Page 112 of Make Me Trust Again
“Nana!”Kyle greets as he runs into the kitchen, wrapping his arms around my mother’s waist for a quick hug.
Mom returns Kyle’s embrace, her gaze meeting mine over the top of his head.“Well, somebody’s in a good mood today.”
The corner of my mouth lifts upward as I lean against the counter. “That’s one way of putting it.”
“Oh, some mail came for you here. I put it on the counter, so I don’t forget to give it to you.” Mom points at the few envelopes sitting beside me.
“Thanks, Mom. I should really change that address.”
“It’s not a problem. You should wait until you get something more permanent anyway.”
More permanent?
I don’t get a chance to point out that this is permanent before Kyle draws our attention.
“Nana!”Kyle bounces impatiently on the balls of his feet.“Guess what I did the other day?”
He’s been so excited since he went to the shelter with Chase. It’s been the only thing he’s talk about for the last few days.
“What did you do?”Mom plays along.
“Chase took me to an animal shelter.”
Mom blinks a few times, clearly surprised by the answer.“Oh.” She pretends to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, although there isn’t one hair out of place, some of that cheerful attitude disappearing immediately, but she quickly schools her features. “Did you now?”
“Yes, it was the best. We?—”
Kyle continues telling her about the shelter and Duke, and how he got to train him, and Mom listens to all of it carefully, but I don’t miss the frown that’s etched between her brows, deepening the more Kyle talks.
“Hey, Kyle, why don’t you go grab your backpack and take it to your room, huh?”I ask gently before he can go into even more details.
“Fine. Are you leaving?”
“In a little bit, but I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay, love you, Mom.”
“Love you more.”
He gives me a quick hug before taking his backpack from my hand and running out of the room. The silence settles over the space, making my shoulders tense. I can feel Mom’s gaze probing the side of my face. I tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear and clear my throat. “I?—”
“You left him alone with that man?”
Well, that didn’t take long.
“Mom…” Sighing, I turn toward her, but she cuts me off.
“Do you really think it’s safe to leave Kyle with that man? He seems like he isn’t?—”
“That man,as you like to call him,” I say through clenched teeth, done with her talking about Chase like he’s some kind of bad guy here, “jumped in when I needed him because John ditched Kyle without a word of explanation or a phone call.”
Mom tsks. “I’m sure he was busy with work, Rose. You really need to give him a break?—”
“Do you even hear yourself? It was his weekend, Mom! A weekend thatheinsisted he wanted with our son. And he didn’t bother showing up.”
“He’s a busy man, Rose. He told us all about the dealership and the problems he had there when he showed up for dinner last week.”
My fingers curl into fists by my sides. I’m so sick of this, so sick of always being the bad guy. Sick that even though I’m divorcing John, my parents think that it’s a good idea to invite him over for dinner. “Did he also tell you that he didn’t call Kyle to wish him a happy birthday? Or bothered to show up to do it in person? Oh, wait, he was ‘busy,’ right?”
