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“He cheated on me,” Bex says with exaggerated patience. “We haven’t been together since last spring. This is James.”
“And the other two?” Abby looks over to my brothers, who are lingering like they’re not sure whether to come over. “What about the blond. He’s cute.”
Bex glares at her mother. “I have to call Aunt Nicole and see if you can stay with her. And then call the insurance company and file a claim. What the hell were you thinking, falling asleep like that?”
Abby has the decency to look embarrassed. “Let’s not talk about it in front of your friend, Bexy.”
“Don’t Bexy me. And he’s my boyfriend, so he stays.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. Even though the situation is serious, and I want to shake Bex’s mother, that word on her lips in relation to me makes me feel a certain kind of way.
“You’ve always lost your head for jocks,” Abby says with a sniff. “Why do you care about this? You’re never around anymore.”
“That’s not true. I come back to the diner all the time.”
“What, to work a shift and collect tips?”
My hand tightens on Bex’s hip.
“That’s not fair,” she says softly.
“I’ll tell you what’s not fair,” Abby says. “A man leaving his wife and daughter isn’t fair. A daughter leaving her mother isn’t fair.”
“Mom.” Bex is trembling. “I’m going to McKee to help us, you know that.”
“Right up until you aren’t.”
“My old photography was up there. Mycamera.” Bex takes a step forward, tears streaming down her cheeks. “And because of you, that’s all gone, because you fucking fell asleep in the middle of the day when you’re supposed to be managing the goddamn diner!”
Her words are loud; they carry through the air in a way that makes certain everyone within the vicinity hears her. My brothers. The firefighters. The police. Some random onlookers, still lingering despite the fact the show is fucking over. I move around, trying to shield Bex with my body. She doesn’t deserve this. I want to gather her up into my arms and hug her so tightly she knows I’m never letting go.
Abby’s face crumples. “You know how hard it is, baby.”
“I don’t care.” She fists her hands in her hair, taking in a ragged breath. “You’re supposed to be my mother. You take care of me, not the other way around.” She sobs. “I made you a promise and you promised me back.”
Abby doesn’t say anything. The cigarette slips from her fingers, and I step forward before she can, grinding it underneath my heel.
“Mom,” Bex whispers. “Tell me you remember. You made me promise.”
But Abby doesn’t say a word.
Chapter 25
Bex
“You’re sure about this?” Laura asks.
She’s on my bed, watching as I pack the suitcase. Jeans, a pretty dress, James’s jersey. Fancy lingerie I splurged on during a trip to the mall with Laura earlier today. That’s where I got the little suitcase, too. I’ve never owned one because I never had anywhere to go. Even though it’s only Pennsylvania, I can’t help but be excited.
Anything to take my mind off the shitstorm at the diner. That’s how James pitched it to me when he invited me to tag along with him for the away game at Penn State. I’ve been busy arguing with the insurance company, trying to line up rehab work for the apartment, and keeping the diner running amid a period where my mother has disappeared into her grief, not to mention keeping up with my job and schoolwork. Aunt Nicole calls every day to update me. Mom hasn’t been this bad since the last time my father sniffed around.
I wish I could bring myself to feel worse about it, but I don’t. Her accusations of abandonment stung, but even worse was realizing that the fire ruined my camera and tons of photography. I keep some of it in my dorm room, and a couple of pieces were framed in the diner, but all the work from middle and high school had been in my room. The fire and resulting smoke damaged everything. The fancy camera that Aunt Nicole bought me as a sixteenth birthday present was ruined beyond use.
I’d never abandon my mother or the diner, but a small, selfish part of me wishes that the fire had ruined the diner too.
I add pajamas to the top of the suitcase and zip it shut. “It’s just one weekend.”
“Alone with him in a hotel room.” Laura frowns. “It’s not something you do when it’s casual. Or when you’re pretending.”
