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I thought that was strange. If one of my friends were coming over, they made sure to text me. Everyone else was businesspeople here to see Taylor and that happened very, very rarely. He also wouldn’t have anyone come over during his therapy appointments, they happened at the exact same time every week.
I walked over to his security system, curious of course. My heart dropped seeing his mother standing expectantly at the door. She had no way of knowing when he went to therapy, which meant she was hoping to get here and confront him again.
I considered ignoring her. Letting her stand out in the cold until she got the hint. However, I couldn’t risk Taylor coming home and her still standing there. Or make her think she couldcome back and try again. This woman wasn’t going to hurt him again.
I marched over to the door ready for anything. I opened the door just enough for me to step outside. My grip stayed on the doorknob.
“Leave.” I tried to put every ounce of hatred I had for this woman in my voice.
“Excuse me, I’m going to see my son. You can’t stop me.” She smiled and kept her fake light tone, but it didn’t faze me.
“Leave,” I repeated.
“I just want to speak to him.” She put on a frown, her lip wobbling a little.
“Leave before I call his private security to escort you out.” That was a huge lie, but I didn’t care.
“You wouldn’t.” She dropped all of her acts.
“I know you hurt him. If he wants to forgive you, I won’t stop him. But I never will.” A smile, that I knew looked evil, spread over my face. “Get out of here, you bitch.”
She looked so affronted. Maybe no one had ever called her that to her face before. I was glad to be her first. It was also the first time I’d ever called someone that. She looked like she was deciding what to do, but finally turned around and returned to her car. I stood in the doorway watching her car back up out of the drive and off our property.
It was a strange feeling. People were always calling me too nice for my own good throughout college. I let too many nasty people slide because I wanted to get to a good place in the fashion world and was afraid to make enemies. I knew Hana Hirano had money and some sway over his grandfather, but I didn’t care. It turned out I did have a line and she had crossed it. As long as I lived here, she wasn’t going to come into our home.
Taylor arrived an hour and a half later and found me doing some small sketches on our kitchen counter.
“How was therapy?” I asked when he came in.
“Good. We had a lot to talk about.” He put a small bag in front of me.
“What’s this?” Whatever it was, it smelled amazing.
“A new bakery opened downtown, I got you a chocolate croissant.”
“Aw, thanks.” I opened the bag and pulled the little treat out. Ever since our talk, instead of greeting me with kisses, he started bringing me small treats or giving me compliments. Occasionally, I would still get a kiss if it was a particularly good day. I hoped that with couple’s therapy we’d have more and more good days.
Chapter 13
Lydia
“Are you ready for therapy?” I said it enthusiastically, my voice crescending like I’d hear people hype up a football game. I wasn’t sure if I was ready, so I thought acting a little goofy might help get me in a better mood.
I caught a small upturn of his lips. “I’ve been going for two years now. I never know until it’s done.”
“Do you ever, I don’t know, finish therapy?” I asked, genuinely wondering but hoping I didn’t sound too ignorant.
“You can,” he said. “If you’re showing steady signs of improvement and stay at a satisfactory base level for a while, you graduate. Therapy is for helping you, if it’s done helping, you’re done.”
“That makes sense.”
“Mrs. Tupp has said recently I’m close to graduating.”
“That’s great news,” I said, my expression lighting up with excitement.
“Yeah. She wants to see how I do with couples’ therapy. If after we figure that out, I’m still doing good, she thinks I’ll be done.”
“Maybe Christmas can also secretly be a therapy graduation party,” I teased.
