“I guess that only applied to people outside our family, huh?” I couldn’t even fake a humorless laugh. “And just so I’m clear, you’re more upset that I have three partners than the fact that one of them is Rico.”
She didn’t speak but her eyes flitting away from mine was plenty of confirmation.
A dry laugh worked its way out of me as I signaled to the attendant for a to-go box. I wasn’t wasting my food just because she’d killed my appetite.
I didn’t know what to do with my mother, and that hit me like a Mack truck to the face. I knew she loved me. That much was apparent in the way she looked at me. But I didn’t miss the lingering disappointment either. She tied my worth as a good woman to her own traditional values, and she was so entrenched in them she couldn’t even recognize that nobody was judging me but her.
The possibility of continuing my life like I had for the past two months didn’t sit right with me. I could survive without my mother’s steady presence, but I didn’twantto. And I still didn’t understand how she was the one person giving us the most blowback.
Brock was all bark. He was a teddy bear under all his high handedness and being back in Onyx Cove had softened him more. He loved Rico too much to not be on good terms with him. And I truly believed that even if things didn’t work out with him and my mom, he’d stick around just to spend more time with his son.
If my mother’s behavior was anything to go by, it was the quieter ones you had to worry about. She was all soft edges and sweet smiles until I shattered her illusion of what my life would look like.
Traveling the world alone for years at a time? She ate that up. Yvette loved having an adventurous daughter and begged me to send her pictures to show off to her friends.
But me loving three men at the same time? Three men sheknewloved me? That was apparently her limit.
And the desire to make her understand had slowly faded with each passing day. I was too busy getting loved correctly andfeeding my creativity to obsess over whether she would come around.
The cafe attendant placed the paper to-go box near my plate and walked away.
“I hope things are going well with you and Brock.” I transferred my food. “If this reunion is what you want, I hope it goes exactly how you want and you two get forever this time. And I pray you never run into somebody who tries to make you question your decisions like you aren’t capable of choosing what’s right for you.”
She sputtered when I stood up. “Where are you going?”
I hiked my bag on my shoulder and closed the lid on my container. Then I winked and let a devious smile curl my lips. “Home to be passed around like a collection plate.”
But first, I was going to the farmer’s market.
Interlude
Me:
Sweetheart
Harlow:
Hi Chris
Me:
We just got to the farmers market, where are you?
Harlow:
I’m at the flower stand with granny
Me:
That’s a hint? You want me to buy you flowers?
Harlow:
Mr. Tiny already did. They’re tulips too
Harlow:
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