Then I would know what to do.
“I cannot believe you allowed yourself to get lost in the jungle,Cerise,” she berated, walking beside me. “Do you have any idea what you missed?”
“Mother,” I spoke quietly as we pushed through the forest. “I almost drowned. I could have died. Liam saved my life.”
She looked at me sharply. “Liam? On a first name basis? You slept with him, didn’t you?”
“That’s none of your business.” I resisted the urge to turn and look at him, walking behind me with his sister.
“Of course it is. I’m your mother. And while you were busy fornicating in the jungle with that embarrassment to our field, your team discovered a brand new species.”
My heart lurched in my chest. They accomplished what I had hoped to do.
“Yes, that’s correct. You missed your chance. All because you couldn’t climb up a hill quickly enough.”
Now my heart hurt for a different reason. “You don’t care,” I whispered. “You don’t care that I almost died. You only care that I missed my opportunity…”
“How dare you? Of course I care. I’m here aren’t I?”
“Right.” I blinked back the tears in my eyes, shaking my head. I shouldn’t have been surprised. She had always been like this. But it hurt nonetheless.
Noticing my emotion, she added, “I guess I’m just a terrible mother. You know I only want what’s best for you, dear. How can I do that if you’re always reminding me of how awful I am?”
There it was. It was about her again. Typical.
Defeated, I said, “I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant at all. I’m just exhausted and emotional from being stuck in the wild for so long.”
Of course that wasn’t true. But there was no use in arguing. It would only make it worse. And I didn’t want to cause a scene in front of everyone, especially Liam. Now was not the time.
I chanced a glance behind me, catching his eye. He looked at me with softness, breaking my heart even more.
He mouthed the words ‘are you okay?’
I shrugged and turned back around, mulling over the last few weeks. And dreading being back home.
We walked for several hours.I barely spoke aside from giving clipped answers to one of the rescuers who spent most of our trek asking about what happened, our health and anything we might need. Liam willingly spoke with him, as though he was trying to spare me from further ridicule from my mother.
He and his sister seemed close. They chatted along the hike, laughing and catching up with each other. But every so often, he met my gaze like he wanted to say something and then stopped himself.
“We’re here,” a brunette man said from the front of our party.
We’d reached a clearing with a group of horses tied to makeshift posts.
“All right, everyone,” the guide said. “Mount your steeds. Two to a horse. Just a few more hours until we’re at the carriages and we can get home.”
My mother strode forward, stopping beside the brunette. “I’ll ride with you like before,” she stated. The man tensed, obviously not excited about it.
At least I didn’t have to ride with her.
Liam approached tentatively. “Ride with me, sunshine?”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea…”
“Please.” His green eyes were desperate. “I promise to keep my hands to myself. I just…I want a little more time with you before all of this ends.”
I swallowed. “All right.”
Liam mounted a dappled gray mare, then helped me up. I settled in front of him as we began to move. Fortunately, the jungle wasso dense we had to ride single file and my mother stayed at the very front—probably so she could chastise the guide when he made a ‘wrong turn’ in her eyes.
