Page 62 of Stay
I pause mid-sip of my Gatorade, waiting for her to continue. I’m almost afraid of what will come out of her mouth next.
“She said to tell you hello.”
Mom watches me carefully from beneath a thick fringe of lashes.
I force out a snort. “Did you tell her to go take a flying fu?—”
“Cole!” she snaps as her eyes widen. The knife she’s holding clatters against the granite.
I hunch my shoulders. “I’m old enough to swear, Mom. I do it all the time.” That’s a lie but not one she needs to know about.
“When you’re in my house, you’ll refrain from doing so.” She’s remains silent as she transfers the potatoes into the oven. “She’s living at home now.”
That means she’s right around the corner, only a block and a half up the street.
Jackie and I grew up together. We were best friends up until webegan dating at the end of our sophomore year in high school. When Dad died, she was my rock. We’d hold hands and sit in the tree house. She’d try to distract me from the fact that he was no longer with us.
A bad feeling settles in the pit of my gut.
“I have no interest in seeing her if that’s where all this is leading.” I slam down the plastic bottle with more force than necessary. A few orange drops of liquid slosh from the top of the container onto the granite. “That’s not where you’re going with this, right?”
A long silence stretches between us.
“You need to stay out of this,” I say with a grunt.
Jackie was like the daughter my mother never had. I can understand why she wants me to sweep everything under the rug and make nice, but that’s not going to happen.
The sooner she accepts that, the better off we’ll all be.
Now that the potatoes have been placed in the oven, she turns toward me before laying her palms flat on the counter so we end up at eye level.
“I think it would be good for both of you to sit down and talk. Closure can only help the situation. I hate what she did, but you were always such good friends.” She watches me silently before adding softly, “She lost the baby.”
Even though her words surprise me, I keep my face perfectly blank. I don’t want any outward emotion to be misconstrued as me caring about the bomb she just dropped.
“I already told you that I’m over it.”
“Obviously you aren’t, or you wouldn’t be reacting like this.”
Instead of snapping the way I want to, I suck in a steady breath before exhaling it.
“I’m totally over Jackie and what she did. I wish her all the best, but I have zero interest in seeing her or being friends with her. What we had is over.”
With a nod, she reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. “If that’s the case, I’m happy for you.” There’s a pause as she switches the topic. “Tell me about this new girl. How long have you been seeing her?”
As much as I don’t want to discuss Cassidy, it’s better than continuing to rehash Jackie. In order to avoid one conversation, I’m opting to discuss the other. “A couple of weeks.”
“And you like her?” she asks with genuine curiosity.
“I do.”
“Am I detectinga butin your voice?”
I give her a pointed look. “Nota but.”
I pause, carefully searching for the right word but it remains elusive. With a shake of my head, I give up. “Fine, a smallbut.”
“And what is this small, practically nonexistentbut?”
