Page 6 of Axe Backwards
Once the big pieces had been disposed of and I’d swept up the shards of wood, she blocked off the door.
After we put everything away, I headed back to the bay window where my mother was entertaining my daughter, who was currently mouthing on a chocolate chip cookie the size of her face.
“Seriously? It’s nine a.m.”
With a casual shrug, my mother brought her maple latte to her lips. “I did what I had to do to keep her calm while you went off to be a hero. Who could resist this face?”
She squeezed Tess’s cheek, making her giggle.
“Yeah, yeah.” I slid into my seat and sipped my now cold coffee. “You enjoy spoiling her.”
Smiling wide, she bounced Tess on her knee. “Of course I do. I did my time parenting you six hooligans. Now I get to spoil the grandbabies and do what I want.”
She loved being a grandma, and when I arrived with Tess in tow, she jumped right in to help. My niece Merry had been theonly grandchild for more than a decade, but these days there was a Hebert baby boom. Finn’s son Thor was only a month older than Tess and Gus’s daughter Simone had arrived two weeks ago. Debbie Hebert had definitely found her purpose in spoiling her grandkids.
“Now, I want to—”
“Mom.” I held up a hand. “I love you, but no.”
“I have so much room.” She pleaded.
“Our apartment is great. We’ve got everything we need. I appreciate all your help, but I’m doing this myself.”
Despite what I kept telling her, the apartment wasn’t actually all that great. Or particularly spacious. But it was good enough for now. My older brother Finn had lived there for a while after he was discharged from the Navy, so he’d helped connect me with the landlord.
Tess and I were still getting settled, but we’d be comfortable. I loved my mom, but I hadn’t lived with her since high school, and being back in this town was hard enough without sleeping in my childhood bedroom.
My world had imploded last year, upending every single part of my life. And while I was scared shitless, I was determined to figure it out.
So space was necessary.
“And you’re sure you’re okay?”
I nodded, patting her hand.
“Please know that you’re always welcome. It’s still your home. Hell, I only got Cole out six months ago.”
My chest pinched at the affection in her teasing tone. In addition to mothering her five sons, my mom had also let my half brother move in after he was injured and his pro hockey career ended.
Cole was the product of an affair between my father and his assistant. When Tammi got pregnant, my dad left us to marryher. Yet my mom had been more of a parent to Cole than either of his biological parents ever were.
That was the essence of Debbie Hebert right there. Total saint.
And one of the many reasons why, after the legal custody stuff was finalized in California, I headed east. For more than a decade, I’d wanted nothing to do with this town, but I was a dad now, and I knew Tess would be surrounded by love here.
Given what she’d been through, all the trauma and the loss of her parents, the least I could do was give her as much love as I could find.
Eager to move on to a topic that did not include our living situation, I cleared my throat.
“Mom, that woman in the bathroom. Victoria Randolph?”
She nodded, her smile bright, while Tess smeared cookie drool on the table. Good thing I never left the house without wipes. It was one of those dad lessons I’d learned the hard way.
I took advantage of her distraction and took the rest of the giant cookie away.
My girl was sharp, though, and immediately shrieked while violently pushing her fingertips together, the sign for“more.”
I shook my hands out, responding with a sign of my own. “All done.”
