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I scrubbed both hands down my face. “I went too far. I should’ve been the bigger person.”
She patted my arm as she passed me on her way to the kitchen. “You also need to stand up for yourself.” She paused at the entrance. “It’s not a bad thing that your kids see you holding your own against him. You don’t trash him in front of them no matter how much he deserves it, but you’re also not letting him continue to be an ass to you.”
I followed her in to help clean up the sticky mess. I wasn’t big enough to keep from hoping caramel handprints got all over the inside of that new Suburban.
Mom rinsed out a rag. “You said only people close to you call you Em.”
“I know, no one does but—”
“Holden calls you Em?”
I brushed it off. “That was how I first introduced myself to him.”
“He seems nice.”
“He is.”
“And he’s giving Avery riding lessons.”
I swiped the back of my wrist across my forehead. “Mom, are you digging for something?”
“It’s your business. I’ve heard a lot about him and his family over the years.”
“I heard all the same rumors.” About Holden anyway. I hadn’t paid much attention to the rest other than what had been said about Stetson at the clinic.
“I just don’t want you to get taken in by another Henry.”
I was about to blow off her comment, but I paused. Holden was the way he was because of who’d raised him. He saw himself as a parental figure to his sister. His mom seemed unapproachable and unsupportive of anything that didn’t serve her. Stetson was like a brother. He’d kept himself closed off to everyone because he’d been trying to heal a wound without giving it proper care.
But Henry wasn’t an asshole for recreation. His parents treated their dog better than him. We’d had a running joke between us. How many more pictures of their Yorkie, Brutus, would be on their fridge than the kids?
It wasn’t that his parents were outwardly abusive. They were uninvolved and oblivious. They’d had high expectations for Henry, but they hadn’t praised him when he’d met their goals. He’d grown up feeling alone and unloved. It was why he’d wanted to keep having kids.
Then when I’d been busy with those kids and my own work, he’d gravitated toward those who noticed him and praised him. That was Jenni.
Mom’s worries weren’t unfounded. She’d been my confidant throughout my marriage. “I’m not looking to get taken in.”
She tossed the rag on the table. “I’ve heard enough about him to know he doesn’t watch movies at women’s houses or invite them out to his place. That’s a big thing about him, Emery. Do you know that? He doesn’t take women to his place.”
That would explain why we had sex in the back of his pickup. “Yeah,” I mumbled. “I’ve heard similar rumors.”
“So what if he really likes you?”
I exhaled. “I just like hanging out with him, Mom. I know what point you’re trying to make, but he’s a single guy. I have four kids, and my baggage is supposed to come around with his girlfriend every other weekend. He’s going to be disenchanted soon enough.”
She hummed doubtfully before saying, “Well, go, have fun.”
“I need to change.”
“Why? You look fine. Isn’t he just grilling?”
“Yeah, but there’s going to be other people there.”
“Who?”
She was so sweetly curious that I had to answer. Mom had been here long enough to know these people.
I racked my brain. I worked with names all day. I recalled Lyric talking about her friend. “Laney?”
