Chapter 15 #2
My gaze followed my son through the living room to the sliding glass door and I watched him open it with more force than necessary before he hopped—yes, my child hopped—out the door, leaving it open.
“Babe?”
“Excuse me one second, Tally,” I said into the phone and tipped my head back to look at Rhode.
“Kitchen’s clean but I didn’t know where the dishes went so I left them in the strainer.”
“Oh, my,” Tally breathed in my ear.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I told him, ignoring Tally’s comment.
“Great dinner, Sugar.”
It was Rhode’s turn to ignore my comment. But he did it better because when he bent down and kissed my temple I forgot what I’d said.
“Thanks.”
“We’ll be out back.”
And with that, Rhode took the same path Remy did, only he wasn’t skipping.
Nope, Rhode moved with long, confident strides.
My eyes zeroed in on his backside and I knew from personal experience how fine his ass looked bare.
How muscular it was. How it flexed under my palms when he drove his dick inside of me.
“Brooklyn?”
Oh, God.
“Sorry, I’m back.”
“He’s got your brain scrambled,” she noted.
“Yep.”
Tally sighed, but unlike her daughter, she didn’t enunciate the word; she made the sound.
“How’s Remington?”
“In heaven. Though he doesn’t know Rhode’s his dad. We’re going up to Sandpoint with him this weekend. A mini-vacation complete with a boat ride and fishing. I think we’ll tell him then.”
“Good plan. That boy loves to fish.”
“Do you really think it’s a good plan or are you humoring me?”
“I think you’ve spent the last five years dwelling on that man. I think you’ve been heartbroken. I think you’ve been dreaming of the day you found him.”
She was correct on all accounts but that didn’t answer my question.
“I was asking about when to tell Remington.”
There was a beat of silence and my stomach clenched. Crap. Tally was a great mom; if she thought I was making a mistake telling Remy so soon I’d have to talk to Rhode and reevaluate the situation.
“You know, Diane would be so proud of you,” Tally said, and my throat clogged.
“She’d be proud of the woman you’ve become.
You’ve always known your mind and your heart—she gave that to you.
She was fearless. Growing up with your mom was like a rollercoaster.
There was never a time she wasn’t having a good time.
She also was the best person to go to when you needed advice.
She always knew the right thing to say. I miss her so damn much and if she were here she’d know exactly what to tell you, what you needed to hear so you’d know with all your heart how good of a mother you are.
“For four years you’ve been mom and dad for Remy.
For four years you’ve raised him all on your own and you’ve done an amazing job.
Remington is smart, he’s polite, he’s always happy, and he adores you.
What I’m saying is, don’t second-guess yourself.
However you’ve decided to tell Remington about Rhode is the right way.
Trust your judgment. And the last thing I have to say is, kids are as resilient as they are fragile.
They’ll roll with the changes as long as their foundation is solid.
You’ve given Remington solid parenting, so he’ll roll with this change.
I believe in you and I know you wouldn’t’ve allowed Rhode to come over to your house if you didn’t trust him and you certainly never would’ve allowed him to start to bond with your son if you didn’t know that Rhode was in it for the long haul. ”
I missed my parents every day. But there were times when I missed my mom more.
Times like these when I needed her advice.
During my pregnancy, when all I wanted was my mom to hold my hand.
When I gave birth and more than anything in the entire world I wanted my mom with me.
I wanted to see her hold her grandson and smile at him and cuddle him.
And there were times when I missed my dad more than I missed my mom.
When I needed his steady strength and his compassion.
When Remy caught his first fish and held it up for Michael to see—I wanted my dad there.
I wanted my dad to praise his grandson and encourage him.
But with all the ways I missed my mom and dad, Tallulah and Michael weren’t second best. They were the best. All of my memories were bittersweet.
My childhood spent with my parents and the Welshes.
All of the good times we shared, all the fun times we had.
After my parents were gone, all the great experiences still involved Tally and Michael; it was just that my parents were absent.
“You’re the best person I know,” I croaked. “You were missing your best friend but you still took care of me. I’m so sorry I needed you so much. I was so lost I couldn’t see how much pain you were in.”
“Brooklyn Tallulah Saunders, you listen to me and listen good, child. Losing your mom the way we did broke me. She was everything to me. More than my best friend, she was my soul sister. I will miss her for the rest of my life. But you coming to live with us filled a hole in me that was so deep I never thought it would be possible to stop the pain. I lost your momma but I got you. And you filled that hole for Michael, too. He’ll never tell you because he’s a man and men don’t talk about grief but Ronny was to Michael what your momma was to me.
And you, my sweet girl, are the very best parts of Diane and Ronny.
We needed you more than you needed us. So don’t you ever apologize to me again.
You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. It was our honor, Brook, to have you living with us. ”
“I want to do right by Remington and Rhode.”
“Then follow in your momma’s footsteps. Jump on the ride, lift your arms, and be fearless.”
“And telling Remy—”
“Fearless, Brooklyn. Don’t second-guess yourself.”
“Okay,” I breathed out and straightened my spine. “We’re telling Remy this weekend.”
“Good. And I expect Rhode Daley at my table sooner rather than later.”
“Yes, Tally.”
“Such sass. And you wonder where your son gets it from. The apple didn’t fall off the tree to roll away from it.”
My lips twitched because she was correct about that, too.
“Thank you.”
“You can thank me by bringing your boys over for dinner.”
My boys.
I wasn’t sure Rhode could be described as a boy, but I didn’t bother correcting her.
“You got it.”
“And thank him for sending Reese and Cole to the house. Michael’s in a fit and wanted to go to that biker hangout. He got in the car but didn’t even make it out of the driveway before Reese was at his car door talking him down. Now they’re in the garage talking or doing whatever it is men do.”
Oh, man. Shit. I didn’t know what to say to that. The Horsemen were bad news and Kiki was dating the president.
“You girls were right keeping that a secret,” Tally told me. “Michael would’ve gone there and he would’ve gotten hurt. He’s not thinking straight.”
“Understandable, Tally.”
“I’ve been thinking on things and I didn’t want to say anything but maybe I should talk to Mr. McCray. When Desi was staying here I saw her with a cell phone. And she said something about Kiki that didn’t make sense.”
Danger. Danger. Danger.
“Tally—”
“I asked Desi if Kiki was still working at Houlihan’s.
Desi said Kiki quit before she left. When I asked her what left meant she corrected herself and told me Kiki quit and was looking for a new job right before they were taken.
Then she started sobbing and I felt bad for bringing it up after everything she’s gone through. ”
Not only was I a bad liar I was bad under stress.
High-stress situations were not my thing.
Some people thrived under pressure—not me.
I froze then panicked. I was still at the frozen part but the panic was quickly seeping in.
I needed off the phone before I blurted out everything I wasn’t supposed to say.
“I’ll tell Rhode. He’ll know what to do.”
“I think Desi’s lying. I don’t think Kiki was with her.”
Please God, let Remy throw that football at the sliding glass door and shatter it.
“Tally—”
“And a mother never wants to think this about her child but thinking back to the last time I talked to Kiki we had a huge blowout. She wanted a loan and I told her no. She told me she hated me and I was dead to her. That conversation’s been eating me up.
The last thing my baby said to me was she hated me then she was gone. What if that’s the last—”
“No, Tallulah momma, listen to me. Don’t let your mind go there. Kiki is not dead. You know her, she blows up then comes around.”
Kiki was alive and well and as bitter as I’d ever seen her. But once she burned herself or ran out of money or ran out of places to crash she’d have no choice but to make things right with her parents.
I heard background noise through the phone and Michael’s booming voice before Tally said, “Sorry to cut this short. Michael needs to talk to me.”
Thank sweet Jesus.
“Okay, Tally. Love you.”
“Love you, sweet girl.”
I hung up the phone and closed my eyes. I loved hearing Tally call me sweet girl. I just prayed when she found out I not only lied to her about Kiki’s boyfriend but I also lied about Kiki coming out to see me she’d forgive me.