“Well, that’s just perfect,” Caroline sneered, staring at him as he pulled Hanna into his arms. “What the hell does she do to make you run back every time? Is she good in bed, is that what it is? Because there are people you can pay for sex…”
Hanna pulled her body from Richard, stepping forward with her hand outstretched. He watched as her open palm made contact with his mother’s face. The impact was hard enough to cause Caroline to stagger backward.
“Don’t you dare compare me to a whore,” Hanna said. Richard had to clench his hands together to stop himself from applauding. “I’d be grateful if you could keep your voice down, there’s a sleeping child in this house.”
A livid red line formed across his mother’s cheekbone. She stared at Hanna with sparks beneath her eyes, her face twisted with anger. “Are you going to let her talk to me like that? She assaulted me,” Caroline demanded of him.
“I don’t let Hanna do anything. She’s her own woman, and she’s welcome to do whatever she wants in our home.” He could feel his heartbeat elevating as it clattered against his chest. He wanted to pull Hanna against him and give her some reassurance. “But if you ever compare her to a whore again, I’ll throw you out in the street.”
Caroline shrank noticeably, her eyes starting to water. “Why are you so angry at me? I’m not the one who lied to you about a child, or suddenly walked in years later pretending it was yours.” She patted down an errant strand of hair. “Have you even had a DNA test?”
Richard glowered. “Matty is mine; I don’t need a DNA test to tell me the truth.” He glanced along the corridor, his eyes resting on the closed door to Matty’s bedroom. “I’m angry at you because the only reason Hanna didn’t tell me she was pregnant was because of your goddamned lies.” He was getting louder. He needed to get his anger under control.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Caroline’s voice was dismissive. She rubbed her cheek. “I’ve never lied to Hanna.”
“You did!” Hanna replied. She was trembling like a frightened animal beneath his embrace. “I called Richard’s cell phone and you picked up. You told me Meredith was never going to be able to walk again.”
“I think I’d remember something like that. When did you call?”
“When I found out I was pregnant. In June 2010.” Hanna replied. She wrapped her hand around Richard’s waist, looking for something to cling to.
Caroline shook her head, the tiniest of lines forming between her eyebrows. She blinked a couple of times before looking at Richard, her expression accusatory. “June 2010, wasn’t that when you told Meredith you didn’t want to marry her?”
Richard thought for a moment, letting Hanna’s hand on his waist calm him. It was hard to remember the events of two years ago, though certain dates were etched in his mind. Like the time he told Meredith he didn’t want to be with her, or when he flew to London to find Hanna had disappeared again.
His stomach turned over as a memory flashed through his mind. He could remember his mother calling him at work, telling him he had left his cell phone at home. She had been at his apartment with Meredith, helping her to pack her things. Caroline had offered to have his cell couriered into the office.
“When you spoke to Hanna, were Meredith and I already separated?” He curled his fingers into a fist, feeling the need to hit out. Every single moment of the past two years were for nothing. They’d been so close to their forever, to having everything they’d ever wanted. A few words from his mother had been enough to bring it all tumbling down. “You told her Meredith was crippled when we’d already split up?”
“I thought you’d change your mind about the separation…” Caroline whispered, her voice trailing off.
Beside him Hanna had her hand clasped firmly over her mouth, the horror of the situation making the tears run down her face. Richard wondered if she had the urge to lash out and hit something—anything—the way he did. The anger was too much; he didn’t know how to control it without exploding.
“You remember telling her Meredith was crippled?”
Caroline nodded, her body cowering away from him. He was aware he was acting like a madman; his body coiled like a snake ready to pounce. Only Hanna’s hold on hi
m was enough to anchor him to the ground, to stop him from doing something he might later regret.
“Why the hell would you do that? Do you realize Hanna was calling to tell me she was pregnant? I lost eighteen months of my son’s life because of you.”
His mother put her hand up to her chest, clutching with her aged fingers. “I didn’t know—“
“You knew enough to send Hanna packing. You knew enough to not even tell me I’d had a call on my cell. Don’t play the innocent in this, you’re guilty as hell.” His body was so tense he wanted to scream, to lash out…to do anything to let the tension go. Every moment standing in front of his mother was a reminder of what he’d so very nearly lost.
What he had lost.
“Did Meredith know about the call?” His voice dripped with acid.
Caroline shook her head, her face distraught as she stepped forward, reaching out her hand. “Richard, you don’t have to do this. We can speak to the lawyers, arrange for you to have custody. You don’t need to have Hanna living here.”
It took a moment for her words to sink into his consciousness. She wanted him to leave Hanna, and take Matty away from her. The callousness of her suggestion was the nail in the coffin of their relationship. He wanted to get her far away from his family, so she was unable to poison them the same way she’d tried with him.
He hugged Hanna tighter, burying his face in her hair for a moment, kissing the silky strands.
“We’d like you to leave now.” His voice was muffled by Hanna’s hair. He couldn’t look at his mother, or bring himself to show her out. Nausea swelled in his stomach as he recalled her final words to Hanna on the day of the terrible phone call. He felt bitterly ironic as he addressed his mother, “Don’t come back again.”
“Ever?” Caroline’s voice raised an octave. Hanna stepped back from Richard and placed a reassuring palm on his chest. She shook her head lightly, as if to tell him to hold fire. Deep down he knew she was right; he shouldn’t make snap decisions in the burning heat of his anger, but it took all the strength he had not to manhandle his mother out of the door.