Page 144 of Outcast
She couldn’t hide her sadness, though. I knew it wasn’t about me being with men, specifically. Mom was open-minded. But Allison was like a daughter to her, and I’d taken that away.
I knew it was right for me to break out of this mold, to live my own life, but my heart ached for her. Letting go of the urge to make my mom happy at any cost was really hard.
Gray came through the sliding door as I reached it, the bowl of cobbler in his big hands. “I got it. I love this stuff.”
Mom brightened. “Really? That’s something you and Emory have in common, then.”
“Um, Mom…”
“What?”
I hesitated, palms growing clammy. Why was it still so hard to do this? “That was Adam’s favorite, actually. I just kind of…ate it.”
Her eyes widened. “No! I would have remembered that. And all these years, you’ve been…” She trailed off. “You don’t like it?”
My heart dropped at her hurt tone, and I had to fight the urge to claw back the words. To tell her I was just kidding. I loved cherry cobbler, really!
“It’s my fault,” I said. “You were always so happy to make it for me, and you put so much love into it.” I shrugged helplessly. “I didn’t want to ruin that.”
“Oh, hon.” She shook her head and patted my cheek. “You’ve got to stop doing that.”
“I’m working on it.”
She smiled. “Good. More for Gray, then.” She paused, eyes narrowing. “Assuming you’re not just saying that to please me?”
“I gave up on pleasing other people a long time ago,” Gray said with a chuckle. “I’ll happily gobble it down.”
“Good! If you’re going to be part of the family, we need to start on the right foot. Full honesty from now on.” She caught my dad’s arm as he passed by. “Don’t you agree, Jim?”
He looked baffled. He probably hadn’t even heard the conversation. But like any good husband of twenty-plus years, he nodded and smiled. “Of course.”
We finished setting the table, and everyone crowded onto the bench seating. Grandpa was across from me and Gray, along with cousin Shayla and her mom—my mom’s sister—while Allison and Matteo sat down beside us. Dad was on a stool next to the grill, still finishing up some meat, while Mom fluttered around the table, making sure we all had napkins and utensils because none of us was adult enough to handle it, apparently.
Grandpa leaned forward and patted my arm. “I better not see you eat a bite of that cobbler.”
I chuckled. “I won’t. I told Mom.”
“Good man. You’re getting there.”
“Baby steps, right?”
Gray put his hand on my thigh, giving me a supportive squeeze. “You’ve got this. All in good time.”
Mom gave Allison and Matteo a couple of wistful looks, but she smiled fondly at me and Gray too, so I knew that this would take her some time too, but she was trying just like I was.
“So, there’s a fundraising gala next Wednesday, and I put your name down for it months ago, Emory,” Dad said. “Allison, I assume you’ll be there too?”
“Sure will,” Allison said. “We want to expand our grants to a community emergency resource so we can do more to help people like Brenda Morrison at Jerkers.”
That was a great idea. I loved helping Brenda, but the bank only had so much it could offer people in those situations. One reason Ihateddealing with foreclosures. Usually, it was far too late to make a difference in people’s lives.
“The foundation should partner with the bank,” Shayla suggested. “Maybe we could help people before they’re in crisis.”
“That’s a great idea,” Dad said, sounding impressed. “Emory, you should work something up for me.”
Shayla’s face fell. I hesitated. “Maybe Shayla could work on that. It was her idea.”
Dad hummed. “Well, work on it together, if you like, but you’re the VP?—”
