Read Online Romance: Love Left Behind - A Mystery Romance: (Romance, Mystery, Mystery Romance, Romantic Suspense) by Paige Powers - Free Book Online Page B

mug back on the table.  Ben knew that she was sad because his normally anal-retentive mother failed to put the mug on a coaster.  “Lots of people are coming by tomorrow,” she said.  “A lot of friends are coming for support.  It’s very sweet of them.”
    “What about the Bluffs?  Are they coming?”  As he said that, Ben tried his best to look uninterested.  But he couldn’t fool his mother.  She gave him a knowing stare and nodded.
    “Yes,” she said.  “The Bluffs are coming.  Even, if I’m correct, Starla.  I know that’s what you’re really asking, Ben.  You can’t trick a mother’s intuition.  Why?  You still care about her?”
    Ben flushed a fiery red.  “Mom!”
    “Well that’s a yes,” she said, rolling her eyes a bit.  The discussion reanimated her a bit, made it seem like she was getting further and further away from crying.  “I think you’ll always care about her, won’t you?  She was your first love.  But let me tell you something, buddy boy.  If you still love her, you can’t be dating that Mina girl back in New York City.  You don’t get to have your cake and eat it too.  That isn’t how life works.”
    Mrs. Brindell had never approved of Mina, not since the beginning of their relationship.  The two had only come into contact one time on one of the Brindell family trips into the city.  Mr. and Mrs. Brindell took Ben and Mina out for dinner to an expensive restaurant.  But Mina looked down at the food, called it ‘peasant food,’ and repeatedly told Mr. and Mrs. Brindell how her parents could actually afford to eat at some of the nicer places in the city.  And her parents knew famous chefs like Tom Colicchio.  Ever since that day, Mrs. Brindell basically refused to acknowledge Ben’s relationship, referring to Mina only as ‘that Mina girl.’
    “But Starla’s dating someone too,” Ben argued.  “It’s not like we’re both still madly in love with each other.  We can care about each other but that doesn’t mean we’re meant to be together.”
    Mrs. Brindell guffawed.  She shoved the coffee mug away from her, causing tea to splash all over the table.  It spread rapidly, creating a big brown mess.  “Now you listen here.  I know you love Starla more than you love that Mina girl.”  Seeing Ben open his mouth to say something back, his mother interrupted, “You can deny it all you want, but I know the truth.  Her relationship with Blair?  It’s a sham and he’s a piece of shit.  Everybody in this town knows it but nobody does anything about it because Starla always begs them not to.  But he hits her.  He throws her around.  That poor girl isn’t allowed to see anyone, do anything, or go anywhere unless Blair gives her permission.  I saw her in the diner last week with a big bruise on her arm.  When I asked her what happened, she said she fell.  She fell?  I don’t believe it for a second.  I don’t like the way that boy treats her.  So if you love her, you help her get out of that situation.”
    The anger paralyzed him.  He sunk his head into his hands as he tried to digest the information that his mother had just given to him.  Starla was being beaten?  Back in high school, she had been such a free spirit.  In every memory he had of Starla she existed as an ethereal being, stronger and braver than anything that could possibly exist in this realm.  Even looking back to when they first met, when had Starla run up and initiated conversation, she had always been an independent woman.  The fact that someone was hitting her and she was letting it happen…Ben just couldn’t believe that was true.
    He had the urge to stand up right then, drive to wherever Blair lived, and fight him.  No real man ever put his hands on a lady like that.  A real man knew how to use words and not fists.  Ben was also quite upset that during their talks, Starla had not once mentioned the abuse.  Although she hadn’t answered his last