Stay With Me (The Montgomery Brothers) by Samantha Chase

pair of shorts and a tank top and she had actually gone to the craft store and bought herself a smock to protect her clothing.  It was now covered in paint so Gina considered that money well spent.
    With a final stroke of her brush she added a touch of red behind the painted man’s head and smiled at the finished product.  It was good.  It was more than good.  It was possibly one of the best pieces she’d ever done.  Stepping back she studied it and then headed to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine.  The sun was setting and Gina decided that after a quick shower that she’d heat herself up some dinner and maybe go and soak in the hot tub to ease her sore muscles.  Standing up for so long while painting was hell on her body.
    She’d showered and thrown on just a pair of panties and a ribbed tank; the soak in the hot tub wasn’t set in stone as the hot shower had eased some of her tension.  She was heating up her dinner when her phone rang.  She looked at the screen and groaned.  Her mother was calling.
    “Gina, sweetheart,” her mother began, “aren’t you done there in North Carolina yet?  You really should be back home.  I’m sure your bosses are not happy with you being away for so long.”
    She sighed.  “They are fine with me being away, mom.  I told them, just like I told you, that I’d be gone a couple of weeks.  I’ve only been gone one.”
    “Don’t argue with me, Gina.  Your job is important.  Surely by now you’ve had a chance to visit with your father.  What more can you possibly do?”
    Reaching for her wine glass, she took a long drink from it and then refilled it before answering.  “I’m here to spend time with him.  He’s dying.  Can’t you even be gracious enough to understand that we’d want to spend time together?”
    “Please, you always are so dramatic.  Lord knows where you get that from,” her mother said bitterly.  “It would have been n ice if he’d spent time with you before he found out he was dying.”
    Gina wanted to reach through the phone and slap her mother.  “How dare you!” she snapped.  “How could he spend time with me when you did everything you possibly could to keep that from happening?”
    “Is that what he told you?  Because he’s lying.  Your father is a liar, Gina!”
    “No, that’s not what he told me, that’s what I know.  I wasn’t a child when we moved away, Mom.  I was a teenager who was old enough to know what was going on and what I know is that you did everything you could to make him pay for not being who you wanted him to be.  You used me to get even with him.  Well, you can’t do that anymore.  I’m here in North Carolina and I don’t know when I’ll be home.”
    Her mother sputtered.  “You can’t do that!  Think about your job, your commitments…”
    “Right now the only commitment I have is to me and to spending time with dad and if you don’t like that then it’s too bad.  It’s not your decision to make.”
    “Gina, be reasonable!  After all these years and all I’ve sacrificed for you…”
    “Sacrificed?  Are you kidding me?  I was the one that had to sacrifice!  I had to leave my father and my friends and my school and everything that I loved to move to the other side of the country!  You started up a whole new life and didn’t care about how you ruined mine!”  Gina had no idea what had spurred this act of bravery on her part, but it certainly felt good.
    “And this is why I didn’t want you spending time with your father; he’s poisoned you against me!  You never spoke like this before…you are being highly disrespectful and I demand an apology.”
    Gina laughed.  It wasn’t a cheery laugh but one filled with disbelief.  “You can demand all that you want but you are not going to get your way.  I’m here and I’m not sure when I’ll be home.”  Before her mother could interrupt, she added, “And as for my job, I’ll deal with that as well.  I’m