Mommy's Secret

Carolina steps inside, phone pressed to her ear, calling out for her mother to be sure the house is empty. She gets the all-clear and hangs up the moment an email lands from her friend. One click and her whole body goes tight. Mom. Naked. On screen with another woman. Heat rushes up her neck and she doesn’t even notice when her hand drifts under her skirt. The laptop screen is slammed shut the instant the back door opens. Mindi walks in, asking what her stepdaughter’s been doing all afternoon. Carolina swallows hard, stares at her, then offers to watch a movie together. They settle on the couch, lights low. Carolina hits play. Mindi freezes when she sees her own bare skin spread across the screen and stammers through a hurried excuse about money problems. Carolina isn’t listening. All she can think about is the taste she’s been craving. She leans in, close enough to smell Mindi’s perfume, and states her terms: silence in exchange for the very thing Mindi’s been denying her. For a second neither woman moves. Then Mindi exhales, leans back, and lets her knees fall open.