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I knew what he was getting at, but I twisted it around and asked, “Why should you? I said it all, didn’t I?”
“You should have had backup,” he argued stubbornly. Another glower aimed at his father making an appearance.
“I have a mouth in my head, don’t I?” I winked at him. “If I’d needed your father’s or your help, kiddo, I’d have asked for it. I knew exactly how Doyle was going to be. He’s old school. He’s Old Testament. How you were born might not be the way his church likes it, but I stopped giving a damn about those ways when I was eighteen.”
Shay’s brows rose. “Then why are we going to church if you don’t care about it anymore?”
“Because it’s important to your grandfather.”
Shay’s frown lightened some, and he tipped up his chin. “Oh.”
I reached between the seat, loving that he held out his hand to grab mine. “I love that you wanted to defend me, but don’t forget I kick butt too. Who’s the one who put that bitch at the PTA meeting in her place last year, huh?”
His eyes lit up before he burst out laughing. “That was hilarious! Oh man, you really shut her up.”
When Declan started chuckling, I wasn’t surprised. Shay had an infectious laugh. “What happened?” he inquired, snickering all the while.
I wafted a hand. “We were arguing about the homecoming dance, of all things—”
“Wait, you were on the actual PTA?”
His surprise had me grumbling, “I like to pay it forward, and I wanna know what’s going on wherever Shay is. I don’t think Midlands will let me in unless I let my blue hair fade out, though.”
At that, Shay groused, “I like it blue, Mom.”
“Thanks, baby,” I replied with a grin. “But future presidential candidates’ moms can’t have blue hair and more than one piercing in their ears.”
Eyes twinkling, he said, “Well, I’m not that yet. Enjoy yourself while you can before you have to behave.”
That had me snickering too. “You’re all heart, kid.” I loved the sparkle in his gaze, it filled me with warmth to know that he was less anxious and that was something I’d helped ease. “Anyway, the homecoming dance. Yeah. So she wanted to bring in like a pony and a magician act, and all this stuff, and I was like, ‘It isn’t a five-year-old’s birthday party.’ She got in my face, threw some water at me, screamed at me a little, and I just said, ‘No wonder you wanted it for that age group, seeing as you’re acting like a five-year-old right now.’ She was wicked pissed.”
“It was hilarious. I wasn’t supposed to be there, but Caro couldn’t babysit. Mrs. Jayden turned bright pink and stormed out.”
“Queen of the one liners. That’s me,” I joked. “And in that old school, they were all swanky and snippy. Being likened to a kindergartener hit her straight in the ego.”
“They’ll probably be even worse at Midlands,” Declan pointed out, but he was smiling.
“Yeah. Probably. You’re going to be rubbing shoulders with senators’ grandkids, Shay, seeing as the country’s run by a bunch of old, white dudes.”
Dec rolled his eyes. “Still fighting the establishment, I take it.”
I rolled my eyes right damn back. “It’s what I do.”
“Your mother was a lot more idealistic back when I knew her, Shay,” Declan told him, and when I cast my kid a glance, any unease had faded away. It was almost charming to see him eat up the words, like he wanted to know what I’d been like. It hit me then that he’d only ever gotten a pretty one-sided view of me. “She wanted to change the world.”
“I wanted to go into the Peace Corps,” I agreed, and I smiled at Shay. “But you changed all that, so I decided to make money instead.” Tongue-in-cheek, I winked at him. “And because we live in a capitalist sinkhole, the more money I made, the more of a platform I had, and the more I could shine a light on the shit that goes down everywhere.”
“Rebel, rebel,” Declan teased under his breath.
“Still my favorite Bowie song,” I teased back, loving his grin.
“Did you know that every piece of Mom’s art has a message?”
Declan shrugged. “I didn’t, but I can see why. My favorite isRats at Dawn. Charming name there, by the way, honey.”
Butterflies spilled through me. “You have a favorite?”
He gave me the side-eye. “You know I appreciate art.”
