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As soon as they are out of sight, Kenton pulls me into a hug. “I’ve been dying to do this all day,” he says as my phone vibrates in my pocket. At this point, I’ve lost track of her messages. “What’s that?”
“My mother. I’m just going to go. I can’t put this off, and she’s not going to stop blowing up my phone until I’m home.”
“Okay. You sure you don’t want me to come with you? She’ll be fine here.”
“No. I don’t want you in the crossfire. I’ll call you though. I might have you bring her home, if that’s okay?”
“Anything you need. Come say goodbye.”
He leads me to the kitchen with his hand on the small of my back. Kendall and Ridge already have all three kids at the island, sleeves rolled up, and ready to bake. “Kendrix, Mommy’s gonna run home and talk to Grams for a while. Will you be okay here?”
“Yep.” She grins and doesn’t seem to have a care in the world except for baking cookies.
I catch Kendall’s eyes. “Thank you,” I mouth. She winks and turns her attention back to the kids.
“Kendrix,” Kent says her name, and she looks up. “I’m going to walk Mommy out to her car. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.” She nods and goes right back to listening to what Kendall was telling her about taking turns stirring.
At the door, I stop Kenton from going outside. “It’s fine. The car is still warm. I’ll call you later. Thank you for this. For watching her.”
“She’s my daughter, Delaney.”
I nod. What else is there to say to that? I stand on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek, and then I’m gone. Headed back to my house. To my mother. I’m not looking forward to this conversation, but it has to happen.
Yay me.* * *I find my mother sitting in the living room, her phone in hand. She looks up and sighs dramatically. It’s comical—the show she’s putting on. She’s already admitted to what she did, without actually doing so. She can’t take that back.
“Finally. I thought something had happened to you.”
“I told you I was going to be longer than I thought, and that was maybe five minutes. Why the dramatics, Mother?”
“You don’t know those people. I told you, this town, it’s—” she starts, but I hold my hand up to stop her.
“I don’t want to hear you spew some bullshit made-up drama. This town has been nothing but welcoming to me. And those people, that man, in particular, he’s treated me like gold. Why did you do it, Mother? Why did you lie to me about Kenton?” I won’t play her games. We need to cut straight to the heart of this. Maybe we can hash this out. She can give me her bullshit excuse, and I can get back to Kenton and Kendrix and help them with the cookies.
“I—” she starts, but the look in my eyes must tell her that her time for bullshit is up. “You’re too good for him.”
“What makes you think that?”
“He’s small town. I knew it right away. No way would he ever leave this hick life, and you are destined for great things.”
“Oh, really? You mean living with you, raising my daughter under your roof, with your rules? Or maybe the great things you’re referring to is the lie I’ve been living. The one you told me about Kenton. About how he told me to get rid of the baby. How he didn’t want either of us. How about that lie, Mother? Is that my destiny? Is that the great ‘things’ you’re talking about? Me living a lie. All of us living a lie?”
“All those tattoos, he’s a heathen,” she deflects.
“He didn’t have all of those tattoos back then.”
She pales. “You remember?”
“No. But he has pictures of us together.” Really only one, but with the lies she’s told me, this one isn’t even on the map. “And I like the ink. It’s sexy.”
She gasps. “Delaney Nottingham, I raised you better than to talk like that.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “Talk like what? About sex? I’m an adult, Mother. Contrary to what you like to believe. There are no little ears in sight. Just two women having a conversation.”’
“It’s trashy.”
“And lying to your only daughter after waking up with amnesia, what’s that? Huh? How about telling her the man she loved didn’t want her? Or depriving your only grandchild of a father who would have loved her, doted on her. On both of us? What about that granddaughter’s other grandparents and extended family? Huh? What about all of those people? You robbed every single one of us of years. Kendrix doesn’t know her father because of you. You!” I scream, feeling tears of frustration prick my eyes.
“How do you know you loved him?”
I just can’t with her. “Because I feel it.” I place my hand over my chest. “I can’t explain it, and I know it sounds crazy, but I feel it. I loved him. And this week, he’s been nothing but amazing. And he wants to be in her life. He didn’t even want a paternity test. He claimed her as his instantly. He took responsibility, wanted to meet her, wants to be in her life. He loves her already.”
