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As soon as she was in and the door was shut, I reached across her and pulled her seat belt on for her. Her brow was puckered, and she was looking at me like she didn’t recognize me. “Where am I going?” I asked as I pulled up her GPS.
“I… It’s saved under ‘Mom,’” she muttered distractedly.
I found the saved address and backed up. At the gate, I lowered the window to yell up at Brody, who was on the wall. “Hey, man. Let Bash know I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but I’ll call him.”
Brody tipped his head in acknowledgment, and I pointed the car in the right direction. Beside me, Kelli remained quiet. I could feel her gaze on me, and every time I glanced her way, she didn’t even seem to be blinking.
I snapped my fingers in front of her face, trying to pull her out of whatever daze she was in. “Babe, hey, snap out of it.”
Her lashes lowered, and she shook her head a few times before lifting them again. “What are you doing?” she demanded, sounding pissed.
“I’m going with you to check on your mom.”
“Why?” Her voice was soft, almost weak. She turned her gaze to the front window, and I watched her throat work as she swallowed hard.
I grasped her hand and pulled it to my lips. Keeping my eyes on the road, I kissed the back of her hand then linked our fingers and kept hers trapped on my thigh. “Reason number one, your dad is a bastard, and this could be just a ploy to get you to come down to his turf and put you right where he wants you. Reason number two, because I don’t trust you to come back.” My fingers tightened around hers, and I looked away from the road long enough to meet her gaze. “And reason number three, because I care about you, and I don’t want you to have to deal with this on your own.”
“Oh…” She tried to tug her hand free, but I refused to release it. She let out a frustrated breath and gave up.
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sp; The car was low on gas, so I stopped and filled up before getting on the interstate. While the gas was pumping, I went inside and grabbed us both some coffee and a few snacks. I was starving, and I knew she had to be too. I got two donuts out of the case and a muffin for her. I stocked up on chips and cookies and nuts. After snatching up a few bottles of water, I paid and got back just in time to finish up with the gas.
Tossing the two bags into Kelli’s lap, I took a deep swallow of my coffee and started the car. “Eat,” I commanded as we got on the interstate.
That got me a huff, but she still pulled out the muffin and started breaking pieces off. A few bites in and she offered me one of my donuts. I stuffed half in my mouth hungrily, making her wince at me in disgust.
“Pig,” she muttered.
“Babe, I’m starving. I haven’t eaten in forever.”
“Poor thing. Wasting away to nothing.” I could practically hear her eyes rolling, but I thought I saw a hint of a smile on her lips when I glanced her way.
I looked at her muffin before switching my gaze back to the road. “You don’t like the muffin?”
“It’s fine.”
“Want me to stop and get you something else?” I saw a sign for a few fast-food chains. “I can get you those chicken mini things you like?”
“I said I’m fine, Colt. I’m just not hungry.” She pushed the muffin back in the pastry bag and picked up her coffee. “I’m worried about Mom.”
“We’ll take care of her, babe. Don’t worry about her. It will get sorted out.”
“She gets upset if they don’t keep to her schedule or the least little thing changes about her days. It throws her off and makes bad days worse for her.” She pushed her hair back from her face, her nose scrunched up. “She can get violent when things go bad for her. She broke one nurse’s nose once because she thought they were going to steal her favorite blanket when they tried to wash it.”
My hand tightened around the wheel. “Was she violent when you were growing up? Did she ever hurt you?”
“What? No!”
“I was just wondering if she was normally the violent type, Kell.”
Her exhale contained something I rarely heard from her. It was loaded with a sadness that made my gut clench. I wanted to stop the car and pull her into my arms, but I knew she would kick my ass if I paused for even a second longer than necessary. “She was a really sweet and kind woman before she got sick. Her only fault was that she fell in love with the wrong man and became obsessed with making him happy.”
“You two were close?” With regret, I realized I didn’t know anything about her mother or their relationship. She’d never shared, but I should have asked. Should have made her tell me about her relatives.
“Sometimes. It just depended on if Calvin was in DC or not. If he was home, I was invisible. If he was gone, we were inseparable.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about her description of her relationship with her mom. It sounded like the woman’s love was conditional. If her lover was there to take up every spare minute of her time, her daughter’s feelings and well-being didn’t matter. No wonder Kelli learned she could only ever rely on herself.
