I Think I Love You (Australian Sports Star Series Book 3) by Iris Blobel Page B

close. And her longing for her mother’s acceptance had faded years ago.
    Lisa sat in the lounge room with a box of tissues on her lap.
    “Hi, Mum.”
    “Hello, Sarah.”
    She sat next to her and placed her hand on her mother’s.
    “Want some coffee?”
    Disappointed, but not surprised by the disregard of Rachel’s disappearance, she simply replied, “Glass of water and a Panadol.”
    Following her mother into the kitchen, she sat at the table rubbing her temples with her fingertips. There was a silence in the house that reminded her of her childhood. The three of them living under the same roof, but not talking with each other. They never had a close relationship. That was most likely the reason why she’d spent so much time with Markus and his family.
    “Going to work tomorrow?”
    “Have to. No leave left and I need the money.”
    “Markus can’t help?”
    Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can’t always go to Mark when I’m in trouble.”
    Her mother snorted, and Sarah looked up at her. Lisa was only in her mid-fifties, but life hadn’t been a bed of roses for her, and it showed. She’d always been told she was the older sister of the Winter girls, looking so much like her daughters.
    “He didn’t help last time,” her mother explained.
    Sarah closed her eyes. Little did her mother know.
    The time Sarah’s sister had moved in with some religious group north of Melbourne, any contact to the outside world was prohibited. They’d lived on a farm with beliefs similar to the Amish people, yet a lot stricter, and Sarah never really figured what they’d actually believed in. Markus had lived in England during the period Rachel had vanished. But he’d rung almost every day, had sent Sarah money to be able to take leave without pay from work, and engage professional help to search for her sister. Oliver and Ty had been there for her as well, but Markus had been her rock.
    “He did, Mum.”
    “So why won’t you ring him this time?”
    “Complicated.”
    “You two had a fight?”
    “Not really. As I said, it’s complicated.”
    Lisa handed her daughter the glass of water. “Never got what you saw in the guy.”
    Sarah stood and took the packet of Panadol out of the drawer, popped two, and swallowed them with some water. “I’ll go to the police before work.”
    Her mother let out a short huff. “What kind of mother do you think I am? I’ve done that already, but they said with Rachel’s background there’s not much they could do.”
    Sarah turned to look at her mother. “Background?”
    Lisa sipped at her coffee.
    “Mum?”
    “Well, she did run away a few years ago.”
    “That’s not a reason not to help.”
    Again, her mother simply shrugged.
    “Have you called hospitals, friends…?”
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah, done all that.”
    Sarah was about to check her sister’s bedroom, when she stopped at the door. “Mum? Did you two have a fight?”
    “Damn you,” Lisa snapped. “Damn you and your perfect little world.”
    Sarah was taken aback by her mother’s outburst. She didn’t understand.
    “Yes, we did have a fight, but that is no reason to blame me. I’ve given my best to raise you two only to get nothing in return.” She stood. “You have no idea how hard it is to raise children without a father around. With no money. And all you two are doing is take, take, take.”
    “Mum. I haven’t—”
    “No. Of course not. You haven’t. You had to prove you’re better than us. Rub it in, that your friends are millionaires.”
    “That’s not true.”
    “Don’t give me that. Of course it’s true.”
    Sarah stared at her mother. “Where’s Rachel?” she asked.
    Closing her eyes, her mother replied, “I don’t know. She complained yet again about the lack of money in this house and left. I told her not to bother to come back.”
    Fighting with tears, Sarah called a taxi. She walked down the hall and into Rachel’s room. Why would her mother lie to her about something so