Chapter Six

Marina clutched the phone as she sat on the edge of the bed in Halcyon’s guest room. Her sister had offered to hold her hand—or a pistol—while she made the call, but Marina didn’t think she’d be able to handle Avery’s and Halcyon’s outrage at the same time. And she had no doubt Avery’s default emotion was going to be anger. Not sad. Not upset. Her daughter didn’t do “useless” emotions, as she referred to them. But anger was different. Anger, Avery said, got things done.

Marina had tried to argue with Avery over that idea in the past. But ever since losing it with Harold and walking away with a promise of twenty grand, Marina was quickly discovering just how lucrative anger could be. Mind you, she didn’t plan on it becoming a full-time job, as it was for her mother, but she could definitely see where it offered benefits in the right situation.

“Hi, Mom,” Avery answered.

She sounded upbeat and happy, and Marina silently cursed Harold for putting her in this position. The last thing Marina wanted to do was cause hardship for Avery, especially when she’d just gotten to the university the week before. She was right in the thick of decorating her room and making friends and figuring out what clubs, if any, she wanted to be part of. Marina was about to put a dark cloud over all of that.

“Hi, baby,” Marina said. “How are things going?”

“Great! Jackie and I went to a flea market yesterday and found the cutest rugs for our dorm room. They’re pink and black and have sparkly gold stripes. And Jackie’s mom bought us a mini fridge so we can shop in bulk at Costco and don’t have to worry about getting ice or drinking stuff hot. We’re going out this evening to find a cheap coffee maker.”

“I wish you would have told me you wanted one. I would have been happy to find you something before you left.”

“I wanted to do it myself. It’s like a college rite of passage.”

“I thought beer drinking was the college rite of passage.”

“Women in Last Chance still rub beer on the gums of teething babies. We all moved past beer being a rite of passage before we could walk.”

“Well, let me know what you end up getting and I’ll put some coffee in your next gift basket.”

“And sugar cookies, right? I handed out a couple and I’m pretty sure I could get people to commit a crime for seconds. I was thinking they might help if I land some crappy professors.”

Marina frowned. “I don’t think bribing your professors is what college had in mind for preparing you for the workforce.”

“Why not? I’ve seen how things work, Mom.”

Marina wanted to argue, but she couldn’t think of a good rebuttal. Maybe it was better that Avery already understood that the world was unfair and seriously sucked a lot of the time. Her daughter was probably more prepared to deal with what Marina was about to tell her than Marina was.