Page 115 of Wood Riddance
“Owen is coming to town?” she asked, her eyes lighting up.
“No. Sorry.”
Her face instantly fell. Shit. I hated seeing her upset. Owen never visited. He was always thrilled to host us in Boston, but he hadn’t been back for a few years.
“He’s meeting me in Bangor.”
She remained silent, though her demeanor was noticeably more subdued. So I dove into my plans and gave her a play-by-play of my chance meeting with Susan Stephens.
“I’m thrilled, sweetie.” She dropped into the chair across from me. “But what aren’t you telling me?” She sat back and crossed her arms, waiting.
See? Ninja skills. And she’d always had the ability to see the things I kept close to the vest. I couldn’t stop myself then. It all started to spill out of me.
“I’m in love,” I said softly. “She’s the one.”
Mom clasped her hands in front of her chest. “That’s wonderful, Finn. I want to meet her.”
My heart thumped hard against my ribcage. Was I really going to do this? Open up to my mom about her? “You already have, sort of. It’s Adele Gagnon.”
She pressed her palms to the tabletop and blinked at me, frozen in place. At a loss for how to respond to her reaction, I sat there, letting it sink in, for once forcing myself to be still.
“I’m happy for you,” she said slowly. “Is this public knowledge?”
I shook my head. “Not right now, but soon. I’ll bring her here and you can get to know her. She’s incredible, Mom.”
She patted my hand and smiled softly, but trepidation swirled in her eyes. “Then I’m thrilled for you. Do your brothers know?”
Scratching at the stubble on my cheek, I dipped my chin. “You’re the only one.”
She smiled and dragged her thumb and forefinger across her mouth like she was zipping her lips. “I won’t tell a soul until you’re ready.”
“Thank you.”
“Have you spoken to Cole?”
My stomach twisted at the mention of my baby brother. “No.” I could have made any number of excuses as to why, but the truth was I didn’t have the energy to deal with him at the moment. I didn’t dislike Cole, but he and I had nothing in common. The life he lived and mine were worlds apart. He was a man-child living like a frat boy on Dad’s dime while squandering all his God-given talent. I was a father and a veteran, and I was busting my ass night and day so I could start a small business.
I wished him well, I did, but that didn’t mean we would ever be close.
“His career is over,” my mom said, her shoulders slumping. “I offered him a room here while he gets back on his feet.”
“Mom! Why?”
She pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes at me. “He might not be my blood, but I love him like he is. And right now, he’s struggling.”
“He’ll be fine, Mom.” I waved her off. Cole had no one to blame but himself.
“Finn Hebert, I raised you better. We open our hearts and our homes to those in need. The poor boy hasn’t had an easy life.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. It would offend my mom, and that was the last thing I wanted to do. As a kid, it had been easy to blame Cole for breaking up our family, but my mother never let us. She worked hard to cultivate relationships between all of us. Cole had hardly had a tough life. He was a spoiled brat who my dad doted on. He’d never wanted for anything material.
Yes, his mom was awful. Hence the reason he spent a lot of time at my mother’s house when he was a kid. Tammi had been my dad’s secretary and hadn’t been interested in raising a child, especially any time Cole became an inconvenience to her ideal trophy-wife life.
Where my mom packed lunches, took care of us when we were sick, and helped us with homework, Tammi ignored Cole. He had every toy, video game, and expensive piece of sports equipment, but he’d never opened a lunchbox and found a corny note from his mother or had someone to sit down and study spelling words with. In high school, when he was a standout with a shot at a college scholarship, Tammi never even bothered going to his games.
My mom did, though. She cheered him on and supported him the whole way through.
“You forget how lucky you are,” she said. “And Cole needs family.”
