Chapter 5 #2
Lowering my head, I closed my eyes against the pounding drums inside my skull and pinched the bridge of my nose. “And I guess Mom’s already heard about this too?”
“Yep. She currently lyin’ in bed with a damp washcloth over her eyes. Told me to tell you you’ve broken her heart, and she thinks it may not heal this time.”
Of course.
My mom had to be the smartest, most cunning women on the planet. I was the last of three boys, and by the time I came onto the scene, Mom had already learned if she wanted to get her way in a house overrun by males, she was going to have to resort to emotional warfare, hence the broken heart.
She had a gift when it came to getting the men in her life to bend to her will.
All she had to do was give us that look of absolute disappointment and tell us we’d broken her heart, and just like that, the guilt ate us alive.
As we got older our hormones overtook our brains, and that ploy stopped having as strong an effect, so she’d added to it.
And let me tell you, it worked like a goddamn charm.
Nothing killed the mood of a horny teenage boy like seeing his mom holed up in a dark room with a damp cloth over her eyes as she clutched at her heart.
Guilt was how she’d gotten my oldest brother, Beckett, to break up with his girlfriend his senior year of high school.
To Mom’s credit, the chick was a stone-cold bitch.
The only reason Beck was with her was because he’d been thinking with his dick, and he’d been a million times happier once he’d cut her loose.
Guilt was also how Mom got my dad to move back to Georgia after he retired from the Navy so she could be closer to her family.
It was how she talked him into giving her my little sister after he insisted that three kids were more than enough, and it was how she got her dream kitchen, complete with a state-of-the-art Viking range.
It had to be said, my mother had one of the biggest, kindest hearts imaginable, and my old man did what he did for her because she gave back just as much, but you didn’t fuck with Lily Nguyen-Dixon when she wanted something.
“Oh, for the love of God.”
“You know how your momma is, son. You’ve had more than ten years of her tryin’ to guilt you into rekindlin’ what you and this girl had that week in Vegas, goin’ on and on about finally bringin’ her daughter into the family fold.
Now we hear from Hunt that she’s moved herself to Hope Valley, and you’ve known for a week and haven’t said a word.
Did you really expect any other kind of reaction? ”
“I guess not.” I inhaled deeply, stretching my lungs to their max. “So what all did Hunter tell you?”
“Just that she’s there, and you’ve been sittin’ with your thumbs up your ass, refusin’ to make a move.”
Fuck me. “Pop, it’s not that simple. I hurt her. I’m just trying to spare her any more pain.”
My dad let out a long breath through the line.
“Look, son, I’m not gonna lie. When you told us you ran off and got married in Vegas, your mom and I, well, we were worried.
The expiration dates on situations like that tend to be pretty damn short.
But we raised you to be smart. Always had a good head on your shoulders, so when you told us it was the real deal, we put our misgivings aside and had your back.
Now, you know I don’t agree with what you did to that girl.
I never sugarcoated that for you. Told you straight up.
You did wrong, and you kept on doin’ it with every day that passed that you didn’t hunt her down.
But it looks like you got a second chance, son.
Not many people are blessed with that. You let this slip through your fingers, it won’t just be your mom who’s disappointed in you, ’cause I know I raised you to be a better man than that. ”
Fuck me, knowing I’d disappoint my father hurt like a son of a bitch. “There’s nothin’ to be done, Pop. She hates me, and I don’t blame her one goddamn bit.”
“You once charmed the old lady across the street outta her entire month’s social security, and she was mean as a rattlesnake.”
“I don’t remember that,” I said with a heavy frown.
“You were only five. Runnin’ a lemonade stand in the front yard.
I watched you from the window as she cleaned out her entire wallet and handed it right over.
Don’t know what all you said to her, but when I went over to return her money, she couldn’t stop talkin’ about what a sweet boy you were.
I knew then, if you could charm the woman every kid in the neighborhood avoided on Halloween, you could charm anybody. ”
“I think this is gonna take a lot more than charm,” I said on a chuckle.
“Then put in the effort,” he ordered, using the same authoritative tone I’d heard a million times growing up. “If you don’t, I’m afraid your momma’s gonna get a wild hair and bring herself up there.”
That was the last thing I needed. “Do me a favor and keep her contained while I try to work this out on my own, yeah?”
“I’ll do my best, but you know there’s no stoppin’ that woman when she wants somethin’, so I suggest you move fast.”
“Just . . . I don’t know.” I raked a hand through my hair in frustration. “Tell her you guys can come up and meet her once I get this whole thing sorted, yeah? That’ll hold her over, at least for a little while.”
“Don’t you worry. I’ll handle things on this end. You just take care of business on yours.”
“Yes sir.”
“And son?”
“Yeah?”
“I have your back. I love you, and I’ll always have your back. No matter what.”
My throat grew tight, but I managed to croak out, “Love you too, old man. Talk soon.”
I ended the call, stuffed the phone into the cupholder beside me, and tossed the camera into the passenger seat. Then I headed to the motel.
While I waited for them to finish their business and leave so I could get back in and collect the bugs I’d put in place, I tried to puzzle out just how in the hell I was going to win Tessa back.
Because there was no other option. I’d let her go once already.
There was no way I could do that again.