Page 128 of The Persistence of Thornes
I step out into the hall and quickly find a quiet corner, sliding my thumb over the screen before the call goes to voicemail.
“Hello?”
“You are alive? I was getting worried.”
Biting back a groan, I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Yes, alive and well.”
“So, just ignoring me, then?”
“I wasn’t ignoring you.”I definitely was. “I’ve been busy with work.”
“Clearly if you’re too busy to answer when your parents call. I worry about you, you know? You may be grown, but I’m still your mother.”
She’s laying it on real thick. I’m not surprised. “Do you need something, Mom?”
Her sigh gusts over the line. “Why must I need something to call my son? Maybe I just wanted to hear your voice,” she argues, her tone high-pitched and haughty. “But yes, I called to ask if you’d come for Thanksgiving dinner?—”
“I have plans, but thanks. I’ll be spending the day with my daughter, like usual.”
This sigh is laced with disapproval and annoyance. “Caleb, she’s not?—”
“Sheismy daughter,” I hiss.
We’ve been having this conversation for years. It’s disgusting. For a long time, Salem didn’t want anyone to know that Seda was Thayer’s child, and I was fine with claiming her as mine, because sheismy daughter in all the ways that matter. But since the truth came out, my parents have been dead set on convincing me to cut ties. Like blood has anything to do with the love I have for my child.
“I will not continue to have this asinine conversation with you.”
“I just don’t understand?—”
Anger rushes through me, hot and vicious. “You don’t have to understand.”
“Is it so wrong to want to spend Thanksgiving with my son?”
“Yes,” I snap. “It is when you insist on denying my daughter. I spend my holidays with her now. I’ve told you before, you’re welcome to come to Salem?—”
“I will do no such thing.” She scoffs, as if my suggestion is preposterous.
Defeated, I slump against the wall. “Then I don’t know what to tell you.” I scrub a hand over my face. I’m so tired of having this argument with her. Why the hell can’t she accept Seda as my daughter? Love and family are about so much more than DNA.
“Perhaps,” she hedges, “your father and I will stop by after we have our own Thanksgiving meal, since you won’t join us.”
Somehow, she makes it sound likeI’mthe one being unreasonable.
I bite back another retort. “Sure, sounds great.”
Sounds more like torture, but whatever. I can’t avoid my parents forever.
The line grows quiet, but I know her well enough to know she’s not done, so I wait.
“What is this I hear about a girl and her kids living with you?”
Stomach twisting, I drop my head back against the wall. Keeping the situation from my parents has nothing to do with shame. I haven’t talked to them about Halle because I know my mom will find some way to spin the situation.
“My neighbor and her brothers are staying with me, yes.” But she knows that already. The people of this townare nosy. By now, everyone knows that they’re siblings. “Their house flooded and the flooring has to be repaired. I offered them a place to stay.” Again, it’s not shame that keeps me from telling my mom that Halle and I are… what we are. I keep it to myself because I can guarantee she’ll try to sabotage the relationship. “That’s all.”
She makes a displeased sound, a cross between anmhmand awell. “Did her insurance not provide her with money for temporary housing?”
“It provided some, but not enough to cover a place for an extended period, and I have a big empty house. Why wouldn’t I offer it up?”
