Don Bowed To Me Chapter 05
After dinner, my father stopped me on my way out.
“Hazel, your mom had the housekeeper air out your old room a few days ago. New sheets. New pillowcases. All ready for you.”
Just as he finished, my mother came out of the sitting room, her voice flat.
“Melanie’s taking the guest room tonight. Hazel, you can take the couch.”
My father’s smile stiffened on his face.
Melanie looked up from the couch and glanced at me. The corner of her mouth twitched upward.
“Mrs. Vitale, I couldn’t. I can just book somewhere in town.”
My mother’s tone left no room for discussion.
“You barely come around anymore. I’m not letting a Ricci girl stay at a stranger’s inn. Hazel’s used to being poor.She can take the couch.”
I stood next to the dining table and said nothing.
“Hazel?”
My mother’s voice pulled me back.
I shook my head.
“That won’t be necessary. I already booked a hotel.”
Her face darkened.
“So you’d rather sleep in a hotel than under your father’s roof? What is a Vitale girl doing checking into a hotel in her own town?”
I picked up my coat and started toward the door.
“I sleep better in a bed.”
Behind me, I heard my mother mutter to my father.
“Ten years away, and her attitude’s out of control. Every single thing has to be a fight.”
The door closed behind me.
Ten years ago, the girl who slept on that couch would have cried into her pillow, unable to understand why her mother was kinder to a Ricci girl than to her own daughter.
Ten years later, Hazel watched deposits land in her account.
Patent licensing fees. Federal contract royalties. Equity distributions.
Every payment came with more zeros than she cared to count.
She wasn’t sad anymore. She could take care of herself now.
She was looking forward to seeing their faces when they realized exactly who Don Salvatore had been waiting for.