The Vincent Boys 02 - The Vincent Brothers

of me. He loved me and was proud of me. I needed to believe that. I held onto that at night when I lay in bed and heard my mother crying and screaming as she threw things across her bedroom.
    “We knew he was serious when he moved out there to be with her. When is he planning on getting married?”
    “I most certainly did not expect your forty-seven year old father to marry his twenty- three year old slut! What will people think? He’s ruining our reputation. People in this town will find out and they will talk. You won’t be able to walk around town without people whispering behind your back. This is going to RUIN us, Lana. Just ruin us!”
    Twenty-three? I cringed. What was my dad doing engaged to a girl only five years older than me? That was just... gross. My mother continued to rant and call my dad names as I sat there staring at the wall in front of me. The message ‘Home is where the heart is’ was stenciled on a framed painting and hung on the pale blue wall mocking me. Home? What was home now? My mother’s house where there was never any peace? My dad’s apartment in Manhattan? It was about 500 square feet and he was about to move in his college age wife. Tears stung my eyes as the smell of coffee wafted down the hall. I could hear my aunt and uncle chatting happily in the kitchen and bacon frying on the stove. This was a home. One like I’d never really known.
    “Did you hear me Lana?”
    Shaking myself out of the pity party I was having, I cleared my throat. “Sorry Mom, what was that?”
    “He wants to fly you to New York City to be in the wedding. Can you believe that? My baby in New York. I told him no way. You wouldn’t want to be in his ridiculous wedding. But he insisted that he’d talk to you first. Be ready for that call today. The little floozy wants you to be the maid-of-honor. You haven’t even met her.”
    “Okay, mom. Thank you for letting me know. I need to go. I’ll call you later. Ashton is waiting on me to go for a morning run.” Mom bought my lie and I fell back against the pillow as I ended the call.
    Could this get anymore screwed up? The house phone rang and I heard my aunt answer it. I didn’t have to pick-up to know it was my mother telling my aunt everything she’d just told me. If mom mentioned the lie I’d told her about running with Ashton, I knew my aunt would cover for me. She understood. She always had. I snuggled down into the covers and closed my eyes. For now, I could pretend this was my home. That I had a safe happy place.
    ~*~

    Walking into the kitchen several hours later the faint smell of bacon still filled the air. Ashton stood by the counter in her pajamas and mussed hair pouring herself a cup of coffee.
    “Morning,” I said, stopping beside the cabinet to get myself a coffee cup.
    “Oh, it’s my early morning running buddy,” the teasing tone to her voice made me smile.
    “Uh, yeah, sorry about that. I needed an excuse to get off the phone.”
    Ashton laughed and handed me the pot of coffee. “No worries. Mom covered for you according to the note she left us.” She pointed to the letter lying on the bar.
    I reached over and picked it up.

    Good morning girls,
    I hope you enjoyed your early morning run. I have to say that when Caroline called me this morning and mentioned that you two were out running I was a little surprised. I could have sworn I’d passed both your doors and they were closed tightly. But do not worry, I didn’t share that information with my sister. She believes you both enjoyed a nice long run before coming inside to eat some of the bacon and eggs I fried up.
    Love,
    Mom

    I smiled to myself and laid the letter back down.
    “How does your mom manage to be so cool and mine is a crazed psycho?” I asked, taking a sip of my black coffee.
    Ashton didn’t even deny my mother’s insane tendencies. She gave me a sad frown and shrugged.
    “Why’d your mom call so early this morning?”
    I rolled my shoulders and set my cup back down. I didn’t really want to talk about this but I knew hashing it out with someone other than my mom would make my decision easier.
    “Dad’s getting married.”
    Ashton’s eyes widened and she leaned forward on the counter resting on both elbows and studied me a moment. I knew she was trying to gauge my reaction to this news.
    “You were expecting this, right?” she asked hesitantly.
    “Yes, I was. But not so soon and maybe not to a girl only five years older than me.”
    Her jaw