Read Interference for Free Online Page B

covering a cough.
    “Don’t even try to hide it, Mom.” I shook my head. “I didn’t think I was that bad. I let her off with a warning and escorted her home.”
    Mom leaned back in her chair, her eyes wide as she questioned me. “You followed her home? Is that protocol?”
    I shrugged. “She said she had a family emergency. I wanted to make sure she got there safely.”
    “It takes less than ten minutes to get from one end of this town to the other. Was the police escort necessary?” Mom asked.
    “No, it wasn’t necessary, but it would’ve been my ass if she got into an accident after I let her go.”
    “Was she drunk?”
    “No.”
    Mom glanced at the chalkboard then scrutinized the beers in the flight. “You’ve got it bad.”
    I rubbed my forehead to hide the truth and steer the conversation in another direction. “How ’bout those Red Wings?”
    “I must be right on the money,” Mom said. “Okay, my dear, subject change. Have you seen Auden recently?”
    And that’s one of the reasons Mom kicked ass. She got her digs in, but knew when it was time to change the subject. But, in true Mom style, she moved from one sensitive subject to another. For both of us, not just me.
    When I first found out about Auden, Mom feared I’d pull away from her and try to have a relationship with my biological mother’s family.
    I didn’t want any part of that mess. I know who my real family is. But I did want to get to know my newfound sister. I wanted a relationship with all of my siblings, from Auden and my “real” brothers—Landon, Calvin, and Nate—to the thirty-some foster kids who’d come and gone through the Taylor household over the years.
    “Funny you mention her.” I stopped to sip the darkest of the ales in front of us. “This was where we came for Auden’s graduation dinner.”
    “What’s she up to?” Mom asked with genuine interest. Because Mom doesn’t have a fake bone in her body. I appreciated that she approved of the relationship I’ve been trying to build with Auden. The entire situation is fucked-up for all of us.
    “Living the life in Charlotte. That’s where Aleksandr plays now,” I explained, though Mom is a huge Aleksandr Varenkov fan and probably already knew that. “But she’s in Bridgeland now. I hung out with her the other day.”
    “What’s she doing in town?”
    “They’re getting married here next week. She wanted her grandparents to be there.”
    “Are you going?” Mom asked.
    “Yeah. It’s at the courthouse. She probably needs a witness.”
    “The courthouse?” Mom cocked her head. “Why there?”
    “Don’t know.” I shrugged. “She said she never wanted all the big-wedding stuff.”
    “I think it’s wonderful that you’re going. She wants you there.”
    I shrugged her comment off. “She needs a witness.”
    “Jason Riley, she obviously doesn’t need a witness if her grandparents will be there.”
    True. It was cool that my sister wanted me in her life. She’d treated me like a brother from the first day she waited on me at Johnny’s, even before either of us knew we were related. I always wondered if we’d been drawn to each other subconsciously. Must be the blue eyes we shared, our mother’s eyes, according to Auden.
    Our dead mother’s eyes. Thinking about how much pain Auden must have gone through growing up without a mom made my stomach churn.
    She felt the loss of Valerie Berezin a million times more than I did. And though I understand that our mom had to make difficult decisions, I still couldn’t shake off the bitterness I had toward her.
    Valerie signed the papers to give me up for adoption minutes after I was born. It sucked, knowing how easy it had been for her to turn her back on me. Even though the Taylors had been awaiting my birth in the visitors’ lounge of the maternity ward, the pain of being the kid my biological mom gave away still rocked me to the core.
    My adoption had been set up months prior. On one hand, it made me