Page 124 of Remiss
“You have a bad fucking habit of shaking Mom,” CJ said. Dad had done it out of anger for as long as CJ remembered. “But that shaking has fucking graduated.”
“Stop talking.”
“In the span of three and a half months, you’ve broken almost every fucking promise you ever made to Mom, and you wonder why she left? Why she won’t come back?”
Dad paled.
“That’s enough, CJ,” Diesel said sternly.
“Bitch, fuck you. That’sourmom. You should be defending her yourself.”
Diesel started for CJ. If Dad hadn’t snatched him, they would’ve been fucking fighting.
“I have never been so fucking disappointed in you in my fucking life, Dad,” CJ went on. “And you know who else is probably disappointed and fucking betrayed? Your wife.Mymother.”
“You disappointed in me?” Dad asked.
“Very,” CJ said honestly, hurt in more ways than one, wishing Mom had told him.
Dad sat heavily down. “I hurt her.”
“Not physically. Luckily,” CJ added darkly.
“I told her I’m sorry.”
“That’s not good enough, Dad,” CJ said. “You have to prove it to her and mean it.” He glanced at Diesel. “We all do.”
“I…you think she’ll like it if I take her to the cabin?” Dad looked at Diesel. “I need you to run an errand for me tomorrow. Pick up a piece of jewelry for your ma. You got any urgent cases?”
“No, Uncle Chris. I can rearrange my schedule.”
“I think she’s staying away because she’s thought about divorcing you, Dad,” CJ said dully.
Dad bowed his head. “That’s my thought too.”
“Get your fucking head on straight,” CJ urged. “This isn’t a joke anymore. Our lives are at a critical point.”
“I know, son.”
After packing all her new clothes in a new suitcase, Kendall made her way to the breakfast room, where the saving grace in the black and white scheme was the bank of windows with a magnificent tree-lined view and emerald-green grass. The vista screamed Southern California.
Biscuits, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, summer sausage, and pancakes were already laid out on the sideboard, next to carafes of coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice.
Kendall swiped a biscuit and bit into it, smiling at the warm flakiness and searching for butter. She was just about to head to the kitchen when Meggie walked in.
Frowning at how drawn and pale she looked, Kendall finished chewing. “What’s wrong, honey?”
“I’m leaving with everyone else,” she said crisply, although the crease in her brow and tight lips revealed how upset she was. “I have no reason to stay here.”
“To see Rule,” Kendall reminded her.
“No,” Meggie said bitterly. “Father Wilkins won’t let me. I don’t deserve to see him.”
Biting her lip to remain silent, Kendall nodded, then held up her biscuit. “I need butter. Whoever prepared breakfast forgot to put it out.”
“It’s Bailey’s staff. I told Roxy to call them in. Even if I’d stayed, Rebel and I were checking into a hotel in Beverly Hills.”
“Does Rebel know you’ve changed your mind?”
