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LINDY
We stop at the door and knock before walking in. Mom’s rule has always been I’m supposed to walk in because it’s still my house. But still, it doesn’t feel right. “Hello...” I call out, then take Easton’s hand in mine. “They’re probably in the kitchen.”
“We’re in the kitchen,” Mom yells back.
I turn to E and shrug. “Told ya.”
We moved into this house afterthat night.I loved our old house. It was sandwiched between two of my brothers’ houses. But even with that, none of us wanted to step foot in there again. This was the house Mom and Brandon bought together. It’s where we became a family. Before this house, it was just Mom and me.
“Hey, shortcake.” Brandon drops a kiss on my head, then offers Easton his hand. “Hey, Easton. Good to see you.”
“You too.”
Brandon smacks Easton’s back. “Have I shown you the new sound system we installed in the gym downstairs?”
“Uh, no.” E looks confused.
“He’s trying to take you away to force a little alone time on Mom and me,” I groan and see right through my stepfather.
A smile breaks out on Easton’s face, and he slaps Brandon’s back. “You know what? I’d love to see that sound system. Lead the way.”
He looks back at me and winks.
I mouth back,I hate you,then make my way down to the kitchen, where my mom’s making a salad. She was barely my age when she had me after a completely fucked up life. It was just us for so long before Brandon came along. We had my brothers and sisters, but Mom and I were a team. Tears burn the back of my eyes as I walk in.
“Hey, Mom.”
She puts her knife down and pushes away the cutting board full of tomatoes. “Oh, sweetheart. Don’t cry. If you cry, I’ll cry.”
We both move at the same time and wrap our arms around each other. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask you what you wanted and how you felt, Lindy. I was so caught off guard and mad about the way everything happened. I just dug my heels in, and the harder you fought, the harder I pulled.”
“You shouldn’t have had to find out the way you did, and for that, I’m so sorry. But Mom, I’m not sorry for marrying Easton. I love him,” I tell her and take a step back.
“That should have been what I asked you that day.” She cups my face like she used to when I was little, her eyes filling with her own tears. “And does he love you, Madeline?”
“He does.” I smile, thinking about just how much. “He’s been bugging me to fix things with you from the beginning. He kept saying he’d give anything to see his mom one more time, and I was wasting time with you.” My heart tugs, just from saying that out loud. “He’s such a good man.”
“And where is he? And Brandon? Are they hiding?” she asks, then pours me a glass of wine.
“Brandon’s showing Easton something in the gym. I think he wanted to give us some space.” I sit down and sip my wine. “I hired a new security detail.”
“I heard,” she muses as she finishes dicing her tomatoes while I watch.
“Did Sam tell you?” I ask, already annoyed. He wasn’t supposed to say anything.
“Sweetheart, how many Revolution games has that man been at with you? Your family spreads gossip faster than a teenage girl. Now, we need to talk about a few things.” She adds her tomatoes to a big salad, then sets it aside to eat when dinner gets here.
“We do,” I agree.
“You said some things at Sweet Temptations I’ve never heard you say before, and I need you to talk to me. Did you feel like you had to skate for me, Madeline?” There’s a shakiness in her voice, and it makes me feel like shit because I put it there.
“No, Mom. I never felt like you forced me into skating. I skated because I loved it. I still do. But you said I’m floundering because I’m not sure what I want to do right now, and that stung. I don’t think I’m floundering.”
“It’s just so not like you to not have a direction. And then you went to Vegas, and Everly posted those pictures, which looked so bad. And we had to discover you were married on social media. It just all hit so hard.”
“I like to think I’m transitioning right now. I spent my entire life training for the Olympics. I missed so many things. And now, I don’t have to train any more. Now, I skate because I want to with no pressure. I teach the kids because it’s fun. I’ve got more money than I could ever spend, and I don’t want to miss anything else, so I’m not in a rush to jump into a job that isn’t what I want. And I’m lucky enough that I can take my time figuring out what it is I want. But the one thing I’m absolutely sure of is Easton. He’s what I want.”
I reach across the counter and rest my hand on hers, knowing this is going to be hard for her to hear. “I’ve never been happier than I’ve been with him, but no one in this family was happy for me. It hurt. And even worse, you all tried to make Easton into the bad guy. You were all supposed to love him, and you turned on him.”
