White Lies (A Twisted Fate Series) (Volume 1) Read Free Page A

monster since he came back. “I love you here, too. Please stay. I will work everything else out. You’re family, Mildred. You will always have a place here.”
    Later, when things simmered down, I would get the full story from Mildred. Right now, she was too emotional, and I knew she wasn’t ready to talk about it.
    The normal fiery redhead, who kept the house in tiptop shape, wept some more. “I love you, too, Willow. So much. You’re like a daughter to me.”
    “Will you stay? Please.”
    She nodded with watery eyes. “I could never leave you, Willow. My heart broke thinking I had to leave.”
    I shook my head fiercely. “Never. You will never have to leave here. If anything ever happens, come talk to me first, okay?”
    I had to remain strong when all I wanted to do was cry after the beautiful night Alex and I shared.
    More sniffles came from Mildred. “Okay. I’m going to freshen up and then head to the main house. I’ll have my sister bring back my stuff. How does lasagna sound tonight?”
    The mention of lasagna made my mouth water. Being from a heavily influenced Italian ancestry, pasta was the way to my heart. “Mildred, please take the night off.”
    She squeezed me and then stood back to wipe away the remnants of her tear. “Nonsense. Cooking helps relieve stress. I’ll make gelato for dessert.”
    Gelato was my favorite form of ice cream. In fact, it was my go-to comfort food because of Mom. Mildred knew she had won. There was no way I could say no to gelato. “Will you make mint chocolate chip?”
    “You bet. Let me straighten a few things out and I’ll be up at the main house.”
    Crisis averted.
    My nerves were frayed, and I was feeling like the hope had been diminished and last night had been a fluke.
    Regardless of how Alex had been at the hotel, we needed to have a serious talk. Some things would need to change if our relationship was going to move forward. “I’m going to be in the painting studio. If Alex comes home, call the studio phone and I’ll be right up.”
    “I will. I’m sorry about this mess.”
    “It’s not your fault. Things are going to change, I promise.” My words were spoken as a vow.
    Mildred gave me a small smile as the light in her eyes grew. “I’m so glad you’re painting again. Off you go.”
    Mildred walked me to the door and we hugged again. With little shooing motions, she ushered me out. “I’ll have dinner waiting. Take your time painting.”
    “I will. Thank you, Mildred. Thank you for staying on while it’s been difficult. I promise things are going to change.”
    With a deep breath, she responded, “We’ll get through this.”
    An unspoken statement came out in her words. Life has been hard. And she was right. How had I got myself into such a mess?
    I meandered back across the lawn. My heart was torn. Last night, it felt like Alex was the man I fell in love with in college. The man I thought I’d married. But after hearing about the altercation with Mildred, I wasn’t sure.
    For good measure, I took out my phone and called Alex.
    Ring.
    Ring.
    Ring.
    “This is Alex. You know what to do.” Beep.
    He never picked up his phone. Internally, I wanted to scream. But I took a deep breath and hung up. Instead I would text him. When Alex got home, he would see how serious I was.
     
    Me: Please call me. We need to talk about Mildred. She’s staying and that is not negotiable. Hopefully, you were serious about things changing last night. I can’t go back to the way they were. I won’t.
     
    I stared at the phone, willing a response to come. My message stared back at me almost in a mocking manner.
    Were people able to be saved after they let a demon take root in them for so long? I hoped the answer was yes, that our story was just beginning after having a rocky start.
    Hopefully, things would settle and rational Alex would walk through the door when he got home. Normally, I hardly ever called Alex because he kept his phone turned off and rarely had