Trailer Park Heart
Page 58
If possible, the angry look in his eyes kicked up a few notches. “Of course, I told them. They have a grandson. My dead brother had a son. You honestly think I would keep that from them?”
“N-no. No.”
“Anyway, they want to meet you.” His gaze narrowed for a second and I realized he was acknowledging that his parents had met me. Several times. “Formally,” he added. “And Max of course.”
Despite Levi’s obvious resentment and anger, mama bear instincts kicked in and I couldn’t help but need to protect my son. “I-I don’t know. I haven’t said anything to Max. I don’t just want to dump this whole new family thing on him. I’m open to a relationship with your parents, but I think we should walk more slowly into it.”
“Don’t do this,” he warned, his voice low and menacing. “You’ve had him to yourself for six years, Ruby. At least I got to spend time with him when I suspected something could be there. They… they didn’t even know it was a possibility. This is a chance for my parents to have a piece of Logan back. Don’t hurt them more than you already have.”
Fire flashed through me, setting my blood ablaze. “This is my son, Levi. Don’t you dare try to emotionally blackmail me.”
“For fuck’s sake, Ruby. I’m not trying to blackmail you, I’m trying to get you to see reason for the first time in your entire goddamn life.” My eyes narrowed, and I glared at him. Here was the asshole I remembered. It had taken months, but I finally brought him back. His jaw ticked again, the muscle popping and I waited for him to really come after me, to completely eviscerate me with his words. Instead, he said, “Please, Ruby. It would mean a lot to all of us. The holidays are… hard without Logan. This would be a gift to us.”
His words sucked the wind from my sails and my entire body sagged in defeat. He was right. About everything. But did that mean I had to share Max with them?
My heart boomed against my breastbone, desperate to protect my son, to keep the rest of the world away.
“You don’t have to tell him anything about us,” Levi added, sweetening the pot. “He likes me. Just tell him I invited you guys over. I’ll tell my parents not to say anything about his dad or being his grandparents.” He cleared his throat and added, “You can even invite your mom if you’d like.”
I nearly rolled my eyes at his last offer. Not that she’d have come if she had zero plans and was starving, but she was currently on my shit list for how she’d let everything slip last Saturday. Whether I deserved all this or not, it was her fault I was in this mess now.
And from the very beginning. From when she’d decided to be a terrible mom and influenced all my bad decisions and then done a terrible job with my sexual education.
“She’s busy,” I told him and then pretended not to notice when he blew out a breath of relief.
And she actually was busy. Thanksgiving was a surprisingly busy day at Misty’s. Every holiday was a good day for the establishment. Which was sad when you thought about it.
I’d only ever been to a few proper Thanksgiving meals and that was when Coco had invited me to her house. Her mom was Chilean though, so it had never been a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Her dad would smoke a turkey, but the side dishes were never American fare.
This year, Coco and Emilia were going with their parents to visit extended family and so I had been planning to binge Netflix with Max all day and heat up some frozen pot pies that we loved so much.
Obviously, the Cole family affair would be awkward as hell, but also maybe a decent option for us.
“Fine,” I told him, partly because he was right, about everything, and also because I was so freaking cold I couldn’t stand outside for a second longer.
“You have my number,” he accused. I nodded. “Text if you get lost.”
“It’s at your parents?”
“Yeah.”
“I remember how to get there.”
His expression twisted into a sneer. “Oh, yeah, did Logan show you the way?”
I swallowed through a fist-size lump. I deserved that. “You did,” I countered. “For the junior year hayride, campfire thing.”
His eyes flashed with the memory and for just a second, they softened into something that wasn’t totally hatred. But the bitterness came back in the next second, and he glared at me like he had at the end of that night—when I’d let Mercer take me home instead of him.
God, I’d been a brat back then.
Okay, maybe I was still a brat.
“Dinner’s at three,” he said, already stepping away from me.
“See you then,” I said to his back.
He didn’t turn around and all I got was a single wave of his upstretched hand.
I didn’t care though. I wasn’t even worried about his attitude or feelings for me or how I would ever recover from this, because tomorrow I had to face his parents and that was just about the worst thing I could think of.
Oh, god. What had I gotten myself into?
20
Turkey Noodle Soup for the Soul
Pulling up in front of the Cole farmhouse at two-forty-five in my sputtering Corolla, I felt the shadow of the charming white house with black shutters fall on my life. Max sat quietly in the backseat, absorbing their sprawling acreage, the gigantic house, the fancy trucks and big ass barns.
“My dad lived here?” he asked in a hushed tone.
I’d thought about waiting to explain everything until he was older and could better understand everything I needed to tell him. But, in the end, I’d decided I was done with secrets.
Levi’s invite to his parents Thanksgiving celebration was unwanted and I felt emotionally blackmailed into joining them. However, this was the bed I’d made and now it was time to lie in it.
After he surprise attacked me at Rosie’s the other day, I’d taken some serious time to consider the last seven years and the mistakes I’d made. This was not how I wanted the Coles to find out about Max.
Granted, I never wanted them to find out about Max.
But in my wildest imagination, I didn’t anticipate my mother blurting the news post-orgasm with Levi preparing to slide into home.
All the puns intended.
And now that he knew and they knew and everyone fucking knew, I would have to face the consequences of my mistakes all over again. Only this time, I was taking Max with me.
I owed it to him to tell him the truth. And if they were intent on getting to know him, he should get to know them too, as they were his family.
But son of a bitch, this sucked so hard.
Just as I turned the car off, my phone chirped with an incoming call. I pulled it from the front pocket of my tiny purse and answered. “Hello?”
“It’s me,” Coco said, her voice quiet and reserved.
“Hi.” She was another person I’d confessed to, along with my mom. Their reactions were almost identical. Coco had fallen on her couch where I’d cornered her in her apartment and said, “Holy shit.” After I explained to my mom that it wasn’t the living Cole brother that was the father, but the deceased one, she’d fallen into a dining room chair, put her hand over her mouth and mumbled, “Fuck me.”
Unsurprisingly, my mom got over the news much quicker than Coco. My best friend was furious when I spilled my secrets last night. Her anger had only lasted until Emilia had slapped her on the back of the head and said, “Stop being stupid. Ruby was obviously afraid of losing Max. You weren’t even around to help her. This isn’t about you, Co.”
“N-no. No.”
“Anyway, they want to meet you.” His gaze narrowed for a second and I realized he was acknowledging that his parents had met me. Several times. “Formally,” he added. “And Max of course.”
Despite Levi’s obvious resentment and anger, mama bear instincts kicked in and I couldn’t help but need to protect my son. “I-I don’t know. I haven’t said anything to Max. I don’t just want to dump this whole new family thing on him. I’m open to a relationship with your parents, but I think we should walk more slowly into it.”
“Don’t do this,” he warned, his voice low and menacing. “You’ve had him to yourself for six years, Ruby. At least I got to spend time with him when I suspected something could be there. They… they didn’t even know it was a possibility. This is a chance for my parents to have a piece of Logan back. Don’t hurt them more than you already have.”
Fire flashed through me, setting my blood ablaze. “This is my son, Levi. Don’t you dare try to emotionally blackmail me.”
“For fuck’s sake, Ruby. I’m not trying to blackmail you, I’m trying to get you to see reason for the first time in your entire goddamn life.” My eyes narrowed, and I glared at him. Here was the asshole I remembered. It had taken months, but I finally brought him back. His jaw ticked again, the muscle popping and I waited for him to really come after me, to completely eviscerate me with his words. Instead, he said, “Please, Ruby. It would mean a lot to all of us. The holidays are… hard without Logan. This would be a gift to us.”
His words sucked the wind from my sails and my entire body sagged in defeat. He was right. About everything. But did that mean I had to share Max with them?
My heart boomed against my breastbone, desperate to protect my son, to keep the rest of the world away.
“You don’t have to tell him anything about us,” Levi added, sweetening the pot. “He likes me. Just tell him I invited you guys over. I’ll tell my parents not to say anything about his dad or being his grandparents.” He cleared his throat and added, “You can even invite your mom if you’d like.”
I nearly rolled my eyes at his last offer. Not that she’d have come if she had zero plans and was starving, but she was currently on my shit list for how she’d let everything slip last Saturday. Whether I deserved all this or not, it was her fault I was in this mess now.
And from the very beginning. From when she’d decided to be a terrible mom and influenced all my bad decisions and then done a terrible job with my sexual education.
“She’s busy,” I told him and then pretended not to notice when he blew out a breath of relief.
And she actually was busy. Thanksgiving was a surprisingly busy day at Misty’s. Every holiday was a good day for the establishment. Which was sad when you thought about it.
I’d only ever been to a few proper Thanksgiving meals and that was when Coco had invited me to her house. Her mom was Chilean though, so it had never been a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Her dad would smoke a turkey, but the side dishes were never American fare.
This year, Coco and Emilia were going with their parents to visit extended family and so I had been planning to binge Netflix with Max all day and heat up some frozen pot pies that we loved so much.
Obviously, the Cole family affair would be awkward as hell, but also maybe a decent option for us.
“Fine,” I told him, partly because he was right, about everything, and also because I was so freaking cold I couldn’t stand outside for a second longer.
“You have my number,” he accused. I nodded. “Text if you get lost.”
“It’s at your parents?”
“Yeah.”
“I remember how to get there.”
His expression twisted into a sneer. “Oh, yeah, did Logan show you the way?”
I swallowed through a fist-size lump. I deserved that. “You did,” I countered. “For the junior year hayride, campfire thing.”
His eyes flashed with the memory and for just a second, they softened into something that wasn’t totally hatred. But the bitterness came back in the next second, and he glared at me like he had at the end of that night—when I’d let Mercer take me home instead of him.
God, I’d been a brat back then.
Okay, maybe I was still a brat.
“Dinner’s at three,” he said, already stepping away from me.
“See you then,” I said to his back.
He didn’t turn around and all I got was a single wave of his upstretched hand.
I didn’t care though. I wasn’t even worried about his attitude or feelings for me or how I would ever recover from this, because tomorrow I had to face his parents and that was just about the worst thing I could think of.
Oh, god. What had I gotten myself into?
20
Turkey Noodle Soup for the Soul
Pulling up in front of the Cole farmhouse at two-forty-five in my sputtering Corolla, I felt the shadow of the charming white house with black shutters fall on my life. Max sat quietly in the backseat, absorbing their sprawling acreage, the gigantic house, the fancy trucks and big ass barns.
“My dad lived here?” he asked in a hushed tone.
I’d thought about waiting to explain everything until he was older and could better understand everything I needed to tell him. But, in the end, I’d decided I was done with secrets.
Levi’s invite to his parents Thanksgiving celebration was unwanted and I felt emotionally blackmailed into joining them. However, this was the bed I’d made and now it was time to lie in it.
After he surprise attacked me at Rosie’s the other day, I’d taken some serious time to consider the last seven years and the mistakes I’d made. This was not how I wanted the Coles to find out about Max.
Granted, I never wanted them to find out about Max.
But in my wildest imagination, I didn’t anticipate my mother blurting the news post-orgasm with Levi preparing to slide into home.
All the puns intended.
And now that he knew and they knew and everyone fucking knew, I would have to face the consequences of my mistakes all over again. Only this time, I was taking Max with me.
I owed it to him to tell him the truth. And if they were intent on getting to know him, he should get to know them too, as they were his family.
But son of a bitch, this sucked so hard.
Just as I turned the car off, my phone chirped with an incoming call. I pulled it from the front pocket of my tiny purse and answered. “Hello?”
“It’s me,” Coco said, her voice quiet and reserved.
“Hi.” She was another person I’d confessed to, along with my mom. Their reactions were almost identical. Coco had fallen on her couch where I’d cornered her in her apartment and said, “Holy shit.” After I explained to my mom that it wasn’t the living Cole brother that was the father, but the deceased one, she’d fallen into a dining room chair, put her hand over her mouth and mumbled, “Fuck me.”
Unsurprisingly, my mom got over the news much quicker than Coco. My best friend was furious when I spilled my secrets last night. Her anger had only lasted until Emilia had slapped her on the back of the head and said, “Stop being stupid. Ruby was obviously afraid of losing Max. You weren’t even around to help her. This isn’t about you, Co.”
