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“You know, with her kickin’ Randy out.”
No. I didn’t know she’d kicked Randy out. I hadn’t seen her since I’d left the morning I was supposed to go on the cruise. Before I could ask Tami Lynn what happened, my mom walked in from the back of the diner.
She looked surprised to see me, which only made me feel guiltier for not stopping by sooner. My mom and I had never been close, but I did love her. She was the only mom I had, and although she never talked about her own childhood, I knew it wasn’t easy. My grandmother died of cancer when she was four. Caring for Harper had given me insight into just how young my mom had been when she’d lost her mother. I never knew my grandfather because he died before I was born, but from what I’d heard around town, he had the reputation of being a mean drunk. She’d moved out with Remi’s dad when she got pregnant at sixteen and had no family support other than him. Then he died, too.
She headed straight for the table as Tami Lynn moved on to fill another customer’s coffee cup.
“Hi,” I smiled as she approached.
“Hi, I heard you were still in town.” Her passive-aggressive emphasis on the word heard was not missed.
“Yeah, I’ve been wanting to stop by, but I’ve been busy.” I motioned to Harper, who was busy coloring.
My mom’s lips pursed into a tight smile, and she nodded.
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before I broke it. “I heard about Randy. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” The sadness in her eyes betrayed her casual response, and she quickly changed the subject. “Oh, I was cleaning out the music room, and I found something of yours. It’s a box that I saved that I wanted to give to you.”
“A box?”
She nodded. “I totally forgot I had it. I’m off in half an hour if you want to stop by and pick it up.”
“Sure.” I wasn’t sure what was in the box, but it didn’t matter. It meant something to me that she’d saved any of my things.
My mom took our order, and when she walked away, Harper set her crayons down. “Was that your mom?”
I nodded.
“I didn’t know you had a mom.”
“Yep, I do.”
“Do you have a dad?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that, so Harper would understand. I figured I might as well be honest. “I do, but I don’t see him.”
“Do you miss him?”
“No, I never really knew him.” Did I miss the idea of what I thought having a dad would be? Sure? Did I miss the man? No.
“My daddy says he misses his mom sometimes.” She picked up her colors and turned her attention back to her paper.
Kane never talked about his mom. But then again, he never talked about a lot of things. Harper did most of the talking in the Kingston household. Both Otto and Kane were the epitome of the strong, silent types.
Growing up, I’d heard a lot of different stories about Kane’s mom around town. Most of them had a few common themes: she was wild, crazy, and too young to be a mom.
I knew she dropped Kane off at his grandparents when he was little and, from what Remi told me, he never saw her again. Then, when Remi and Kane were teenagers, I remembered my brother telling me that Kane found out his mom had died. I knew the pain of being rejected by a person who was supposed to love you unconditionally and then being left with a parent who was not really up to the task. I knew firsthand the trauma that those circumstances could cause.
As I watched my mom move around the diner, I was struck by one huge difference between Kane and me. Both his parents were gone. My mom was still here.
26
KANE
“Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between doin’ things right and doin’ the right thing.” ~ Miss Dottie
Working the night shift was not for the faint of heart, and neither was sleeping during the day. Starting the day at four or five in the evening was hard for me. It felt unnatural. Each time I came out of my room in the evening after sleeping the day away, I felt like a bear coming out of hibernation. It had always been my least favorite part of this schedule. But now that Ruby was in the house, that had changed. Now, I looked forward to my evenings because that was the time I spent with Ruby.
