Heart Murmurs (23 page)

Her mom's eyes widened like saucers. “She did what? Did she hurt you?” She grabbed Sloan's wrists and checked for bruises.

“I'm fine.” Sloan gently took her hands from her mom's. “Darcy ranted again about stuff. I don't even remember all of it.” She remembered every word. “She was yelling nonsense and threw her beer in my face. She pushed me against the wall, raving about how I was too big of a slut for anyone, even God, to change.”

Her mom pushed a clump of Sloan's hair behind her ear. “I'm calling her parents.”

Sloan panicked. “No! No, you're not. That would be the worst thing you could do. It was just words, Mom. Really. It's not like I believe her.” But part of her did, and she felt like a total fraud.

“I don't like Darcy harassing you.”

“Me either. Trust me. She loves to remind me of my imperfect past.”

“Like she's any better.”

“Mom…”

“I'm sorry, but it's true. I hate to tell you this, but you'll probably have an imperfect future, too. You're human, Sloan. Humans make mistakes.”

“I wish I didn't.”

“Don't we all.”

Sloan raised her eyebrow, causing her mom to backtrack. “Not you… specifically… I mean, we all wish we didn't make mistakes. What was that woman's name you were telling me about last week? The one you learned about at your church?”

Sloan had to think. A late night Bible quiz wasn't something she had expected. “Mary Magdalene?”

“That's the one. You told me she was gainfully employed in the world's oldest profession, and Jesus forgave her because she believed. You believe. I'm sure He forgives whatever you've done. Not that I want to know the specifics.”

An annoying tear fell down Sloan's cheek, and she wiped it away. “I know that.” Her brain knew it anyway, but her heart had a hard time believing it. “I just wanted out of that room, away from her. I was afraid of what I'd do.”

“To her?”

“Yeah. I wanted to punch her lights out.”

“I can understand that.”

Sloan remembered when her mom had fantasies about breaking Tiffani's medically altered nose.

“But I guess it kinda hurts your testimony if you go around being a Protestant pugilist.”

“That's what I thought. So I ran down to the end of Boyd's driveway. That's when I remembered my coat.”

“No one came to get you?”

“No. Thank God. That would have added to the embarrassment.”

Her mom played with the braid lying over her shoulder. “So let me get this straight. You ran from the house because Darcy attacked you.”

“I wouldn't call it an attack...”

“And you ended up at the road right when Aaron Hunter drove by.”

“In a nutshell.” She slipped by her mom and into the foyer. She was tired and in desperate need of a shower.

“Not so fast. The Hunters haven't lived in Chapel Hill in nearly ten years. Why are they back?”

“Not they. Just Aaron and Ray.”

“Where's Susan? She didn't come back with her boys?”

“No idea. Aaron didn't say. He just said that he had to grow up a lot in the past year.”

“Hmm…” Sloan could see the wheels turning in her mind.

“Look, I don't know the backstory, but I'm sure it'll get around town soon enough.”

“You're probably right.” Her mom knew all too well how fast gossip could travel. She'd been the butt of a lot of it when her dad traded her in for a newer version.

Sloan walked back to her mom and kissed her cheek. “I'm going to wash this gunk off me. I'd hate for it to soak into my pores.”

Her mom kissed her back. “You and me both.”

When Sloan reached the top of the staircase, she heard the phone ring. A few seconds later, her mom yelled, “Sloan! It's Mackenzie! She wants to know if she should call the police!”