Chapter 2 #2
“Then stop grilling me about my love life,” I say.
He chews his eggs, tapping the fork against his lips. “Is this where you tell me you’re still hung up on Thea?”
No one in my family—not even my brother who I love more than anyone in the world—knows the real story there, how I was so desperate to get my mom off my back I let a friend set me up with a fake girlfriend for my cousin’s wedding.
How she won my family over within the first day, and how I’ve used my “heartbreak” over the split to avoid setups for the past few years.
You’d think they’d question me still being obsessed with this woman, but she wormed her way into their hearts so thoroughly over the course of three days that they’re still mourning her loss, too.
I narrow my eyes at him. “It was a tough breakup, okay?”
“Are we talking about Thea?” my mother’s voice calls, and I look over Harrison’s shoulder to see her kicking the front door closed behind her.
I really need to get those spare keys back.
“I was just saying that I’m not ready to take some random woman to an out-of-town family wedding,” I say. “Plus, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of things you need help with.”
“It’s time for you to move on, Owen,” Harrison says around a mouthful of eggs, like I didn’t teach him better manners than that. “Addy’s got a sister, you know? Tia. I haven’t met her yet, but if she’s anything like Addy, you’d be a lucky man.”
There is no way I’m hooking up with my brother’s soon-to-be sister-in-law.
Harrison claps his hands together as he stands, leaving his dish on the bar. “I’ll let Addy know we’re going to set you two up.”
“Don’t you dare,” I yell at his back.
“You could always call Thea. Patch things up with her.” He laughs and lets the apartment door swing shut behind him.
I’d be lying if I said the thought didn’t cross my mind.
Camila’s wedding was so much better with her there, but I can’t call Thea.
First, it would probably be a horrible decision based on the explicit dreams. Second, she conveniently deleted her number from my phone while I was filling the gas tank on our way home from the airport.
I could get her contact information from Vaughn, but I got the message loud and clear.
Mom nods to the door where my baby brother just disappeared, abandoning me. “He’s right about moving on. You know I loved Thea, too, but you can’t just stop living.”
She’s one to talk.
I rub a hand down my face. It’s too early to deal with this. “Can’t we just leave it alone until after the wedding? I want to enjoy my time in Elk Ridge.”
Her jaw tightens. “Your grandmother is going to try to steal you again.”
“Come on, Mom. You know I won’t say yes to moving up there until she asks at least five more times,” I say, giving her a little nudge. I realize my mistake the moment she gasps, clutching her chest. “Mom, it’s a joke.”
Tears flood her eyes, and she stares blankly at the bland tan wall that I never got around to decorating. “I know. You’d never abandon us like that. But even the idea makes me…”
I hedge, trying to head off what’s coming next, but it’s like trying to stop a moving train with my bare hands. “Mom, come on.”
She places her middle finger between her eyes, rubbing at the spot. Step one in her breakdown process.
Before Dad died, she’d been so focused on his treatment that she left most of Harrison’s care to me. But even if she wasn’t around much, she was reliable when she was. Present.
When the doctors gave that final diagnosis—told them it was a question of when, not if—it all started falling apart.
I’d ask if I could sleep over at a friend’s house instead of watching Harrison, and she’d scream that if I cared so much about that friend, I should join their family instead.
Or I’d mention I was tired of working on job sites after school, and she’d spend the week in bed, crying about how Dad was going to be forgotten.
I’d assumed those reactions would fade, but if anything, they’ve gotten worse.
She and Dad were childhood sweethearts, and her identity was wrapped around him.
My life became her new focus, making sure I hit the milestones my father imagined for me.
The degree he said would be most helpful for the job.
A role as president of the company before I was qualified to take it.
And, once those goals were achieved, making sure I found the right type of woman to settle down with and have kids to carry on the family legacy, regardless of whether that was what I wanted.
Every time I push back—or seem like I’m even thinking of pushing back—she loses it, and I’m left to pick up the pieces.
She’s going to be even more emotional once we get to North Carolina. I need to be careful, or she’s going to spend the entire wedding week in bed and miss all of Harrison’s big moments. I won’t let my—clearly poor—attempt at humor derail one of the most important moments of his life.
“Please, Mom, I was just kidding. How could I consider leaving Hayes? And you and Harrison? It’s unthinkable.”
It’s true. How could I leave them when they need me so much? Someone has to manage Mom and keep the company afloat while Harrison bounces from role to role.
She sniffs, wiping at the tears that have started to dry on her face. “So you aren’t saying you hate your job?”
“Of course I don’t,” I say, only half lying. I love that I’m keeping Dad’s dream alive. And the work’s fine. I get to see Harrison every day. The pay’s good. Do I really have the right to complain?
Mom’s face relaxes as she links her arm through mine, laying her head on my shoulder.
“I wish he was going to be there,” she whispers, and an invisible hand wraps around my heart.
“Me too.”
There’s so much I wish my dad had been here for. To scream in the stands of my last baseball game. To talk me through what ended up being an epic fail the first time I asked out a girl. For our graduations.
But he’s not here. It’s all on me, so I’ll make sure that whatever else happens, Mom’s kept happy. And in one month, that woman will be planted in the front row where she belongs, watching her youngest son pledge his life to the woman he loves.