Chapter 9 - Aunt Ruth Takes a Stand
Back in Raleigh, Friday morning arrived with a crisp autumn chill that signaled the true changing of the seasons. While Owen and I were sleeping soundly in our Portuguese villa, thousands of miles away, my mother was discovering the permanent consequences of her ultimatum.
True to her word, Donna Brandt had expected a frantic, tearful phone call by Thursday night begging for forgiveness. Instead, she had received absolute, deafening silence.
By Friday morning, frantic calls were bouncing between members of the extended Brandt family. Aunt Ruth—my father’s sharp-tongued, fiercely loyal sister—sat at her kitchen table drinking black coffee when her landline rang at 8:30 a.m. It was Donna, sounding breathless and frantic.
"Ruth, you have to talk some sense into Clara," Donna wailed into the receiver before Ruth could even say hello. "She has completely lost her mind! She's blocked our numbers, she's abandoned her sister while Kayla is eight months pregnant, and she's roaming around Europe without a care in the world while we are dealing with this disaster!"
Ruth took a slow, deliberate sip of her coffee, setting the mug down on a knitted coaster with a soft click.
"Donna," Ruth said, her voice dry as parchment and laced with steel. "Let me stop you right there before you give yourself an aneurysm."
"How can you take her side after what she did?" Donna shrieked. "She cut off Kayla's car! She locked us out of the condo! She humiliated us in front of ninety-nine guests!"
"She stood up for herself for the first time in thirty-forth years, that's what she did," Ruth snapped back, losing her patience. "I was at that wedding, Donna. I saw what you and Kayla pulled at the reception, stealing her honeymoon tickets right out from under her nose like common thieves. And frankly, I’m ashamed I didn't say anything sooner."
"She owes her family!" Donna sputtered, her voice rising in pitch. "We raised her! Walt would be disgusted—"
"Don't you dare bring my brother into this," Ruth interrupted, her voice dropping to a dangerous, low register. "Walt taught Clara how to keep the stats and run the scoreboard. He gave her the microphone so she could speak the truth, not so you and Kayla could use her as a doormat. You made a bed of lies, Donna, and now you and your precious pregnant daughter get to lie in it. Do not call my house again to complain about consequences you brought upon yourselves."
*Click.*
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Ruth hung up the phone without waiting for a reply. She let out a long, satisfied breath, smiled to herself, and picked up her cell phone to send a quick, encrypted message to Priya at Brandt Events: *Tell Clara her Aunt Ruth says hello and stands by every word.*
***
