Page 93 of Until Tomorrow Comes
I raise a brow at Thea, glancing between her and Kat. “Tea talk? Neither of you drink tea.”
Kat laughs, pushing to her tiptoes and places a kiss on my cheek while Thea rolls her eyes at me. Shaking her head with a smile and moving toward the paper bag she set on the counter earlier.
“I know you’re older than us, but you’re notthatold Jack!” She lifts two bottles of white wine out of the bag and holds them up on either side of her face with a smile. “Tea time isn’t fordrinkingtea, it’s for spillingthetea while drinking.”
My brows furrow and before I can tell them that I’m still not understanding, Kat wraps her arms around my neck. Hugging me tightly from the side, she quietly fills me in.
“It means gossiping.”
“Gotcha.” I nod, adjusting the box to one arm so I can hug her to my side and kiss the top of her head. “Well then, that’s my cue to leave.”
“I’ll grab the door for you and walk you out.”
She walks ahead of me, grabbing my keys off the hook and opening the door for me. I curse when she stops dead in her tracks, narrowly avoiding colliding into her.
“Whoa there, Kitten. I almost…” I trail off when I see the reason she stopped.
Standing at my front door, her hand outstretched toward my doorbell, is my mom. She stays frozen for an awkward moment, eyes bouncing between Kat and I before she catches herself. Clearing her throat and lowering her hand, she fidgets with her car keys.
Kat takes a step to the side, glancing up at me while chewing on her bottom lip.
“Whatcha doin’ here, Ma?” I question, shifting the box in my hands and stepping out to the porch.
My mom looks between the two of us again, then down to the box in my hand.
“I felt like we needed to talk.” She checks over her shoulder toward my truck. “Donation drop off time?”
I stiffly nod my head in response. We haven’t talked since the wedding, outside of a text she sent me the next day apologizing.
Only she didn’t apologize for what she said or who she said it to. She only apologized for the fact that I overheard her. Which was something I pointed out when I responded asking her to give me some time.
Turning my attention back to Kat, I offer her a smile.
“I’ll be back around dinner time, but don’t wait on me if you two get hungry.” Considering they’re drinking, I have no doubt that her and Thea will be ordering food in the next couple hours.
Kat flashes me a smile, closing the distance and placing my keys on top of the box in my hands. Kissing my cheek, she pulls back and holds my gaze.
“There’s a high chance that you will come home to pizza.” She laughs before turning to offer my mom a polite smile. “Have a good day, Linda.”
With that, Kat turns to head back inside. I wait to hear the sound of the lock clicking into place before facing my mom again.
“I was on my way out, can this wait?”
Not waiting for her response, I head toward my truck and she follows after me.
“I only need a couple minutes, Jackson. I just…” She trails off. I load the final box into my truck and turn to face her.
“Ma, I love you, but I don’t have the energy to sort through your non-apologies and defenses.”
She shakes her head, eyes pleading with me. I half expect her to start crying or beg me to just hug it out, so when she stays in place, it makes me pause.
“Just… can I say one thing?” She asks quietly and maybe it’s the fact that she’s kept a distance this entire time. Or that she hasn’t started going off on a loud rant. She sucks in a deep breath, lowering her gaze to her feet as she talks.
“I’m sorry for being selfish. I had no right to pressure you to come to your brother’s wedding and I was incredibly wrong for saying what I did to Kat.” She pauses, sucking in a deep breath, probably giving me a chance to stop her, but she has effectively rendered me speechless.
“I was so focused on wanting everything to be… normal again, that I ignored your feelings. It wasn’t fair of me to try and force you to face Todd and Molly, or the baby. I hate that they hurt you the way they did, but it’s not up to me to say what the acceptable amount of time is for you to heal. As much as I want my babies to get along again, I know that’s not something I can force.”
She finally looks at me, tears lining her eyes while she speaks. “I’m sorry for not being there for you while you were hurting. Ignoring the pain doesn’t make it go away and I should have been better at supporting you.”
