Page 100 of Edge of Heaven

“Thank you,” I whisper. “For everything.”

“I know you don’t have a lot of experience with this, but this is what besties do. And don’t be too hard on Mick—he’s bent over backwards to be the man you need.”

“What does that mean?”

“Gotta run! Love you!” She grabs her suitcase and a moment later I’m alone.

I don’t even know what to do with this new development.

Why is my mother here? And what did Mick have to do with it?

I should reach out to him but I honestly don’t know what to say.

I’ve taken the last few days to just…be. I’ve checked in with Toby, of course, but beyond that, I needed to disconnect from almost everything. I stayed away from social media, the news, and even people like Stevie and Chey, though I did tell everyone I was taking a few days to recuperate.

Now it feels like I’ve missed a lot.

The knock on the door brings me back to the present and I open it slowly.

“Mom.”

“Hi, honey.” She comes in dragging a small carry-on suitcase with her. She hugs me for a moment, and we just stare at each other for a beat. Maybe longer.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, your friend Mick and I had some very enlightening conversations, and he suggested I come here to get you since Ryleigh said you weren’t strong enough to travel on your own yet.”

“You…what?” I squint in confusion. “When did you talk to Mick?Howdid you talk to Mick?”

“He came to L.A.”

“He what?”

“Let’s sit down, sweetie.” She sinks into a chair and I ease myself into another.

“I need to know everything,” I say finally.

“First, I owe you an apology.” She seems tired and I feel a twinge of guilt about how much our relationship has devolved in the last few months.

“You don’t—” I begin.

“No, I do.” She hesitates. “I guess maybe I didn’t want to think about what was going on with you and Callum.”

“But Itoldyou,” I say in frustration.

“I was stressed about Toby, burning the candle at both ends taking care of him, working, homeschooling…I convinced myself that even though you were breaking up with Callum before this all started, that he was your boyfriend and you’d simply been arguing or whatever. Normal relationship stuff. I never really listened when you talked about how hard it was, how verbally and emotionally abusive he was. I figured you were…exaggerating.” She shakes her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t?—”

“We both had a lot on our plates,” I say magnanimously. It feels good to hear her acknowledge my sacrifice so there’s no need to make her feel any worse. She was under a lot of pressure too, just in a different way.

“I didn’t know he hit you!” She bursts out crying, sobbing into her hands and I reach for her arm.

“Mom, it hurts too much to hug you. Please don’t cry. I did it for Toby. And I’d do it all over again. You have to know that.”

“I didn’t know! I could have taken out a small loan, from my 401K—not for all of it, but you weren’t willing to get a regular job and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t even suggest it because at first I was stressed and panicking. And by the time I realized, you were already back with Callum and the bills were being paid. I thought…I am so sorry. I didn’t expect you to do—that.”

“He’s my son. I’d do anything for him. Even though I haven’t been a good mom, I’m trying to be.”

“You were sixteen!” she says through her tears. “Of course you weren’t a good mom. You were a kid. Your dad and I were happy to take him, raise him, help you finish growing up without that burden. If he hadn’t died things would have been different. But I was grieving, totally unprepared to be a single mom in my forties.”

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