Free The Price by Cary West

audacity. “I’m with Jack now and I love him.”
    “You think a man like Jack will remain faithful to you?” Marnie lifted her brow.
    “Yes.”
    “Oh Kathryn, I didn’t raise you to be a fool. Open your eyes. Your husband is a very physical kind of man. He will grow bored easily with a woman like you. What will you do then?”
    “I know what you’re doing,” Kate’s voice mixed with angry tears. “It’s not going to work this time.”
    “What am I doing?” Her mother remained calm.
    “You’re trying to twist my mind.” And it was working as all the air in Kate’s joy balloon left. “You are not going to spin me in the direction of Paul like you did the last time.”
    “Paul is a better fit for you, Kathryn.”
    “Oh God, give it a rest,” she spat sharply and her son lifted his head, as blue eyes rested questioningly on hers.
    Kate gave him several quick pats to the back until he released a burp then placed him in the stroller. She removed the apron, tucking it by the infant’s feet.
    “Go home, Mother!” said Kate, holding back the tears from releasing, not wanting to give her mother the satisfaction of seeing her cry “I don’t want you here poisoning my family.”
    “That’s not what I’m doing,” said Marnie. She stood and placed her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “I always have your best interests at heart.”
    “No, you have your best interests at heart—not mine.” She shrugged her mother away. “It was a mistake calling you. I wish to God I never made it.”
    Kate left her mother by the picnic table and made her way back to the main house. How did her mother know how to pick away at her confidence until all her insecurities were exposed raw? She needed to get far away before her mother had time to crumble what little stability she had left.
    The pooled up tears released, falling upon her dry cheeks, and she hid her face by looking down at the ground when Mark passed her and greeted her. Kate barely got the word hello from her lips without them quivering. She was grateful to make it to the house, climbing the porch stairs with the stroller and entering the foyer. She picked up her son and cradled him in her arms, then headed upstairs to their bedroom.
    Kate changed Jesse and sat in the rocking chair, cradling him to her chest as she wept. What she was crying for, she didn’t fully know. An unsettled feeling formed in the pit of her stomach, and she felt like she wanted to throw up. It couldn’t happen again—not with Jack. Or could it? Did her mother have an uncanny knack of foretelling her future, seeing the destruction that she was too blind to see until it was too late? Kate held her son tighter, continuing to shed distraught tears.
     
    Jack finished the tour and headed back to the main house. He felt a little guilty leaving Kate the way he did. Saturday’s were meant for family but after his latest run in with his mother-in-law, he thought it best to get far enough away from her meddling before he said something he would regret.
    He wasn’t the kind of man to run from confrontation, but for Kate he would do just about anything. The last thing she needed was for him to lose his temper. She was sensitive enough having her mother visit and to mix that with her fluctuating hormones, could have been a recipe for disaster. No , Jack thought, it was better that I left and cooled down before tackling the remainder of the day with Marnie St. Claire.
    Jack checked the kitchen first but found no Kate. He climbed the stairs, heading for their bedroom. He didn’t make it half way down the hall before he heard Kate’s sobs wailing through the hallway. It was a familiar sound as of late, and with an inward pause he geared up to handle what he considered a female-emotional-melt-down behind the bedroom door.
    It wasn’t that he was unsympathetic; he was just never good at the feeling stuff . But with Kate he learned fast. In the year they’d been together, his world had turned