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“Still.” He drew back for a second to look her in the eyes. “I know it wasn’t easy for you.”
“Charlie, it’ll get bad. She says she’s clean, but there’ll be a phone call one of these days. And I’ll have to—”
“Hey.”
Charlie looked up, shocked to hear his mom’s voice. She stood in the doorway of the kitchen with her arms folded over her chest.
“Okay, you two.” She walked toward them, waving them to the kitchen as she did. “Two hot grilled cheese sandwiches in there. Some tomato soup. And two glasses of milk. Sit down and eat.”
Tatum laughed softly, but when she lifted her head from his chest, she was crying.
“No one’s done that for me in so long.”
“Well, get used to it,” Adele told her. “Eat it while it’s hot.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Charlie let go of Tatum, watching her swipe at her eyes as she stepped away from him.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Tatum closed her eyes as his mom gave her a quick, easy hug.
“You, too.”
Charlie leaned close when his mom kissed his cheek.
“Thank you, Adele.” Tatum cleared her throat as his mom got closer to the door. “I really appreciate this.”
“You’re welcome.”
His mom slipped out of the apartment without another word, so Charlie looked back at Tatum expectantly.
“I’m going to wash my face.” She rubbed her eyes. “Be right back.”
“Okay.”
He found two places set in the kitchen—the soup, the sandwiches, and the milk, just as his mom had said she’d prepared. Tugging his phone from his pocket, he turned it off and put it on the table. He wouldn’t mind if Tatum got a call or a text while they ate, whether it was from Sutton or Bryony. But he intended to be one hundred percent present for her tonight, so he didn’t want his phone on.
She looked a bit refreshed when she came back to the kitchen. Her face was clean of makeup, but her eyes were puffy and red. She’d changed into athletic shorts and a t-shirt. Her bare legs and painted toenails did something to him, but he gave his dick a mental talking-to.
“She left Bryony with the guy she’s living with.” Tatum sat down across the table from him. “The guy she’s only known a few months.”
Charlie winced.
“Did you see that bruise on her arm?” When he nodded, she continued, “Looked a lot like someone’s fingers wrapped around her, didn’t it?”
“It did.”
“What if he does that to Bryony?”
Charlie wasn’t sure what to say. It was a valid worry, but at the moment, he wanted Tatum to eat. She picked up her spoon when he nodded at her food.
“I’m terrible.” She shook her head. “I mean, if he hurt Bryony, I’d kill him. If I found him. But what? I’m okay with him doing that to Sutton?”
“Sounds to me like you’ve bent over backwards to get her help. She’s a grown woman, making her own decisions.”
“She asked me for money.”
Charlie watched her ladle the soup in her spoon and slip it in her mouth.
