Relentless: Three Novels Read Free Page A

adorable.
    I was actually surprised that Toni went all out. She never really took any interest in Matt and mostly parked him in front of the TV or gave him unlimited use of the Wii and their Netflix subscription. Tori was always too worried about what her boyfriend was doing—video games and the TV were a convenient babysitter.
    I felt sort of bad, judging her. She had helped us when no one else could or would.
    Tori was my friend from high school and I had loved her in high school because she was always so spontaneous and sometimes came up with wild things to pass the time. However, if I would have met her now, I would more than likely not bother to befriend her. She was always so wrapped up in herself that she never paid any attention to her son. And she hadn’t matured. She had exactly the same personality that she had in high school, which was all about having fun and mostly, all about attention that she liked to get. I guessed that’ was why Matt was such a bully. He wanted attention, even if it was negative attention.
    I worried about his future. He was mostly a good kid, he just had no direction from his mother. This was another reason we had left their home. I couldn’t stand the whole environment of the selfish woman who randomly parented her son. I never claimed to be the best mom in the world, but Tori was just awful. At least with this birthday party, she was trying. She did keep drifting off to participate in adult conversations instead of organizing the games for the kids, but at least she was present.
    “Jodie, why are you by yourself?” someone asked, drawing me out of my thoughts.
    I turned around to see Tori’s boyfriend, Fred.
    “Hi, Fred. I’m just watching the kids play.”
    “How’s the new place?”
    “It’s great. We just moved everything in yesterday. So, we’re settling in. It’s really cozy and best of all, we have our own bathrooms, a yard and even a washer and dryer.”
    “Tori says it’s a haunted cottage.”
    “Fred, stop it,” said Tori as she made her way to us. “Jodie doesn’t believe in that kind of thing.”
    “No, I don’t,” I said. Tori and Fred took a seat next to me. I could smell the liquor on both of them. At a kiddie birthday party? Really?
    “I once lived in a haunted house, ya know, Jodie.” Tori was mumbling and I didn’t catch it at first, what she was saying.
    “Really? I didn’t know that, Tori.” She had never mentioned this before and we had been friends for years.
    “Yes, it was when I was a little girl. We lived in a large farmhouse in the Midwest. Well, we saw ghosts all the time. Until finally, my dad sold the home.”
    I nodded my head pretending to be interested. I quelled the urge to roll my eyes. The liquor was starting to hit her as she slurred her words. I hated it when she was drunk. Tori was a mean drunk and she usually ended up breaking things. And screaming or crying. Stuff like that was amusing in high school. But now that we were both mothers and had shared an apartment, not so much.
    I knew the party would be over soon, so I tried to keep calm about how drunk she was. Plus, it was her place, so what could I say?
    “I have Jell-O shots,” she offered. “And Fred brought some W-E-E-D.”
    “No, thanks. I’m driving,” I said. “And the kids can all spell that word.”
    She shrugged. “Oh, yeah.”
    “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I see Elizabeth over there and I haven’t seen her in a while.”
    “Bring me back a beer?” Fred asked. “I need a chaser.”
    “Sure,” I said. I had no such intention.
    I got off the couch and made my way into the kitchen. “Hey,” I said to Elizabeth.
    “Hey, stranger, how have you been?” Her voice was warm and friendly. And sober.
    “I’m good.” I took a seat at the kitchen table next to her. “Really good, as a matter of fact.”
    “Tori told me you and Trent moved out.”
    “Yeah, it was time. I found a really good deal on a cottage rental.”
    “I heard it’s haunted