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I need that laptop. It holds everything, not just my entire life, but also my mother’s because if anything happens to me, she’ll die. That’s not an exaggeration. Not only does she refuse to leave her house for any reason whatsoever, she’s unable to afford her basic day-to-day expenses, much less anything larger. She can’t drive, she’s partially blind in one eye, and she can’t always remember what year we’re in. With the exception of the astronomically priced surgeries I couldn’t cover by myself for those first couple years, I now pay for everything in her life. Outside of myself and her small team of doctors, there isn’t a single person she’s willing to meet face to face, not even my husband. And, even if by some miracle she managed to get over her debilitating dread of having people look at her, I don’t trust anyone to care for her the way I have, especially not my husband.
I need something that’ll force Kordin to get his laptop out of his safe. As much as I’ve enjoyed my reprieve from him, I think it’s time he come home.
My leg resumes its movement, quicker than before.
“Read anything good lately?” my mom asks over the violent squeaking.
Reading is an escape for us both. Books are a way for us to leave our own warped realities behind temporarily. Occasionally, she’ll read large-print books, but most of the time she listens to audiobooks; unless I’m over, then she lets me read for her.
“One,” I say, picturing the last book Reece got me, the one currently sitting on my nightstand with a bookmark sticking out the top. It’s about a single-dad firefighter and his young daughter’s nanny. I thought it’d be super taboo but so far there’s just been a little steamy oral in the pantry. No penetration…yet. I always read the epilogue first to make sure there’s a happily ever after before I invest in a story, and there was a phenomenal sex scene in that, so I know it’s coming.
I have no idea what goes through Reece’s mind when he shops for me, but I’m glad he finally found a book with some explicit sex in it.
“Boy trouble,” my mom repeats.
“What are you talking about?”
She points at my face, so I smooth out my features, giving her my most indifferent expression.
“I’m married,” I also repeat.
“So was I,” she says, making my breath catch.Does she remember?
Brows plummeting, her hands freeze as her hazel eyes get swept up in some kind of memory. Is it a good one? A bad one? A real one?
Or one I fabricated and made her believe was real?
“Have you seen him lately?”
“Who?” I ask carefully.
“Your father.”
Slowly, I shake my head.
She clucks her tongue. “You should go see him.”
“I told you, I’m really busy.”
Dropping the pierogi in her hold to point a finger at me, she says, “I wasn’t asking.”
“Yes, Mum,” I tell her automatically, very much feeling like that sixteen-year-old she confuses me with.
“Promise me.”
Tears build in my eyes as I pin them to the counter. I force myself to do it, saying, “I promise.”
This is why I’m stuck in Fox Hollow, because my father’s here, and since he is, so is my mom. Sheloveshim. Still. She won’t go see him herself, but just being close is enough for her. Because she doesn’t remember correctly.
But I do. I’m reminded every time I look at her face.
Lex
Afresh, floral fragrance enters my office the same time Reece does.
I keep my hands under my desk, tightly clasped together.
“Morning, Snow,” he greets, but I don’t respond.
