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As Mom walks down the hall, I look her over, trying to spot the telltale signs of the cancer returning. To my relief, there are no unexplainable bruises or an excessive amount of weight loss. She seems to be healthy, but there’s always that worry that cancer is still lurking right around the corner. The last time she was sick, it had been sudden, and the doctors had all insisted we were lucky it was caught in time.
“I still can’t believe you own this hovel,” Mom says, brushing by me and marching into my office. “Think of where you would be now if you were a doctor or lawyer.”
“I’d be miserable.” I glance at Chloe, seeing the calculating look she gives me. With her, there’s always some sort of scheme. “Why are you here?”
“Chloe and I have decided that it’s best if you try to sort out this problem between the two of you.” Mom sits down on the couch in my office, gesturing for Chloe to sit beside her. My ex-fiancée acquiesces to my mother’s silent command, folding her hands in her lap.
“We’re not working out anything.” I still stand in the doorway with my arms crossed over my chest. “And it wasn’t a little problem. I wasn’t happy, and she was cheating on me with my best friend. Mom, you already know this. Last time I checked, that’s enough to end a relationship. Permanently. Should we even talk about all of the money she was more than happy to drain from my accounts if I’d allow her?”
Mom scoffs, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Liam, please. Stop being a child. These kinds of things happen in relationships. You have to learn to grow together. Besides, once you get married, your money is her money. Just think of it as practice for later.”
“After you did what you did to Dad, I promised that I would never forgive a woman the way he forgave you.” Inwardly, I shake my head at what a coward I am. Even after all these years, I still can’t say out loud that my mother cheated on my dad. It’s as if keeping the words unspoken somehow means it didn’t actually happen. But who am I kidding? My brother is the indisputable evidence that my mother had broken her marriage vows to my dad. The irony is thateven though I’veopenly said my ex-fiancée cheated on me, it’s still hard for me to admit my mother did the same thing to my dad.
My mother is the picture of innocence, and I know my words don’t cut as deep as I intended. She made her peace with what she did a long time ago.
Glancing at Chloe, I say, “I’ll not be with a woman who’s going to cheat and lie to me every time my back is turned.” I try to push down the anger bubbling to the surface. “I could’ve gotten over the excessive amount of my money you were spending, but you betrayed me.”
Chloe’s eyes are shining with tears as she stares at me. “I’m sorry, Liam. It was a mistake.”
“No, it wasn’t. Once is a mistake. Having an affair for over three years is something done deliberately. You’re only sorry because you were caught.” Why waste my breath even reminding her I’d caught her and my ex-best friend fucking in my bed? Coming home early from a business trip to surprise my then fiancée with a birthday gift wound up exposing their deceit. Anyway, it’s been years, and I don’t have the time to waste. I just want them both gone. I expel a deep breath. “You made your bed, and now you can lie in it.”
“Liam!” My mother admonishes. ‘You aren’t seeing the bigger picture here. You and Chloe look good together. You work well. Think of what your futures would look like if you are together.”
“Exactly what part of her cheating on me works well?” I ask, not quite believing my mom’s audacity. “Could you tell me where in that do you see a great relationship that will last the rest of my life?”
“You are getting old,” Mom says, looking me over. “Chloe is beautiful, and you won’t be able to do better. Now, forget this silly little fight you had. You need to leave work early today, so we can get an early start on the weekend. We’re running out of time to get the wedding planned.”
I scoff, my arms dropping to my sides. “I have a bar to run. You can see yourselves out.”
There’s nothing left to say. Nothing that will change my mind. After catching Chloe in bed with my best friend three years ago, I left and didn’t look back no matter how much my mom begged me to. I was old enough to remember seeing the pain my dad went through when mom came home pregnant. That nightmare had ended with my vow to never stay with a cheating woman. I won’t ever feel the way my dad felt.
As I walk back behind the bar, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out, seeing a notification from Tracey. A flash of excitement courses through me. Tracey is an enchanting woman I can see myself having fun with. Getting a message from her eases the tension that’s trying to consume me.
Tracey:Thank you. Sometimes I feel like I’m trying to parent a possessed doll. Do you think it’s wrong to compare your child to Chuckie? I love her to death, but sometimes I wonder if something hasn’t slipped inside her and taken hold. Although, that could also just be what happens when you’re raising a teenaged daughter.
In a single moment, I go from being pissed off to laughing out loud and feeling better than I have in weeks. Though she and I have only messaged back and forth, I can tell there’s something special about her—something that makes me want to spend my time getting to know her better. I didn’t want to keep communicating only through text, though; it was too impersonal. I want to meet her, sit across from her, and get to know her.
Liam:Let me take you out next Friday. Dinner downtown.
Chapter Five
Tracey
“We need to talk,” I say, standing in Deja’s open doorway. My gaze drifts to the photo sitting on her nightstand. It’s one of our family, taken shortly before we’d been ripped apart. In the picture, Deja’s laughing and leaning her head on Jake’s shoulder while I stand beside my ex-husband, his arm wrapped around me. I wish I could go back to that time, before everything went so wrong.
“About what?” Deja asks, setting her homework to the side and turning around in her desk chair to face me.
It’s a better reaction than the one I’d been expecting. It almost has me hoping the conversation about my upcoming date won’t be a complete disaster. But, the hard set of her jaw has me thinking differently.
“I have a date tomorrow night.” I can’t help but feel conflicted. On the one hand, I know my dating again may possibly be another source of anger for Deja; but on the other hand, I just want to feel desirable again. Jake leaving me really messed up my self-esteem. “If you don’t want me to go, I won’t. But I’ve met a nice man, and he asked me to go to dinner with him.”
A million different emotions cross her face in the span of seconds. I’m not surprised when she settles on anger, her hands clenching into fists.
“How can you go on a date? Dad isn’t going to come back if you start dating other men.”
“Honey.” I will myself to be patient with my daughter. “Your father isn’t going to come back no matter what I say or do. He’s getting married to Britney.”
I stand in her doorway watching what could only be considered a complete train wreck. Tears are rolling down her cheeks faster than she can fall into her bed and bury her face in her pillow. I sit on the edge of her bed and run my hand along her spine.
