Page 112 of Saints & Sailors

“Wanna grab lunch? Have you eaten?” she asked as she tossed the towel aside onto one of the chairs by the bed.

I was hungry, but not enough to avoid the elephant in the room. “Mom.”

She peered down at the carpet, nodding and releasing a sigh. “It just happened, Saylor. I didn’t plan for any of this. Honest.”

She’d said she filed for divorce two weeks ago. So I chose to start there. “What happened with Richard?”

My mother frowned as she came and sat beside me. “It wasn’t working out.”

Sure, they’d never been the perfect couple, but this was still abrupt. “I need more than that.”

Her blue eyes flickered to mine, sad suddenly. “I wanted to bring you back home. We got into an argument about it. In the end, I told him I didn’t want to be with a man who wouldn’t accept my child.”

A lump lodged in my throat and I struggled to breathe around it. My eyes enlarged as my lips began to tremble.

No.

“You can’t just walk away,” I let out as I stood up. “You can’t keep letting me run people out of your life.”

My mother shook her head vigorously as she stood and wrapped me in her arms. “I’m choosing you every time.”

The floodgates broke and I threw my arms around her.

First her parents, and now Richard. I hated having to be the constant fight in her life.

“It’s okay,” my mother soothed me, rubbing my back and holding me tight. “We weren’t a good fit for each other for a while now. We’re two different people.”

The tears kept coming. Even if Richard wasn’t the one, I felt awful for my mother. She deserved so much more after all that she sacrificed.

“Hey.” She pulled back to get a good look at me. Her eyes misty. “Do not feel bad about this. I regret nothing.”

“I don’t want you to be alone,” I sobbed. “Especially because of me.”

“Oh, baby. I promise it’s not your fault. I wasn’t happy,” my mother insisted. “These last two weeks have been a major wakeup call. I’ve never been more sure of myself. He wasn’t the man for me.” She tapped my chin and smiled, sniffling some. “I just wanted to see you. We’ve never spent this much time apart before.”

We hadn’t. It was another testament to the fact that from the moment I was born, it was always about me for my mother.

“And Scott?” I asked.

Her cheeks tinted pink as she actually blushed and looked elsewhere. “I haven’t seen him in eighteen years. He really grew up.”

She was glowing. And there was no denying the way Scott had been looking at her back at the house.

I didn’t know what to make of it.

“And you’re sure about Richard?” I cared about my mother above all else. Her genuine happiness with or without a man was most important to me.

“Yes,” she said with finality. “I’m not the woman for him any more than he’s the man for me. We wanted different things.” She hugged herself, offering a bitter smile. “He’s not even fighting it. He’s not beating down my door begging to work it out. He’s gone. And that’s okay.”

“Oh, Mom.” I went and hugged her again, burying my face in her chest and breathing in her familiar scent. “I’m sorry.”

She rested her chin on top of my head. “It’s for the best.”

My mother was done with Richard, and now she’d found herself in Georgia with Scott.

I thought of the photo I had of them from before I was born. When they were just two kids falling in love one summer.

I wasn’t a romantic. Wasn’t sure if I believed in true love and all that, and I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for my parents to be together, but stranger things had happened.