AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Her parents died,” Michael said as I snapped out of the memory. I must’ve missed Callie asking me a question.
“I’m sorry,” Callie said sympathetically. “For all their faults, they were still your parents.”
“Thanks.”
I was sorry, too. But mixed in with the hole their deaths had left and the things I missed about them was guilt and relief in equal measure. If they hadn’t died, how long would it have taken me to work up the courage to leave? I wasn’t sure. I’d told myself a thousand times that I would leave, get in the car and go—but it had taken their deaths and my desperation for me to do it.
I glanced guiltily at Michael.
“Ice cream,” Rhett said, practically flying into the family room. “Hamburgers.”
“Ice cream after the hamburgers,” I informed him in case there was any confusion.
“French fries,” Rhett announced happily.
“Come on into the kitchen,” Callie said, getting to her feet. “You can keep me company while I finish dinner. If I leave your gramps in there alone, we’ll be eating raw hamburger and burned fries.”
“I told you it wouldn’t be bad,” Michael said, stopping me with a hand on my arm.
“I know,” I huffed, shaking my head. “But the thought of the most forgiving person on the planetnotforgiving you is a little scary.”
“You don’t have to tell my family what happened,” he said quietly, his eyes on mine. “You told me. That’s enough.”
“They deserve an explanation,” I argued with a shrug.
“If they want one, I’ll give them one.” He squeezed my arm gently before letting go. “You don’t have to lay your shit bare for everyone who asks.”
“It’s Callie,” I said defensively.
“And tomorrow, it will be one of my aunts, or an uncle, or a cousin. They’ll all want to know why you stayed away.”
“Fuck.”
“You’re not hearin’ me,” he said, leaning closer. “You’ve talked to my parents. You’ve talked to Grams. That’s it, okay?”
I nodded.
“Everyone else can get fucked. This is between you and me.”
“I thought you said you weren’t going to shield me,” I reminded him.
“I said I wasn’t gonna reassure you,” he grumbled, striding toward the kitchen.
“Well, I’m feeling pretty reassured,” I joked lightly, following him. He ignored me.
Chapter 8
Michael
Dinner was easy.Calm. My grandparents were in love with Rhett and they peppered him with questions. He soaked it all up. Our son wasn’t saying full sentences quite yet, but he knew a hell of a lot of words. You could follow along pretty easily if you just paid attention to the inflection he put on them.
Gramps asked him about dinosaurs Rhett babbled for an entire minute. Grandma made a mention of her garden and Rhett told her about bees. They held an entire conversation back and forth with Rhett only adding in a word or two here and there and Gram filling in the rest.
He was such a trip. My grandparents weredelightedwith Rhett. I couldn’t think of any other word to describe it.
“You know,” Gramps said, pointing his fork at me. “Little Mick used to lay out all my tools in a row and tell me what each one was and how it was used. I bet he could do the same for you.”
“Daddy’s big,” Rhett pointed out, taking a bite of his hamburger.
