LWR Chapter 6: Confessions

Today’s Cast:
The Whittingtons (at the Thatchers’ House): Joanna Thatcher-Whittington, and her husband Alex Whittington
The Wildes: Elodie, and her mother Lauren Wilde
The Menkins: Van, his wife Nola, their son Luke Menkins, and Elodie Wilde

Author’s Note: I made a family page where you can see who is who and how they’re related. Hopefully, this helps keep the characters straight. You can find that page HERE.

If you would like to refresh your memory, here is the last chapter: LWR Chapter 5: Broken Homes.

Another Note: I had to age Elodie up due to technical problems. She is still technically a teen.

“Quick! Get in here,” Joanna panted as she grabbed her husband’s hand, yanking him into the Thatchers’ expansive garage. She flipped on some lights to illuminate the corner in which they stood, then turned to face him with harshness in her eyes. “Did anyone see you outside?”

He shook his mop of red hair. “No, I parked way down the street just like I used to when we were kids and I was sneaking you out of the house.”

Joanna smiled despite her worry that Lilith could come upon them any moment.

“You remember those days?”

“I remember them well,” she said, staring at her feet.

He lifted her chin with his thumb and forefinger so she was gazing into his eyes. “I know I screwed everything up, Joanna.”

“Oh, Alex-“

“-And it wouldn’t be the first time, I know that, and freely admit it.”

“I had no choice, you must know that.”

He nodded. “I do. But what hurts the most is finding out from a note that you’d left me. That was cruel!”

With delicate fingers, she wiped a tear from her cheek. “I know it was, and I’m sorry. I was afraid if I told you in person, I wouldn’t be able to go through with it.”

He stepped closer, wanting only to feel her in his arms.

“Is there any hope for us?” he asked.

“There has to be,” she said with a sob.

When he could no longer stand to be separated from her, he embraced her, kissing her cheek. He whispered against her flower-scented hair, “I was afraid you’d say there wasn’t.”

Stroking the back of his neck, her forehead pressed against his, she said, “You act as if I’ve never messed up.”

“You’ve never lost an entire inheritance before.”

She smiled again, feeling good in his powerful arms. “True, but I’m not ready to call it quits.”

“Will you get the kids and come home, then?”

Biting her lower lip, she pulled away slightly so she could look into his eyes. “We can’t come home yet. I’m hoping Lilith will cave and give me enough money to make up for the lack of inheritance I received as opposed to her and Griffin.”

“Forget Lilith! Come home instead. I have some irons in the fire that should pan out soon.”

Pulling away fully, Joanna shook her head. “No, never again. It’s these deals you try to make that have put us where we are. Let me do this my way for once.” When he looked as if he might argue, she put her foot down. “Please, Alex.”

“No, you and the kids need to be home. We’re a family.”

She shook her head, anger narrowing her eyes. “No! Don’t you understand? I’ve felt this way all along, but it was losing the inheritance that made me realize how cheated I was! My brother and sister got way more than I ever did, and I’m the one who deserves it most because of what my mother and I went through. I will not give in.”

“This can only go on for a little while, Joanna. Think about Carla and John.”

“Don’t you get it? I am thinking of the kids!” Her mouth turned to a grim, thin line, and she gritted her teeth as she thought about her independently wealthy siblings. They should be ashamed at how their Father had treated her in his will. “Lilith will cave,” she repeated.

“Have you met your sister?” he joked. Then he frowned. “I mean it. I don’t want the four of us apart for much longer.”

“I don’t either,” she agreed.

But how would she get Lilith to finally agree to her terms?

Elodie was over her mother’s glum retelling of the night she wore the designer dress and Lilith Thatcher had insulted her. You would have thought Lauren Wilde’s life ended that night, the way she constantly droned on about it.

“Can you believe she treated me that way? I mean, it’s not like her dress was all that. I think her designer is tasteless.”

“Mom, can we talk about something else for once?” Elodie asked as her mother continued fiercely chopping fruit for her yogurt. She imagined Lauren seeing Lilith Thatcher’s face on the strawberries as she hacked away at them. But even that couldn’t make Elodie smile.

“Well, what should we talk about then? Hm? Is there something going on with you?”

“Thank you for asking.”

“I’ll thank you not to use that sarcastic tone with me, young lady.”

“You’re just angry all the time, Mom.”

As she meant it to, that got her attention.

Lauren dropped the knife onto the cutting board, wiped her hands, then joined her daughter in the living room.

“Well? What?” Lauren asked.

Elodie couldn’t stop her lower lip from quivering as she faced the woman she both loved and hated. There were so many things she could say, but would any of them really clear the air? She thought not.

Lauren made a point of turning to look at the clock, then back at Elodie, her right eyebrow raised higher than the other.

“I suppose your sudden silence means you’re about to tell me what a lousy parent I am, how I failed you, and how much you hate me.”

“No,” Elodie said, but it was barely a squeak of sound.

Did she want to scream at Lauren and say, Remember the fire? Remember how I couldn’t wake you up as you lay on the couch, and we both almost died? I was just a little girl! Do you remember?

But she couldn’t open that can of worms. Maybe someday, though. Or maybe never. It was a constant conflict warring in her head.

Instead, she merely said, “I just think you put too much importance on what other people think. You’re beautiful and you have so much.”

Lauren sighed, then took a deeper breath as she slowly nodded. It was as if she thought her daughter might mention something worse instead of what happened with Lilith that night.

“I was just so humiliated, Elodie. You should have seen her face… the way she smirked down at me like I was the butt of a joke I couldn’t understand. It was awful!”

“And you know how hard I work,” she added, pointing in the hospital’s direction. “They couldn’t function without me.”

Actually, Elodie wanted to tell her she was pointing in the wrong direction, but she wisely stayed silent. On top of that, Elodie was certain the hospital would run just fine without her mother. She knew this because she’d heard her mom and adoptive father, Zach, talking about how her medical records clerk job was entry-level and only paid twenty-eight thousand dollars a year.

That seemed like an awful lot of money to Elodie, but when she took her home economics class at school, she realized they couldn’t even live comfortably on that if something happened to Zach. It was then she understood some of the stress her mom was under.

But if her mom was under so much pressure and stress, why did she spend so much money on an ugly dress she’d never wear again? How many weeks of groceries had that dress cost the family? Why did her mother waste so much time complaining about a social embarrassment when she could be concentrating on advancing her career?

Elodie wanted to tell Lauren that she should have married someone like Griffin Thatcher instead of thick-headed, barely making it Zach. Yes, her thoughts were harsh. She knew that, too. But didn’t her mother express her dissatisfaction with her life each and every day?

Elodie wished she could tell Lauren what she really thought. But that would never happen because Lauren simply didn’t care. All she ever thought about was herself.

This realization about her mother both stung her heart immensely and gave her a certain freedom to do things other teenagers couldn’t.

Not that she did that much wrong. She wasn’t stupid, after all. So there were no wild parties, no drinking or drugs.

Yet, anyway.

She’d lost all track of time.

“The bus is here. I have to go!”

“Have a good day,” Lauren said, half-heartedly, already muttering again about that snooty Lilith Thatcher and returning to her cutting board of half-butchered strawberries.

After school, Elodie met Luke at their designated spot in the parking lot, then together, hand in hand, they walked to Chris’s car. Zanna was already in her shotgun spot, with the mirror flipped down so she could apply a pale pink gloss to her full lips.

Elodie would have given her left arm to look like Zanna. To act like her and to have her popularity, too. Then she was horrified at her own thoughts. Isn’t that exactly what she always criticized her mom for? She knew her mom would give both a leg and an arm for the chance to be Lilith Thatcher.

Did Elodie really want to be that shallow? She glanced at Luke as they both got into the back seat of the car. He smiled at her with nothing but admiration in his eyes.

That could be good enough for her. Luke was no slouch. He was going to be a doctor one day, just like both of his parents. That was something to be proud of because not only would he make a good living, but he’d be helping people.

She liked that idea a lot and wondered what she would like to be. How did everyone at school seem to know the answer to that question except her?

The only thing she knew for sure was that she didn’t want to be poor. She craved security because she didn’t know what it felt like to have interested or supportive parents. Nor did she have faith that if anything happened to one parent or the other that she would have financial security.

She’d never told anyone, but there was a time in her life when she didn’t even have food security. Even though things were better now, she didn’t trust it and would sneak food and hide it in her bedroom.

Then there was the incident when she was ten. It had left a permanent scar on her soul.

Luke squeezed her hand with a quizzical look on his face. It was only then she realized she was crying.

As Chris pulled up to Luke’s house, Elodie jumped out of the car, trying to hide her face with her hair, and gasping out a quick, “I’m sorry.”

Luke jumped out of the car after her, and as Chris drove away, Luke grasped Elodie’s arm, pulling her to him into an embrace.

“Come inside.”

“No!” she said, choking out the words as she tried to walk away from him. “I can’t!”

“Shh… yes, you can,” he said, firmly taking her hand, and guiding her into the garage, then through the kitchen door.

It wasn’t until he sat her on the couch that he let go of her.

Her shoulders slumped forward as her eyes completely blurred with tears. She kept trying to wipe them away, but she couldn’t stop them from coming, no matter how hard she tried.

Luke sat next to her, taking her hand again, and stroking her hair.

Is this what it feels like to have someone care about you? she asked herself.

“What’s got you down? I’ve never seen you so upset.”

Her body shook with a few more sobs, then, finally, it subsided.

“I don’t think you can understand.”

He paused, and for a moment, they sat in silence as his thumb caressed her hand.

She was shaking, a complete mess, but she could feel his strength and calmness absorbing into her, and she wanted more.

“My home life… it isn’t like yours, Luke. You have something I can only wish for, but I’ll never have.”

There was another pause, then he spoke to her in a hushed, low tone. “I’ve noticed your parents don’t ever seem to know where you are or what you’re doing.”

She fought against the urge to make excuses for her parents. It was her first line of defense, but for some reason, Luke made her feel like she didn’t need to shield them. She had the sense that he only wanted to be her friend and that he wouldn’t interfere.

“That’s true. I sometimes think they don’t care at all.”

“I’m sorry.”

Why was he sorry? She finally dared to look at him, tucking tendrils of thick hair behind her ear.

He leaned forward over the coffee table and drew out a tissue for her to wipe her face on.

“Thanks,” she said as she first blew her nose, then folded the tissue and dabbed at her eyes with a clean corner.

“Hey,” he said, the corner of his mouth turning up into a lopsided smile, “I know it’s late notice, but do you want to go to prom with me?”

Prom hadn’t been on her radar until then as she hadn’t figured anyone would ask her. Her heart skipped a beat as she thought about how she looked like such a mess at the moment, yet Luke still invited her. It might be fun!

“Yes, I’ll go with you. It’s my birthday.”

His smile widened, lighting up his entire face. He was so cute when he grinned, she thought.

“Great! I’ll pick you up early-“

“-Luke, we’re home,” his mother called as she and his father came inside through the garage, both of them carrying a few bags of groceries.

“Well, hello,” his mom said when she saw Elodie was there.

“Mom, Dad, this is Elodie Wilde,” Luke said.

“We finally get to meet you!” his mom exclaimed. “We’re Luke’s parents.”

“Obviously,” Luke said with a laugh.

“Don’t be a smartass,” Mrs. Menkins said.

They shared a laugh and Elodie liked how easygoing and calm the whole environment was.

“Never mind him,” Mr. Menkins said. “We’re Van and Nola.”

“Oh, Dad, I’m going to prom after all. That day is also Elodie’s birthday.”

“Let me guess,” Van said with a conspiratorial wink. “You want to borrow my car?”

Luke nodded, smiling at Elodie.

As they chatted, Elodie felt less tense than she had in weeks. They seemed to have such easy relationships. Luke’s parents truly loved their son, yet they did not spoil him like Griffin Thatcher spoiled Chris because he had to ask to borrow the car.

Elodie bet they would have Luke earn the money to buy his own car, and she thought that was quite nice.

Normal even.

She regarded them all with a small smile, liking them more and more with each moment she spent with them.

And she hoped they would come to genuinely like her, too.

Special thanks to Bee (Stories by Bee / Poses by Bee) for editing this story and making the poses used in this chapter: Adult Argument, Convo/Emotion Poses – Set 2, Couple Poses Set 3, Emotions – Adult, and Sad Couple.

Thank you so much for reading, liking, lurking, and commenting!



Other Credits:
Sims: Sonya Rose (Elodie Wilde) by Bee
World: Mayfield Springs
Lots: Evansdale County Renovations 2 (The Kellers), Evansdale County Renovation 3 (The Menkins), Gracious Green (The Fellowes), Red Oak Lane (The Wildes), Villa Elisa (The Thatchers), Ranch House from Alpine County (The Whittingtons), Hospital for Storytelling