Free Betrayed (Powell Book 4) by Bill Ward

didn’t want to see her father. She wished just to talk to her mother.
    “How are you?” Clara enquired, once they were seated. “Is everything okay at that place?”
    “I’m fine,” Hattie answered. “Why must you talk about where I live like it was dog shit?”
    “Must you swear?”
    “Dad always swears. You never tell him to stop.”
    “It’s different. It’s unbecoming for a young woman to use profanity.”
    “But it’s all right for men to swear? Honestly mum, your ideas are prehistoric. Women can do anything men can do.”
    “I’d prefer for neither of you to swear.”
    “Look, I don’t want to argue,” Hattie stressed. “I came here hoping you were getting used to the idea of where I live and accepting my adult right to make decisions about my life.” Receiving no immediate response she added, “Even if you don’t like my decisions.”
    “We’re just worried for you.”
    “Well don’t be. I love what I’m doing. Life is great at Tintagel.”
    “We don’t want them to take advantage of you.”
    “Mum, it’s a long time since I was a virgin.”
    “I don’t mean that way. We’re worried about what you might do with your inheritance.”
    Hattie stared at her mother in disbelief for a few seconds. “Do you honestly think I’d give away all my inheritance? Do you really think I’m that stupid?”
    Before Clara could answer, their coffee and cakes were delivered.
    “We don’t know what to think,” Clara answered, once the waitress had left. “You run away to join a cult and you told me you were having sex with Scott, who must be twice your age. Then you admit you’re taking drugs. How do you expect me to react? Especially when you don’t answer your phone.”
    “Firstly, it is not a cult and I didn’t run anywhere. I took a train and a taxi. We are living as a commune. It’s completely different to a cult. Secondly, when it comes to sex, I happen to prefer older men. They know what they’re doing. Finally, and most importantly, I have no intention of handing over my inheritance to Scott or anyone else.”
    Clara sighed with relief. “That’s good to hear.”
    “Perhaps now you can tell Dad to call off whoever it is he has poking around asking questions about where I live.”
    “Actually it was me who found him, not your father.”
    “So it’s true? You really have hired some form of private investigator?”
    “He came highly recommended,” Clara admitted, wondering if she should have just denied everything. But she didn’t want to lie to her daughter. For the first time in ages, they were having a proper conversation. “I’m sorry. I was getting desperate and didn’t know what else to do.”
    “Promise me you will get rid of him,” Hattie demanded. “As you can see, I am perfectly okay. It’s embarrassing having my mother pay someone to check up on me.”
    Clara was feeling guilty. She should have had more belief in her daughter. Hattie may not have been interested in the academic side of school but she was no fool. Clara should have trusted her not to behave stupidly. Instead, Clara had been the one to behave stupidly and hired someone to spy on her daughter. What had she been thinking?
    “I’m sorry,” Clara repeated. “I was just so worried about you. Frankly, I’m still worried but I guess I have to recognise you’re no longer our little girl. You’ve grown up.”
    “I still love you,” Hattie stressed. “But I need to make my own decisions and I might make some mistakes but that’s life.”
    “You know, it’s not easy being a parent. For eighteen years of your life you worry every day about your daughter and then suddenly she’s an adult and you are expected to press a button and stop worrying.”
    Hattie reached forward and took her mother’s hand in her own. “You can still worry about me but you have to treat me like an adult. You can’t snoop in my bag or go hiring private investigators.”
    Clara nodded in agreement. “I’m so glad