Chapter Thirty-Nine
Thirty-Nine
Forge
Mom looked healthier than she had in a long time.
The pale, sick appearance that had been so fucking hard to see was gone.
She was still too thin, but she was eating, talking more.
She’d even gotten up and cooked breakfast the past two mornings.
All our favorites—Kash’s pancakes, my cheese grits, and Oz’s sausage balls.
We’d laughed together at the table this morning while Mom retold the time that Kash had stuffed his boiled eggs into the potted plant near the back door so he wouldn’t have to eat them.
The smell that began after a week or so got so bad that my parents were convinced there was a dead animal in the walls.
They even called in a contractor to see about cutting a piece out to get the animal extracted.
Then Dad moved the potted plant, and he saw the hidden boiled eggs.
The smell had made him gag so bad that he almost vomited all over the plant and Mom’s Persian rug.
It had been good to feel like we were normal again.
Enjoying each other. The shit I had taken for granted.
Thought would always be there for me when I needed it.
Maybe the treatments had been killing her. She was strong. She didn’t need them to fight this. Did she? She sure seemed like she was beating it.
Kash and Oz had already left for the day. I stayed around. Not wanting to leave. Reassuring myself she was okay and hadn’t written her death sentence by coming home.
Sinking down onto the sofa in the living room, I set my soda down on the table beside me. Mom was reading a book, and she looked up, smiling at me.
“I thought you had left with the others,” she said.
I shook my head. “No. Didn’t have any plans today.”
She closed her book and rested it in her lap. “That’s very unlike you,” she replied. “I can’t imagine sitting around the house with your mother is very thrilling for you.”
“Don’t want to be anywhere else.”
Her chest rose and fell with a deep sigh. I could already tell that this was about to become a talk I did not want. I just wanted to be here with her. No talk about other things that I was trying not to think about.
“Forge, you can’t just sit here with me every day.
That’s not a way to live life. You must soak it up, enjoy every moment.
My wild middle child who I can always count on to be up to no good.
Don’t sit here with your mother while you can be finding things worth living for out there.
Or someone worth living for. You won’t find her under this roof.
All the females that come and go here are taken. ”
The teasing lilt to her voice made me smile.
“Not looking for a female, Momma,” I told her even though there was a pair of silver eyes haunting me. Especially when I lay down at night.
The worry that she was having a nightmare alone was eating away at me. I’d almost cracked and gone home in the middle of the night to check on her. But after the way I’d yelled at her, I didn’t think I’d be welcomed in her bed. I wouldn’t blame her either. I’d handled that poorly.
“Hmm,” she said, raising her brows as if she didn’t believe me.
I’d seen that look on her face a thousand times in my life.
“I’m not,” I repeated.
She reached over and picked up her cup of tea. “I see. So, the friend of Calvin’s you’ve been spending so much time with means nothing.”
My brows snapped together. How the hell did she know about Elsie? We weren’t supposed to tell her.
“Oh, don’t look so surprised. Your father has never kept a secret from me long. It’s a good thing Oz hadn’t told him about the baby until the day they told me, or he’d have cracked by nightfall and spilled his soul. I’ve known about y’all helping Calvin’s friend since the day after she arrived.”
Jesus, Dad was weak.
“And you didn’t mention it because?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Not something your dad wanted me bothered with, and honestly, I felt so bad that I didn’t want to think about it or worry.”
“So, Oz knows that you know too?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Kash?”
“No. Just you.”
“Then how do you know about me spending time with Elsie?”
She smirked at me. “Your father. Oz tells him things. He tells me. I’ve been waiting until I had a chance to ask you about her. It’s my nightly entertainment. Hearing what you did with her that day. But you’re here and have been for days. She’s there.”
I met her pointed look.
“Just a friends thing, Mom,” I told her.
“Mmhmm,” she replied with amusement in her eyes.
“She is. Stop making it into something more. I’m not like my brothers. Relationships aren’t for me.”
“And why do you think that?”
I sighed. “It’s a lot of work and drama that I don’t want. I like variety.”
She rolled her eyes and set her cup down. “You do, do you?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Yet you’ve only been around Elsie for weeks with no complaining about not being able to go out and visit with that variety. To hear Oz tell it, you are rather happy with the situation.”
Oz and his fucking mouth.
“When did Oz become a gossiping old biddy?”
Mom laughed and picked her book back up. “Go back to Bane’s. Sleep in your room. As much as I love you and love having you here, you are smothering me. Let me read my book in peace and go apologize to that girl for screaming at her.”
How the fuck? Oz needed a goddamn life.
“Besides, I’m sure your cousin would love to see you while he’s visiting.”
I stilled, all other thoughts and argument vanished. “My cousin?” I asked.
She was looking down at her book and nodded. “Yes. Calvin arrived this morning. He was worried about Elsie not leaving her room and Winslet said she hadn’t been eating much.”
I was on my feet.
Mom lifted her head, and her mouth curved into a knowing grin that I did not want to be mad at her about.
“I’ll make your cheese grits in the morning.
But bring Calvin and Elsie with you. I’d love to see my nephew and meet this young woman who is such a good friend.
I hear she’s very pleasant and helpful. Despite the horror she’s suffered in her life. ”
And if I didn’t bring them, I was sure Oz would. Dammit.
She hadn’t been eating? Or leaving her room? Why the hell hadn’t I been told? Why was Calvin the one Oz had contacted? He wasn’t needed here.
“I’m going, but it’s not why you think. I didn’t know she was having a hard time. She had been fine the last time I saw her.”
“You mean before or after you screamed at her to go away?” Mom asked it so sweetly that it was almost as if she wasn’t being sarcastic.
“I’m going to apologize for that.”
She nodded. “I know. Now, run along and make things right. Calvin is a handsome young man, but he’s not you. That Savelle DNA is a fierce weapon.”