5. Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Declan
M y mother has finally stopped nagging me about being antisocial. Lately, she’s been occupied with a woman who recently moved to town. The woman has a young girl, and my mom has taken a liking to her. She’s always desired grandchildren, particularly a granddaughter, as she already has two sons. Despite not trusting or liking Lisa, my mother was overjoyed when she found out she was pregnant. To be a part of the baby’s life, she maintained a cordial relationship with her. In order to spend more time with them, she knew she had to be friendly with the mother. Uncovering the truth that Lisa was both untruthful and promiscuous has caused multiple forms of devastation to my mother. She not only lost her thirty-five-year marriage, but also had the idea of having a grandchild taken away before he was even born.
When she was younger, she had wanted more children, but my dad didn’t want any more, so she threw herself into mothering my brother and me. We couldn’t have asked for a better mom. My father wasn’t a terrible father but was the breadwinner and never spent the extra time with Mason and me that as young boys, we needed. I think he was going through a mid-life crisis when our lives fell apart. He admitted he’d succumbed to the temptation of being with a young, beautiful woman. For that, he lost his entire family. The irony was Lisa wanted nothing more than a quick fuck from him. She said he was old, and she wasn’t interested in anything long term with him, so he left town with his tail between his legs.
He’s tried to call my phone and Mason’s, but there’s no way in hell I will ever speak to him again. He didn’t hurt just me and Mason, but my mother too, and a quick fuck wasn’t worth destroying the woman who devoted her entire being to his life. Regret was clear on his face when we confronted him, but it was too late. My mother said she couldn’t be with him again after that and neither my brother nor I could look him in the face anymore. I know that won’t ever change for me, but for Mason, I’m not sure. He wasn’t the one who walked in on his father ramming his cock into his woman. Just the thought of it causes me to squeeze my eyes shut, trying to unsee it, but realizing it’s burned into my brain.
My mother is showering this little girl with the love she would give her own grandkids. It’s good to see her happy again. The child gives her a reason to get out of bed and smile again. It’s been the best thing to help her move on with her life.
I can’t even stomach seeing the kid when the thing I wanted most in the world was a family. It’s just a reminder of everything that my father ripped away from me when he was sleeping with my fiancé. He didn’t just ruin my life, but he ruined my mother and our family.
When it happened, my pain overwhelmed me to the point where I couldn’t fulfill my role as a son. My brother and I thought we were going to lose her; she was so depressed she wouldn’t get out of bed or shower for days. She wouldn’t eat and she didn’t speak. It was almost as if she was catatonic.
I hated hurting my mother, but I couldn’t keep what I had seen to myself. And Lisa behaved like a spiteful cunt. She took pride in announcing to the whole family that she had fucked my father. I didn’t realize Lisa was so vindictive and cruel. She hid who she was well, but once I realized what kind of person she was, the claws came out and she became a vile person.
You would think, since he threw his whole family away for a woman, that he really cared about Lisa. Once Lisa said he was too old and she wasn’t interested, he said she was nothing but a low-life, trashy whore. He was right, but he was no better than she was. I felt more betrayed by my father than I did by a woman who wasn’t my flesh and blood.
My brother Mason was just as angry as I was. He went after my father and broke a few of his ribs, gave him a black eye too. He’s the sheriff of Magnolia Falls, so that kind of thing is frowned upon, but he was too mad to think things through in the moment. After the big reveal and Dad had been thrown out of the house, I gave the trifling whore until after the baby was born. Then I threw her out of mine. Lisa got a job at Tassels, the local strip club in town, taking her clothes off. At that point, she didn’t have Cole. Her parents had him, so I saw no reason I owed her a free ride anymore.
My mother has tried to get back to life in our small town. The better she got the more I withdrew. Despite my brother’s efforts to be supportive of both my mother and me, I’ve simply become emotionally closed off. In my cabin, up on this mountain in the woods, I rarely leave except for trips into town for food or essential errands. Occasionally, I interact with a few individuals for my job. My business involves owning a lumber company. We cut down trees and process them into products that builders and construction companies use. I stay out in the woods by myself most of the day with only a few men on my crew who are employed under me. No one is even employed in my office any longer, and I’m happy to avoid speaking to people, preferring to stay to myself. Everyone in town whispers when they see me and talk about how I’ve become a hermit, but I don’t care what they think. The whispers are obvious when I’m in town, and I know they’ve figured out something major happened, with Lisa and me no longer together, me not raising Cole, and my father splitting town. Though no one has the balls to ask outright, but the rumors ring true.
A family was what I wanted most in the world. A woman, kids, the whole nine yards, but now that I see how much it hurts to be betrayed, I know I’m better off staying up here in the woods, alone. Not only did I not get my own family, the one I was born into was shattered too.
As I make my way back home from work, the familiar sounds of the mountains and woods surround me. The distant sound of the wind and leaves blowing creates a symphony of nature. Lost in my thoughts, I usually ignore my ringing phone, but this time, I absentmindedly answer without looking.
“Declan, I’m glad you answered, dear.” My mother’s gentle voice reaches my ears, mixed with a hint of worry.
Caught off guard, I pause for a moment, the cool evening breeze brushing against my face, carrying a faint scent of freshly cut grass. “Can you find some time to come by? Maybe we can have dinner together?”
A sigh escapes my lips as I continue driving, the sounds of the old Ford’s motor echoing on the concrete roadway. “Sorry, Mom. I can’t.”
“Mason told me you work and go straight home. Your brother and I are both worried about you, Declan. You need to make time.” Her voice cracks, and I can sense her sadness.
Memories of what Mason told me flood my mind, images of a sweet woman and her innocent little girl. The weight of their presence lingers in my thoughts, evoking a mix of emotions. “There’s no way in hell. I don’t want to see any woman or her kid. That’s final.” My words come out stern and raised.
Silence envelops the other end of the line, broken only by the sound of my mother’s sniffles. A pang of guilt washes over me as I realize she’s crying. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. You know I can’t deal with kids since Cole.”
Her voice trembles with a hint of desperation, trying to break through my walls. “I know, but I just want to see you happy again…”
A wave of sadness engulfs me, and I respond with resignation, “This is it for me, Mom. Happiness will not happen. I’m not putting myself out there to get lied to, used, and scammed by another woman. Don’t try to manipulate the situation and play matchmaker.”
“They aren’t all like Lisa, Declan. This girl, she’s…” my mother’s voice trails off, but I cut in before she can follow up her train of thought .
“Fuck no. Mother, I’m not listening to this. I’m hanging up now.” The weight of my words hangs in the air, mingling with the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. Hanging up on your mother is a low blow, but I can’t bear the thought of her playing matchmaker. She means well, but I don’t need or want her help. I just need to be left alone.