Page 80 of I'm Yours

“Uh, what’s going on here?”

Mom can’t stop smiling and I want to throw up. Henry looks me up and down with what I can only peg as desire in his eyes, and when he licks his lips and places an open mouth kiss on my mom’s neck I have to swallow down the bile that threatens to come up.

“Henry and I are…” She turns and looks at him.

“I’m gonna be your daddy.”

Oh my gosh.

I’m definitely going to be sick. The way he says daddy isnotfatherly. Not one bit.

This isn’t good. “Mom? Can we talk?”

“Sure, baby. Anything you need to say you can say in front of Henry. Like he said, he’s practically your father now.”

Eww. No. This can’t be happening.

Henry The Creep Anderson and my mom?

No way.

“Does Samuel know?”

“We haven’t had the chance to tell him yet. It’s all been so sudden, hasn’t it, honey?” she says with an excited voice.

“I don’t know if I’d call it sudden. I’ve had my eye on you Jones girls for a while now.” But he doesn’t say it to her. He’s looking right at me. Does Mom not see it? Is she blinded by… love? Oh my word. My mom is in love with Henry. How strange. She surely sees how creepy he is, right?

I have no idea what to do in this situation but get the hell out of here. My mind is racing; my thoughts going all over the place. I can’t talk to Mom when he’s around and I need reinforcements. I need Sam here. Possibly Reed. Maybe Alan. Hell, the whole town. I’m officially sick to my stomach and confused. So confused. Mom is a beautiful woman and could do so much better than Henry Anderson. Sure, the guy has a lot of money because of his years of working as the slimiest defense attorney in the state of Montana, working his ass off to keep murderers out of prison, but money isn’t a reason to be with another person.

Rather than focus on the upcoming nuptials, I turn to Mom and redirect her focus. “I put a couple casseroles in the freezer for you.”

“Oh, thank you. You know how much I love your cooking.” She giggles as Henry bites down on her shoulder and snakes a hand around her waist, tucking her back to his chest.

“Mmm. Thanks, sugar,” Henry says and I try not to sneer. Sugar? Really?

I shake off the weird feeling he’s giving me and try to gain Mom’s attention. “You’re welcome. Anyway, how are you doing on meds?”

“Great. That app you and Samuel put on my phone has been a life saver. Helps me remember what to take and when.”

Well, at least that’s good news. It’s also a huge relief to see her not panic at my mention of her meds in front of Henry. Hopefully that means she’s not hiding anything from him. “I’m glad to hear it. Do you need anything? I’m sorry I haven’t been by lately.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I know you’ve been busy.”

“Busy with Reed,” Henry says in a gruff voice.

“How’d you hear that?” I ask him at the same time Mom explodes out of his arms and into mine, “What? Are you two back together?”

“We can’t really be back together if we’ve never been together, Mom.”

“Oh, hush. You know as well as I do that boy has had your heart for over half your life. So are you? Together?”

“Yes. But, we’re taking things slow. He has a daughter, you know.”

“Taking things slow is screwing him every chance you get?” Henry snickers bitterly.

“Henry!” Mom shouts, appalled. Me, too.

And again. “How’d you hear that?”

---