Page 104 of Without You

Mr. Redding turns his eyes to me. “Katie?”

I nod and hold out my hand. “Hi, Mr. Redding.”

He takes it, cups mine with his other hand as well so it’s incased in his warmth. “Call me Gil, Katie.”

“Gil.”

“Now. What’s happening? Who’s my son yelling at?”

Chad clears his throat and explains, “Chase Stanton, sir.”

His eyes widen to comical levels. “He’s not holding back.”

“Nope, I suppose he’s not,” Johnny says.

“You know everything that happened, sir?” Chad asks.

“Boy. Stop calling me sir. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“He’s a good southern boy,” Johnny teases.

“I’ve not seen anything,” he says, pointedly looking at me, “but yes, I’ve been made aware.”

“Sir… I mean, Gil, is it possible that Phoebe had anything to do with this?” I ask, speaking of Brody’s mother.

“She’s the one who called me to let me know. Brody think she does?” he asks me.

“It’s a theory, yeah.”

Chad speaks up for all of us. “B went over there to help her with her washing machine and she said she’d been having lunch with Hannah. The person who uploaded the video has Hannah’s initials. I’m not sure Phoebe actually had a hand in what happened, but I have a feeling she told Hannah that Brody and Katie are seeing each other and instead of acting like a rational person, Hannah chose the opposite.”

Gil blows out a breath. “That damn woman. She can’t just leave well enough alone.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, she tried to be a good mother. She really did. But her addiction always got in the way. Her shoplifting addiction is actually what she does to cope with how she grew up. She was a model parent compared to what she grew up with. They didn’t pay attention to her. She started stealing little things here and there when she was only eleven. Therapy taught her it was an effort to be noticed. She didn’t need to keep it up, but she did. It took over her life, as you all know. So now, she clings to shit from the past to fix for Brody since she wasn’t there for him. She has it in her head that he’s upset over Hannah and his breakup. Nothing we tell her will make her think otherwise.”

That actually makes a lot of sense. “So she kind of picks and chooses points where she feels she dropped the ball on being a mother and tries to fix it?”

“Exactly. Even though Hannah is married and he’s happier than he’s ever been with you.”

I blush at his praise. “That’s really nice of you to say.”

“It’s the truth.” He shrugs and cracks his knuckles as if he’s getting down to work. “Let’s figure this out. What’s online that we need to worry about? How do we get it down?”

I look at Johnny and he scratches the back of his head. “If you haven’t looked, it’d probably better for you not to. Someone recorded Katie and Brody together earlier tonight and got it uploaded quickly, like they knew who to send that shit to.”

“What do you mean it was them together?”

“Together, together,” Chad explains and I could die right on the spot. I know my face is flaming red and I am mortified. I might as well have sent my boyfriend’s father a topless picture.

“Oh. Ohhhh. I see,” Gil says, cringing. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“Thank you.”

The door opens again, feeling a bit like it’s been revolving since I got here, and once again Brody walks in. Not looking any happier than when he left.

I rush to his side, hugging him before stepping back. He doesn’t let me get far, though, holding my hand and tucking me against his side.

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