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Vivacious in her excitement, she’d rushed me to get dressed, and then we’d driven for over two hours to get there, making it just in time for the opening. Inside, she spent a small fortune on outfits for the day, and we spent it as roaming elves. It had been—magical.
She’d left that photo behind.
Guess my not being supportive really sucked for her.
I let Archie pull me from the room. We ate in the kitchen and made a fuss out of the cats. I didn’t have to look to see her favorite coffee mugs were gone. Little things were missing from the kitchen. A magnet she’d liked. A picture that used to hang over the stove that saidLive. Laugh. Love. The irony had never been lost on me.
She’d been a terrible cook, but we always managed.
“Hey,” Archie murmured, sliding his fingers through mine and giving my hand a squeeze. “Talk to me?”
“Just…I don’t believe she packed and left. That she waited to do this on a night I was supposed to be at work.” I should believe it, but somehow, I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. “If they’d gotten here five minutes later, I wouldn’t have seen them at all.”
His expression tightened. “You’re going to be okay,” he said. “We’ll figure out the bills and make sure the rent is covered.”
“Your dad already told me he was going to have his secretary email me the address, and that I was more than welcome to move in with them.”
Not that I had any intention of taking him up on that offer.
“Edward likes to staff out his problems, family ones included.”
“You know, I told him if he broke her heart, I’d find a way to get even with him.” I blinked back tears. “Why do I care so much about what happens to her when she doesn’t seem to care about me?”
“Because she’s your mom,” Archie said roughly. “Muriel’s a stone-cold bitch most of the time, but she’s still my mom, and Edward’s still a dick for treating her badly. We can’t help it, but want them to pick us…to be better.”
“Wow, we really won the lottery with parents, didn’t we?”
Pressing my hand to his lips, he kissed it. “I got two shitty ones to your one, though. I guess I win.”
“Except now you have to share one of them with me,” I pointed out, and Archie let out a harsh chuckle.
“Of all the things I’d share with you, babe, Edward is definitely not one I would have picked.”
A huff of a laugh escaped. “You know…I never told her about my scholarship.”
“Well, it’s none of her business,” he said bluntly. “Not anymore.” Drumming the fingers of his free hand against the table, he frowned. “Have you ever considered getting emancipated?”
“Emancipated?”
“Yeah, as an Emancipated Minor, you don’t have to rely on her for anything. There’s still a ton of stuff you’re going to need from her, but the emancipation could help…”
Panic clawed at my insides. “Student loans.”
“What?”
“We had to fill out all that FASFA stuff, she was supposed to cosign my loans, as the parent.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Archie told me.
I sagged in the chair.
“Frankie, I mean it. Don’t worry about it. I’ll call Mr. Wittaker tomorrow.”
“Who’s Mr. Wittaker?”
“Family attorney. I called him in for Jake, I can call him for you. We’ll figure out what we need to do to get you emancipated. Then your mom has no control over anything anymore.”
But she’d really moved out… “You know she isn’t the devil.”
