43. Chapter 43
Adam
The spring sun is bright, and the day is warm.
We cross the hospital parking lot, Caitlin walking beside me, our shoulders occasionally brushing, a comfortable silence between us.
I dig the rental car keys from my pocket as we approach the sedan, my mind already turning toward the hotel, toward the promise of privacy and peace.
We reach the car, and I move to open the passenger door for Caitlin. My hand is on the handle when—
“Adam! Adam Kelley!”
It’s my mother’s voice, sharp as a blade.
We both turn, and there she is, striding across the parking lot toward us like a missile locked on target, her face arranged in a perfect mask of righteous indignation.
“Don’t you dare get in that car,” she calls. “Not until you explain yourself!”
I step slightly in front of Caitlin, an instinctive move to shield her. “Wait in the car,” I murmur. “I’ll handle this.”
But Caitlin stands her ground beside me, her spine straightening as Paula approaches. I recognize the stubborn set of her jaw and know she’s not going anywhere.
Paula stops a few feet away, breathing hard, though whether from the walk across the parking lot or from fury, I can’t tell. “How could you?” She demands, eyes flashing. “How could you be so cruel to Millie?”
“Cruel?” I repeat, incredulous. “She was screaming at Caitlin in the middle of a hospital waiting room.”
“She’s upset! Your father is in the hospital. You know how much she’s lost!” Paula’s gaze slides dismissively over Caitlin before returning to me. “And you just publicly humiliated her. After everything she’s been through, how could you cut her off like that? How could you cut me off?”
I take a deep breath, trying to center myself. “Caitlin, please get in the car,” I say quietly. “I need to talk to Paula.”
Paula’s eyebrows shoot up at my use of her first name rather than “Mom.” I see the barb land and feel a grim satisfaction.
Caitlin hesitates, then turns to face Paula directly. “Before I do, I have something to say to you.”
Paula’s eyes widen in surprise, then narrow dangerously. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t like you,” Caitlin says simply, her voice calm and clear. “I think you are vile. The way you treated your family, the way you treated Adam, was horrible.”
Paula’s mouth falls open in shock. “How dare you speak to me that way! You have no idea—”
“I have every idea,” Caitlin cuts her off. “I watched you manipulate and guilt your son. I watched you try to destroy our relationship. I watched you use Millie as a weapon against us.” Her voice hardens. “Adam deserved more than being treated as a pawn in whatever fantasy life you wanted to live.”
For a moment, Paula is speechless, color draining from her face before flooding back in an angry flush. Caitlin turns to me, and I can’t help but lean in and press a kiss to her forehead.
“I can handle her,” I assure her softly.
Caitlin nods, giving my hand a quick squeeze before sliding into the passenger seat. I close the door behind her, then turn to face my mother.
Paula’s composure cracks. “How can you possibly be happy with someone who treats your mother that way?” she demands, voice shrill.
“Shut up, Paula.”
The words drop like stones between us. Her eyes widen, mouth opening and closing wordlessly.
“I…” she finally manages. “I am your mother!”
“No,” I say, my voice steady and cold. “You’re not. Not anymore. You lost the right to call yourself that a long time ago.”
She recoils as if I’ve struck her. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that you failed me,” I tell her, the words I’ve held inside for years finally breaking free. “I deserved to be allowed to be a kid. I deserved a mother who loved me for who I was, not who you wanted me to be.”
“I did love you!” she protests. “Everything I did was for you, for our family!”
“No, everything you did was for you.” The truth of it settles into my bones as I speak it aloud. “I should never have been made responsible for Millie’s happiness. It was cruel to both of us. I deserved to be allowed to date who I wanted. Love who I wanted. Live the life I wanted.”
Paula shakes her head, tears gathering in her eyes now. But I recognize them for what they are, a calculated attempt to regain control, not genuine remorse. I’ve seen this performance too many times before.
“I gave you everything,” she insists. “Everything! And this is how you repay me? By throwing away your future? By abandoning your family for… for her?” She gestures dismissively toward the car where Caitlin waits.
“Caitlin is my future,” I tell her simply. “She’s more family to me than you ever were.”
Paula flinches. “You don’t mean that. You’re confused, Adam. That girl has poisoned you against your own family—”
“This conversation is over,” I cut her off. “You may as well forget you ever had a son, Paula. Because from this moment forward, you don’t.”
The finality of the words settles between us. I see the moment she realizes I really mean it. Her face crumples, not in grief but in the recognition of her loss of power over me.
I turn away from her, walking around to the driver’s side of the car. As I open the door, she calls out once more, her voice breaking.
“Adam, please! You can’t just—”
But I’m already sliding into the driver’s seat, closing the door on her words. Through the windshield, I see her standing there, mouth still moving, hands outstretched in supplication or demand; with Paula, it’s hard to tell the difference.
I start the engine, and Caitlin’s hand finds mine across the console.
“You okay?” she asks softly.
I take a deep breath, then nod. “Yeah. I think I am.”
And I am, surprisingly. There’s a lightness in my chest I haven’t felt in years, as if I’ve set down a burden I’ve been carrying for so long I’d forgotten the weight of it.
I put the car in reverse, then drive forward, leaving Paula standing alone in the parking lot, growing smaller in my rearview mirror with every second.
“I’m gonna go back tonight. Settle things with Dad. Then, once we’re sure he’s going to be okay, let’s go home,” I say to Caitlin, and I realize I don’t mean the hotel. I mean Oregon. I mean the life we’re building together, far away from Mount Pella and all its ghosts.
Caitlin squeezes my hand, a smile touching her lips. “Home sounds perfect.”