AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well,” Mason said, leaning back and crossing his hands behind his head. “This school’s changed a lot since the early two-thousands. We didn’t have a garden, that’s for sure.”
“Oh yeah, isn’t that amazing? Our principal started that a couple years ago.”
Mason nodded. “I should’ve known that was Sarah’s doing.”
I squinted at him, my curiosity piqued. “You’re on a first-name basis with my principal?”
“Yeah, she’s marrying my cousin.”
My smile faded, and it took everything in me to hide my shock. I dropped my pen from my sweaty hand as I asked, “Owen Gardner is y-your cousin?”
Thankfully, Mason didn’t catch my unease, at least not right away. He was still casually reclined, eyeing the word wall above my head. “Yeah, I used to run around in the creek behind his house and catch tadpoles with him and his brother. Best days of my life.” After a moment, he lowered his eyes back to mine. “Why, do you know him?”
I just blinked. My cheeks felt hot, and I could feel myself beginning to sweat even more as I desperately tried to keep my composure. Damn this small town—I hated the way everyone knew each other here.
Still looking comfortable as ever with his fingers interlocked behind his head, a sly grin crept onto Mason’s face. “Oh, you know him, know him.” He couldn’t hide his amusement. “Like, in the biblical sense.”
“I didn’t say that,” I said, bending down to pick up my pen from the floor.
Mason shifted in his chair and leaned forward, pulling his phone from his back pocket. “That’s fine, I can just call him up and ask him about it.”
I froze. “Don’t you dare.”
“I won’t,” he said with a laugh as he slid his phone back into his pocket. “I was only kidding. I take it you won’t be at their wedding?”
“Actually,” I said, peering down at the notebook on my desk. We were wasting time. “Sarah is one of my good friends. So yes, I will be in attendance.”
“Me too,” he said. “Well, I’m actually one of the groomsmen. But I guess I’ll… see you there.” Though I wasn’t looking up, I could feel his eyes on me. Concentrating. Assessing me. I did my best to appear calm and poised as I opened my notebook to a blank page.
“Aren’t you here to discuss Finley?”
Mason cleared his throat. “Yeah.” His playful demeanor faded as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He stared down at his folded hands. “Sorry. This is something I don’t like to talk about. Even when I… have to.”
“It’s okay,” I said, taken aback by his sudden display of vulnerability. I searched for his eyes with mine, if only to give him a reassuring smile, but he didn’t look up. A hundred scenarios ran through my mind, but in no way could I have predicted the next words to come out of his mouth.
“So… back in February, Finley’s mother gave her up to move down to Florida and sell corn dogs out of a food truck at Cocoa Beach with her new boyfriend.”
For a moment, I only blinked. “I’m sorry,” I said, realizing I was taking too long to respond. “I’m just waiting for the punchline.”
“There isn’t one,” Mason said, looking down at the floor. “Well, her mother is the punchline. She’s the whole joke.”
I had every intention of taking notes during this meeting, but instead, I held my blank notebook against my chest and stared at Mason’s face, at the lines on his forehead that couldn’t hide the worry and heartbreak this situation had put him through. “I don’t understand how anyone could do that,” I said, my mind briefly flashing to my dad, who probably would have cut Jamie and me off completely if he could’ve.
“Our custody agreement wouldn’t allow her to move Finley across state lines, so she decided giving her up was the most logical solution,” he said with a shrug. “Finley was just a burden to her.”
“That’s terrible,” I said. “How is Finley coping with this? It was just six months ago, right?” I replayed all of my observations of Finley from last week in my head. You’d never guess that girl had experienced such trauma. She was ever-inquisitive, raising her hand at every opportunity, and constantly making sure every child around her was entertained. I had a hard time not laughing at her antics myself.
“The first couple of months were hell. I mean, how do you tell a little girl her mom doesn’t want her?” I frowned in response, imagining how some of those early conversations might have gone. “It wasn’t easy convincing her that it wasn’t her fault, at first. But I also didn’t want to trash-talk Whitney to her, you know? That didn’t feel right. I struggled to find the words, but I ended up explaining to her that her mom wasn’t able to take care of her anymore, so she was going to live with me now. And her grandparents.”
I thought it was admirable that Mason didn’t want to badmouth Finley’s mom to her—that must have taken some strength. “She drew a portrait that included her grandparents last week. Do you still live with them?”
“Yeah. As embarrassing as that is to admit, I do.” He chuckled at himself, glancing down at the ground. “It’s temporary. But having them around has made this whole transition easier. Finley’s doing so much better. She’s incredibly resilient. So we’re both just taking it one day at a time, now.”
“I guess that’s all you can do, huh?” I couldn’t pretend to even begin to understand what he had been through. “Does Finley have a therapist?”
“Not anymore,” he said, fiddling with his lanyard again. “She was seeing a psychologist in Indianapolis when this was all fresh, which helped—but it also…” His voice trailed off as he tried to find the words. He spoke with his hands, motioning like he was about to grasp something. “I almost feel like it’s stunting the healing process for her, to keep having to talk about it. It irks the hell out of me when people force her to talk about her mom instead of just letting her move on. Does that make sense?”
“I think so. Sometimes, though…” I took a breath, choosing my next words carefully. I didn’t want to overstep. “Talking about it is the only thing that heals. Once you get past that uncomfortable part, therapy can be really beneficial. Then again, I’m just speaking of my own experience here.”
