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As soon as they left the room, Mom laid into me. “You can’t be seriously considering keeping Corey with you.”
That’s why Dad took Corey away. Mom wanted to get me alone. To promote whatever agenda she had.
I rose and started stacking plates.
She looked pointedly at the plates in my hand. “We have a housekeeper for that.”
Tension crept up my neck. “I don’t mind cleaning up.”
“Are you going to answer me?”
I sighed. “I’m going to protect my son, and if that means stepping up and being the father he needs in his life, then I will.”
Mom sputtered.
“Why do you care anyway?”
“I want to stop you from making a huge mistake.”
I set the plates down harder than I intended and leaned on the table closer to my mother. “And being a father to my son is a huge mistake?”
“It stopped you from going to college and getting a good job. Instead, you run that garage,” she said with a sneer.
“Running that garage is my dream. Being a father to my child is a gift. A responsibility that I take seriously. Corey needs both of his parents, and I thought he needed grandparents in his life, but now, I’m not so sure.”
“You were always so dramatic. Nothing like your brother, who’s serious and hardworking.”
“I don’t want to be like my brother. I like me just how I am. And Corey does, too.” Hailey seemed to like me just fine, but I didn’t want to bring her into this. I wanted to save her from my mother’s vitriol.
“I don’t see why you can’t just drop off Corey for dinner,” Mom said reasonably.
“Where Corey goes, I go. And I didn’t find this dinner that enjoyable. If you can stifle your opinions on the way I live my life, then maybe we’ll be back.”
Mom sniffed.
I was done. I picked up the plates I’d discarded and carried them into the kitchen. The housekeeper was sitting at the table, eating her dinner. I held up a hand to stop her when she moved to get up.
I went out to the garage, following Dad’s booming voice.
When I found them, I asked Corey, “You ready to go?”
He nodded.
“Thanks for dinner, Dad.”
“I’m glad you brought him by. Be good, Corey.”
I swallowed hard. Nothing had changed: Mom’s critical voice, then Dad’s feeble attempt at encouragement.
In the truck, I ran a hand through my hair. “Well, what did you think?”
“It was intense.”
“Yeah, no kidding. It brought up old feelings. It’s hard being there. They wanted me to be someone different, and I’m done apologizing for the man I’ve become.”
Corey looked out the window.
Shit. I wondered if I’d said too much. Sometimes I forgot he was only twelve. “Do you want to see them again?”
