Page 190 of Need You To Choose Me

“Well, I think you were really kind, all things considered,” I offer gently as I move to the sink and turn on the water.

“Yeah, well…” Sighing, she glances at the door, a distant expression on her face. “I should go to the field. The game’s about to start.”

She rubs at her arm but doesn’t attempt to move.

Shutting the water off, I grab some towels to wipe my hands. “Wanna sit with me?”

Rose looks at me. “What? No, I couldn’t?—”

“It’s fine, really. Trust me, you’re helping me.” I slip my hand through hers and start toward the door, but Rose’s soft wince has me stopping and glancing at her. “Are you oka?—”

The sleeve of her shirt is raised slightly, enough for me to spot a smidge of purple on her skin before she hides it.

Was that a bruise?

“Yeah. I just…” Her throat bobs as she swallows, those wide blue eyes avoiding my gaze. “You don’t want to deal with my drama.”

I press my lips together, trying to hold back the question that’s on the tip of my tongue.

“It’s fine. I know it doesn’t help much today, but soon enough there will be something else they’ll focus on.”

Rose’s shoulders relax, if only slightly. “Let’s hope so.”

Together we make our way to the field. Yes, there are glances, but Rose just lifts her chin higher as we walk to the bleachers and sit down to cheer our boys until the final whistle blows, signaling our victory.

People rush to the field to celebrate with the kids. I push to my feet, another jab of pain going through my middle. The pain had been present the whole day, but there wasn’t a pattern to when it would happen, so I didn’t know what to make of it. It couldn’t be labor pains, could it? We still had a few weeks to go before Munchkin was here.

“You going?” Rose asks, realizing I’m not following her.

“Yeah, I?—”

A flash of silvery-gold hair catches my attention and makes me stop in my tracks.

“Miss Parker?”

Mom smiles at me from a distance, and I can feel the hair at my nape prickle.

“No.” I shake my head. “I’ll join you in a bit.”

Rose’s brows shoot up, her gaze going toward my mother before it returns to me. “Okay.”

Pushing through the people, I make my way to the side where she’s standing, away from everybody else.

“What are you doing here?” I eye her carefully, unsure of what she’s up to now. With Clara Parker, you could never be sure. But she seemed almost… normal.

“I’m leaving, so I came to say goodbye.”

I blink, unsure if I heard her correctly. “You’re…”She’s leaving?“What?”

“Leaving.” She quirks a brow. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I’m just surprised. You didn’t bother saying goodbye the last time,” I point out. I wasn’t sure what game she was playing, but there was no way that she was leaving just like that. “What’s with the sudden change?”

She glances around and snorts, the disgust evident on her face. “I’ve realized that coming here was a waste of my time.”

Her words shouldn’t hurt, but they did. Even after all this time, there was a part of me that hoped that one day my mother would care about me.

But she wouldn’t.

---