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“Can I help you?” I grunt out before looking a little closer at her face. “You have got to be fuckin’ kidding me?” I growl, face to face with Avery's mother.
“Well, hello to you, too,” she says, her eyes roaming all over me. I step forward to tear into her but Avery grabbing me by my shirt has me stopping. She steps around me, taking a second for recognition to hit her before she stops in her tracks, her eyes going wide.
“Mom? What are you doing here?” Avery asks her, crossing her arms over her chest, displeasure written all over her face.
“To see my babies, of course,” she says, like it’s perfectly normal for the woman who walked out three years ago to just show back up on a whim.
“I do’-” she starts but I cut her off.
“No. Not happening,” I bite out, tugging Avery back towards me by her robe and pressing her to my front. Her mom looks between the two of us, her face lighting up.
“Who is your friend, Avery?” She asks. She looks much older than her thirty-eight years. Bags are heavy under her eyes, dark shadows in the corners. Her hair, long and straggly looking, hangs around her face. Wrinkles, far deeper and heavier than someone of her age should have, the drug use aging her for many years. Dana Marks used to be a knockout but that’s no longer the case.
“Cut the shit, Mom. What are you doing here?” Avery sighs, already obviously over this entire encounter.
“I need a place to crash for a few weeks, baby,” Dana says, announcing her reason for showing up unannounced. Avery’s entire body goes stiff.
“No,” she says, shaking her head. “Absolutely not. You’re not going to get these kids' hopes up just to disappear in a week for three more years.” Dana begins to protest but a small voice comes from behind us.
“Mama?” Genevieve asks, her eyes widening at the sight of her mom. “Oh my god,” she squeals, bolting past me and Avery before we can stop her and throwing her arms around Dana. “I can’t believe you’re here!” Avery stiffens even more at Vie’s comment.
“Look at you, sweet girl. You’re so big!” Dana says, taking in her daughter who’s no longer just a kid anymore. She left when Genevieve was just thirteen years old and now she’s sixteen.
“Can you stay?” Vie asks, excitedly, and links her arm with her mothers, looking expectantly at Avery and I know without a doubt what’s coming next.
“One week,” Avery says with a sigh, tugging me out of the way and shoving the pair past us and into the house. “I’ll be there in a minute,” she calls, shutting the screen door and turning to face me, arms crossed over her chest, chewing on her lip nervously. I rough my hands through my hair, propping my fists on my hips.
“Why do you think she’s here?” I ask, motioning towards her mom.
“Probably needs money,” Avery responds with a shrug and realization hits me.
“Wait. This isn’t the first time she’s shown up?” I ask, my brow furrowed.
“Once or twice a year,” Avery says, not making eye contact with me.
“And she always wants money?” I ask, rage building up inside of me. She left those kids behind, making them Avery’s responsibility, and she has the guts to show up here and ask her for money.
“Most of the time, yeah.”
“And how do the kids feel about it?”
“They’re happy to see her come and sad to see her go. It’s been about fourteen months since she showed up, so I’d say they’re probably thrilled.” I hear Blake’s voice talking excitedly to his mother. They should both be in bed. It’s one a.m. “I’ll see you in the morning,” she says quietly, basically brushing me off, which is what I want, I tell myself, ignoring the burn in my chest. The knowledge that we’ve been spending time together for the last eight months and I’ve been coming over here almost every night of the last four months. Sure, the sex is incredible. Off the fucking charts if I’m being honest. But I thought what we were building was more than that.
“Take tomorrow off,” I say, and she starts to protest but I cut her off. “Paid. Think of it as a vacation day. I’ll see you Wednesday.” And without another word, I turn on my heel and stride out to my Ford Raptor, beeping the locks and climbing in. I spare a glance up to the front porch of Avery’s small bungalow just in time to see her close the screen door behind her and flick the porch light off. Light coming from the living room curtain catches my eye and I glance that way, seeing Dana’s face looking back at me. She lets her eyes linger for a few seconds before she disappears, and the curtain flutters closed. I back my truck out of the driveway and point it towards my place, an uneasiness churning in my gut.
Avery
I whip my car into the parking lot of the gas station, steering it towards a pump and cursing my mom for taking it earlier and running it down to empty. She asked if she could take me to work and run some errands and I eventually gave in. She dropped the car back off to me around three after she’d picked Blake and Gen up from school. They were leaving me the car and were going to walk to the ice cream shop and then home.
Dragging my tired body out of the car with a groan, I go to fill my tank up. With mom at the house at night with the kids, I’ve picked up extra shifts at the bar this week. I worked until close last night and we were slammed. Working two jobs is really starting to take its toll on me. Once I’m back in the car, my phone dings with an incoming text.
Jax: She gone yet?
Me: No, Jaxson.Sheisn’t gone yet.
Jax: I’ll bring dinner.
Me: No, thank you.
