Free Risk & Reward by Alisha Rai Page A

any time a boy came to the door.”
    She smiled at her mother’s dry words. “Yeah, so I think he has pretty not-fond memories of that. Plus, we fought about you guys a lot back then.” Wyatt would make cutting, sarcastic remarks and she would explode. All the damn time.
    “Us? Why did you fight about us?”
    “Because…” She rolled her neck, trying to relieve the tension. She’d never formally confronted either of her parents, and she wasn’t particularly keen on doing so now. “He said you were controlling me. Pushing me into a major I hated, a life I didn’t want. No girl wants to hear that. I would get mad, he’d get more annoyed, and then we’d storm off.”
    Her mother signaled a passing waiter. “Can you get us a pitcher of sangria, please?” She turned to Tatiana. “He was right.”
    “What?”
    “He was right, back then. We were absolutely forcing you into a life you didn’t want. Not maliciously, of course, and we didn’t realize you didn’t want it, but we were still doing it.”
    Tatiana stared at her mother, unprepared for the casual admission of guilt.
    Her mother smiled at the waiter’s return and poured them both a glass of the fruit-filled alcohol. “You were such a sweet child, Tatiana. So eager to please. We had no idea you didn’t want to follow us into the scientific world, not until you up and quit school.”
    “I know. I should have said something.”
    “We may have had difficulty listening. This world, this is my life, your father’s too. We don’t fully understand anything else. If you’d told us you wanted to be an artist, we might not have taken you seriously, probably would have bought you some canvas and told you to make it a hobby. And you, sweet child, would have agreed. So even though I don’t understand what you do or why you feel the need to do it, I’m grateful you took such a stand and ran away to live your life, because I can see that it makes you happy. And it’s made you a strong woman, one who can stand on her own two feet.” Her mother sipped the sangria. “If Wyatt was one of the motivating reasons behind you striking out on your own, I’ll kiss him the next time I see him.”
    “Well.” Tatiana took a big gulp of her drink. “This is interesting.”
    “I only ever wanted your happiness, Tatiana.” Her mom clasped her hand.
    Tatiana returned the squeeze. “I know. I’m so glad I was the lucky kid who ended up with you and Daddy.”
    Her mother’s long lashes hid the sheen of moisture in her eyes. “Yes.”
    Tatiana studied her mother’s hand in her own, naked except for her plain platinum wedding band. The woman worked with her hands too much to fuss with bracelets or rings. A necklace, Tatiana thought. Gold, twisted like a Mobius Coil, with chips of red rubies peeking out. Her fingers itched to draw it, to get started on it right away, but she filed the image of it away in her mind. Later. It would make a lovely birthday present.
    Her mother sniffed. “Well, in any case, that extends to Wyatt. He made you happy back then, and I can see and hear it in your voice that he makes you happy now.”
    “He does.” So happy it was making her crazy.
    “It’s unfortunate that we all fell back into old patterns last night.”
    A chill that had nothing to do with the icy drink in her hands ran down her spine. “Don’t say that. The last thing I want is to fall back into old patterns. I want to make this work this time, which means we have to do things differently.”
    Her mom stopped mid-drink. “Wait a minute. Were we the reason you broke up when you were in college?” Distress crossed her otherwise-smooth brow. “Oh, honey, that would—”
    “No. I mean, yes, we argued about you, but we argued about a ton of things.” She gave the response she’d said to herself so many times. “I don’t know exactly why we broke up, not anymore, but it wasn’t exclusively because of you.”
    “Hmm.”
    “What?”
    “Nothing. Just that it’s