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Mom’s hand is still clasped over her mouth, her eyes shimmering with debilitating disappointment. Her crow’s-feet crease as her head bobs slowly, absorbing my words—my sins. Then she blows out a breath and pulls herself to her feet, swiping grit from the driveway off her khaki pants. “This is going to destroy your father.”
I crumble as I watch her march toward the house. “Mom, please…” Rising to unstable legs, I chase her through the front door, begging for pardon. “Please understand. Please…I love him.”
“I know you love him, June.” She storms through the house, then plants her palms facedown on the kitchen table, leaning forward. “That’s not the point.”
Stopping a few feet away, I wipe at my falling tears. “Of course it’s the point. It’s everything.”
She whips back around. “It’s not everything. Have you fully grasped the severity of this situation? You’re a smart girl, June. Think.” My mother taps her index finger to her temple. “Think long and hard about what you’re doing.”
“I am thinking.” My right hand presses against my chest, fingers twisting the fabric of my dress. “I’m thinking with my heart, and that’s what counts.”
Her arms drop to her sides with added frustration. She heaves out another big breath. “You think I haven’t seen it?” she asks me, eyes trailing back to my startled expression.
My insides buzz.
What?
A glimmer of tears reflects back at me, but they don’t fall. “You think I haven’t noticed the signs?” she says softly. “I watched you grow up with Theodore, and I watched you grow up with Brant. And let me tell you…it wasn’t the same.”
I swallow, fisting my dress in a clammy palm.
“I’ve seen the way you look at him,” she continues. “With curious eyes as a small child. With possessive eyes as you got older. You always needed to be near him. And when you weren’t near him, you were talking about him. You’ve held a torch for Brant your whole life, and I just prayed it would burn out before it burned you both.”
I lick away a stray tear, trying to find my voice. “You…you never said anything.”
“Because he’s your adopted brother!” she bursts out, temper flaring, arms lifting at her sides. “There’s a legal document upstairs in my closet that confirms that fact. My God, June… I thought you’d have the common sense to not pursue him in that way.”
“There is no sense in love,” I counter, swiping away more tears. “It’s a senseless thing.”
Mom pauses, pinching the bridge of her nose, chin tucked to her chest.
I forge ahead. “And I didn’t pursue him. He didn’t pursue me. It just…happened. Because that’s what love does. It happens. It sneaks up on you, and then it burrows. It festers in your blood. And once it’s in your blood you can’t just flush it out. It’s a part of you. Trying to get rid of it would be like cutting off a limb or carving your heart right out of your chest.”
She looks up, her brows knit together.
“You love Dad, right?” I ask gently. “If you love him, really love him, then you understand.” I press my hand to my heart again as I step closer to her. “And I hope you do. I hope you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Swallowing, my mother straightens as she shakes her head. “Of course I love your father, but this is different. I fell in love with the right person at the right time.”
“I completely disagree,” I contest. “When you find the right person, there is no ‘right time.’ There’s only right now because that’s all we ever have.” Tears blot my vision as I inhale a quick breath and finish. “I bet Theo would agree with me.”
Mom’s eyes round with pain.
With warning.
But her words are cut short when the front door bursts open, and I spin in place.
My father stands in the doorway, his cheeks rosy red, with bloodshot eyes to match. He tousles a hand through his graying hair and pins his stare on me.
He must have been riding with Kip this morning.
Through trembling lips, I whisper, “Dad.”
“You’re going to New York. I’m booking your flight,” he says in a grief-ridden voice, storming through the foyer, not bothering to close the front door.
Panic sinks into me. “What?”
He looks disheveled and lost as he winds his way to the study where his laptop resides. “I already spoke with Celeste’s aunt. You’re more than welcome. I’ll pay your portion of rent until you secure a job and—”
