Page 84 of True Blue

Mom huffed out a laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous, Theodore. Why on earth would I care that my mother liked her doctor? The fact of the matter is that the girl is cold and disrespectful.”

“She’s not!” My temper snapped. “But even if she was, why would you make her sick?”

“I did not⁠—”

Mom’s voice climbed too high because Dad shushed her harshly and raised the volume of the game again.

She took a deep breath.

“She’s just… different,” Mom said, her voice tired and full of pity, keeping it soft. “She sits there at family dinners like she’s better than all of us. She doesn’t engage. She doesn’t talk to anyone but you.”

“No one lets her talk⁠—”

“Do not interrupt me,” she snapped.

I exhaled through my nose, lifting a hand for her to continue.

“I just don’t think she understands how a family is supposed to be,” she said carefully. “Because, well… she doesn’t have one.”

I flinched.

“Mom.”

“It’s true.” She shrugged. “She left her parents⁠—”

“She was sixteen!” I snapped. “And her parents were alcoholics who forgot to feed her.”

“The fact of the matter is,” she stressed, “I feel like she’s taking you away from yours without caring at all how we feel. She doesn’t have a family, Theodore. She doesn’t understand.”

“She has me,” I insisted, twisting my own beer bottle in my hand.

It had gone warm and flat by then. I think I took maybe two sips. I wasn’t in the mood for it, but Dad shoved it into my hand, insisting we couldn’t watch the game without another beer.

“I’m her family, and she’s mine.”

“Not really,” Mom said.

Then, when I looked at her sharply, she softened her voice.

“Not yet, at least.”

The truth swelled in my chest and burst out before I could stop it.

Not that I really wanted to.

Every time I thought about it, even just in my own head, I felt lit up from the inside.

“I’m going to marry her, Mom.”

My mother went completely still, her eyes widening as the color drained from her face.

My stomach twisted.

“You’re… what?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I already bought the ring,” I said, smiling now—big and stupid and so damn happy I felt like I could burst.

I could see it already.