Page 42 of Ruined
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“This is ridiculous.”
With my hands planted on my hips, I stared at the array of clothes spread out on the bed in front of me.It’snot a date, why are you concerned with your appearance?I’d been trying to figure that out for the last hour. This wasn’t normal at all. Usually, I’d find the outfit that showed the most amount of skin while still leaving something to the imagination…Today was different, though. I didn’t know why but I wanted to look different…to be different.
Five outfits later, I still wasn’t any closer to an answer.
Every time I managed to convince myself that he’d only invited me over because Molly asked him to, my entire body would remind me of the feel of his mouth against mine or the heat in his eyes. Closing mine, I had to stifle a sigh as the memory washed over me.
My eyes flew open as my cellphone buzzed to life, nearly giving me a heart attack in the process. With my palm pressed against my chest, I stalked toward the ringing device on the nightstand.
“Hi, sweetpea.” my mother’s soft voice filtered through the instant the line connected.
There was something about hearing my mom’s voice that had my lips lifting into a smile. “Mom, so good to hear your voice.”
“Are you enjoying your visit with Kenzie?” I’d informed her of my whereabouts when I’d arrived in town a couple of days ago. Damn, had it really only been a few days? It certainly felt like I’d been here a lot longer.
“I am.”
Mom took a deep breath. “That’s good, sweetpea, that’s good.”
It alarmed me that she sounded even more exhausted than usual. “Mom, are you all right?”
“Oh my child, I didn’t phone you to complain…tell me about you. How’s everything at the gallery?”
A pang of guilt sliced through me. My parents didn’t know about John or that the gallery had burned down. I knew if they did a quick search on the internet, they’d find out about it and that would probably hurt them more.
The only problem was I wasn’t ready to add my name to my parents’ list of worries.
“I can tell something is bothering you. Is it Adam?” I felt bad for deflecting, but in my mind I had no other choice.
My mother’s voice cracked. “I understand that he’s going through his own version of hell right now, but why won’t he let us help him? Parents aren’t supposed to watch their children suffer. Our hearts weren’t made to handle that.” She sniffled softly, I had to swallow down the emotion that threatened to break free. “And we miss you.”
That thing inside my squeezed causing my breath to hitch. “I’m sorry, Mom. I know I have been a bit distant lately, but the truth is—” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “—my gallery…it burned down.” The words just came out. It wasn’t lost on me how much lighter I felt now that they were out in the open.
“Zoe, no! Where were you when this happened? Do you have insurance? Are you okay? Do you—”
“Mom,” I interrupted her rapid fire questions. “I’m fine.” I paused for a few moments to let my words sink in before I continued. “Everything is being taken care of.”
Nothing but silence filtered through the line for what felt like forever but were probably just a few seconds. “When?”
That one-word question was laced with so much hurt, I knew she already had her answer. She just needed me to confirm it. “The day before I came to Kenzie.” I thought I’d felt ashamed before, that was nothing compared to the feelings that spread through me when the sound of my mom crying reached my ears.
“I’m sorry,” I said again. “I didn’t want to add to all your worries. I know how rough things with Adam has been.”
“You could never burden us, Zoe. We love you. We care about you. That we worry goes without saying.”
“Mom, I—”
“No!” Gone was the sadness, in its place the loving sternness that only a mother could possess. “It hurts more when you shut us out. We might not be able to fix everything, but we can comfort you. Just be there for you.”
I couldn’t speak, tears were streaming down my cheeks while I tried to catch the breath that had been knocked out of me. I pressed the phone tighter against my ear wishing my mom could reach through the line and hug me tight.
“We love you so much, sweetpea.”
After sucking in a few ragged breaths, I finally gained some composure. “Forgive me?”
“Oh, my sweet Zoe, there’s nothing to forgive.”
