Stella gestured with her glass as Roz walked out, then took a slow, satisfying sip. “She’s just frigging terrific, isn’t she?”
    “You weren’t a lot of help,” Hayley complained.
    “Actually, I was. I agreed with everything she said there at the end, but I didn’t mention it. Seems to me, keeping my mouth shut was helpful. Hey, you’re doing really well with this sulking hour,” she added. “And you’re only a couple minutes into it.”
    “Maybe you should shut up again.”
    “I love you, Hayley.”
    “Oh, shit.”
    “And I’m worried about you. We all are. So we’re going to figure this out. Go team and all that. In the meantime you’ve got