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Hannah gasped and leaned forward, so her face dominated the camera lens. “Oh, my God, Mom! Stop, please.”
How could she be so insulting to JP’s face? The woman who raised Hannah had severe issues with anxiety and overbearing tendencies, but she’d been kind. She’d been fair. She’d never acted in a blatantly cruel manner. This unrecognizable woman left Hannah cold with a twisted stomach and heavy heart.
Her mother squared her shoulders, swiped the tears from her cheeks, then set her heartbroken gaze on Kayla before hardening her expression. She speared Hannah with a disgusted glare. “Hannah, he seduced our Mary Anne when she was at her lowest, and now it seems he’s done the same to you. I warned you that you aren’t welcome in my home until you distance yourself from him and the trash he calls family. Do not call us again until that happens. We won’t answer next time, even if you use our granddaughter to manipulate us. You’ll be hearing from our attorney soon.”
“Mo—” The call ended, leaving her blinking at the quiet screen. “What the hell?” she whispered as hot tears escaped and rolled down her cheeks. Embarrassed didn’t begin to cover how she felt at that moment.
The horror and revulsion that must be going through JP’s head made shame wash over her. His family had been so wonderful. Welcoming, kind, fun. Even after they found out she’d lied. And there was hers, casting judgment and scorn when they’d been the ones to do wrong.
And Mary Anne had been the seductress.
They sat in silence for a few moments. All she could do was stare at the darkened video chat window. Facing JP seemed impossible. If only she could disappear and skip the awkward conversation to come.
“Hey,” he finally said, placing his hand over hers clutched in her lap. The warmth of his skin seeped into her cold fingers but couldn’t melt the block of ice in her stomach.
With a sigh, she looked up into the most non-judgmental face she’d ever encountered.
He squeezed her hands. “My mom died young, leaving us six kids with my dad. He’s an abusive drunk who didn’t give a shit about us for one second of his life. Not whether we ate, or had shoes, or heat in the frigid winters. Keith used to burn cereal boxes when our trailer got so cold our toes turned purple. Boxes from cereal he bought by recycling our dad’s beer bottles. Sometimes it was all we ate for days in a row. Our bastard father is in prison now. Up until he got locked up, Keith was secretly funneling him money and dragging his drunk ass home from bars at all hours of the night just to keep his poison from leaking into the rest of us.”
“JP…” Oh, how that sliced her in two. She’d known his upbringing hadn’t been sunshine and roses, but wow. Her heart broke for the young JP who grew up in such an unstable home.
“I’m telling you this to show you that I understand families are complicated and sometimes just plain fucked up. Please don’t be embarrassed on behalf of your mother.” He took her hand and lifted it to his mouth, kissing each knuckle. “She’s ill. I can see that. I understand how mental health issues can make someone say things or act extremely out of character.”
She nearly melted into the bed. He’d been the one insulted by her mother’s insensitive words. She should be comforting him. But there he was, being amazing, understanding, and just as handsome as ever. Hannah wanted to crawl into his lap and cling to him much the same way Kayla did. But she didn’t have that luxury. As a grown woman, she needed to pull herself together and deal with her problems herself.
“You did nothing wrong, Hannah. You’ve tried to get her help, but she’s an adult. What you need now are strict boundaries. You need to step away and stop trying to fix everything for everyone. Especially people who refuse help. They need to know you aren’t going to be their whipping post any longer.” He kissed her hand again, then set it down in order to adjust Kayla on his lap.
As much as it went against her grain to walk away from someone in need, especially a family member, he was right. Maybe time and space would help her parents work through their grief. All she could do was hope they came out on the other side better and stronger.
Still, it hurt that they’d never know Kayla because of their own biases and inability to open their hearts to the Bensons.
“I’m sorry about the things she said to you,” she said, swiveling until she faced him so their knees touched while still sitting cross-legged.
“We’re gonna make a rule here,” JP said, with a half-smile she wanted to kiss into a full one.
