As if on cue, a blue Hyundai sedan pulled up to the curb.
Pinto’s heart dropped down to his shoes. “Please don’t go. I know my mother can be—”
“No.” Her voice cracked like a whip. “I’m not giving her, or you, or anybody else the power to make me feel unworthy. I made that mistake with Dennis, and I made it the other night with your mother. I’ll be damned if I repeat it again.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “I’ll talk to her. She won’t do it again.”
Fiona shook her head. “It’s too late for that. I’m way too angry. If I stay, I’ll end up saying something that I won’t be able to take back. So I’m going home. To my cat. Enjoy the rest of your time with your family. And don’t worry about Dennis. I’m a big girl; I’ll deal with him on my own.”
She got into the back of the car and fastened the seat belt. As the car pulled away, her gaze met his, and the sadness dulling the light in her eyes gripped his heart like a vise.
Behind him, the restaurant door swung open, and he caught a whiff of his mother’s perfume before she even started talking.
“There you are. Where did Fiona go? Your meals are getting cold.”
Pinto counted slowly to ten before he turned to face his mother. For a moment, he considered giving her some bullshit excuse, like Fiona wasn’t feeling well or she’d gotten a call about a family emergency. But fuck it, he wasn’t in the mood to play nice. “She got tired of being treated like dirt and went home.”
His mother’s mouth fell open. “Who treated her like dirt?”
“Seriously?” Pinto heaved out a huff of disgust. “Is that how you want to play this?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He almost walked away right then and there but decided at the last second to be an adult and establish some boundaries like he should have a long time ago. “You’ve been taking swipes at Fiona from the moment you laid eyes on her.”
Her hands went to her hips. “I’ve done no such thing.”
It was all he could do not to laugh. “If I’d lied like that when I was a kid, you would have washed my mouth out with a bar of Irish Spring.”
She made a sound of indignance. “I was only trying to help. It’s not my fault she can’t handle constructive criticism. If she’s that overly sensitive, then you’re better off without her.”
“She wasn’t being overly sensitive. You were being a bully. Big difference,” Pinto bit out. “You don’t get to decide what’s best for me. I’m not a child anymore.”
“No, you’re not, but you’re still my son. It’s my responsibility to look out for your best interests. You haven’t been the same ever since that terrible fight with Gina.”
Calling what happened with Gina a fight was like calling the sinking of theTitanica minor boating accident. “It wasn’t a fight; it was a betrayal. She fucked my friend.”
It was a crass way to describe it. Normally, he wouldn’t talk that way when his mother was within earshot, but he wanted to remind her, in no uncertain terms, what caused his relationship with Gina to implode. He was tired of her acting as though his ex was the injured party. One way or another, that ended today.
Given his family history, the slap wasn’t unexpected. Nevertheless, it stung.
“You know better than to talk like that!”
“Oh, and how exactly would you describe it? She cheated on me. With my best friend.For months.” The same friend who’d sworn to watch out for her while Pinto had been up to his armpits in blood and bullets half a world away.Thanks a lot, buddy.
Exasperation bracketed the corners of his mother’s mouth. “It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t left her alone for so long.”
Momentarily struck speechless, Pinto glared down at his mother. He’d heard that bullshit excuse before. As it was, he’d inflicted it on himself a time or twenty. But he’d reached the understanding that there were plenty of other ways to address discontent in a relationship. Hell, he would have preferred an email or text message breakup over what he found when he got home.
“Are you honestly making excuses for the woman who cheated on your son? Do you have any idea how messed up that is? I was serving my country. Risking my life. Are you saying that was wrong for me to do?”
“That’s not what I said and you know it.”
“Then explain it to me, like I’m five years old, how her cheating on me while I was out of the country on active duty was my fault.”
A small group of patrons leaving the restaurant stopped to watch their live-action train wreck. One of them pulled out her phone.
“Don’t even think about it,” Pinto barked. “Keep moving.”
