Where We Meet Again, стр. 32
My stomach twists into knots, and bile immediately rushes into my throat. Those aren’t words I ever expected Law to say to me, and the effect of them has me fighting the urge to double over. Sweat beads and trickles down my spine.
“I’ve been fucked up a long time, Cami. Working through that has been a lot harder than I thought. I’ve been pissed for a lot of years and dealt with that anger by being a dick. It’s not right to throw my issues at you repeatedly. I’m sorry for that.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Was going to ask if you were up to coming with, but I can see now you’re all taken care of here.” He shifts his body to throw a glance at Nathan.
“Law… I… The timing…” I glance down the hall to where I know Evelyn waits, upset about something that needs my attention. And right now, I think seeing her will bring more comfort to me than her.
He jerks his head. “She needs you. Take care of yourself, and maybe we’ll run into one another when I’m back in town.”
Seconds tick by as I hesitate in the doorway, balancing on crutches with one hand on the doorknob. Law removes the final decision for me when he jogs back down my steps.
“Goodbye, Law,” I whisper to myself as the front door closes with a concluding bang. Then I shuffle to the living room, where I know my daughter waits buried beneath a mountain of blankets.
12
Everything hurts. From my head to my toes, I’m a cramped, achy mess. Evelyn and I have laughed and cried so many times I’ve lost count. Law’s news conjured every emotion in the book. Sadness, anger, hurt, pain, relief, fear, weariness. And when I look at my daughter, the tears well up all over again.
While I was getting my foot checked out, my poor child experienced her first taste of that all-consuming heartbreak when someone leaves.
Or in the case of a fourteen-year-old, her first real crush breaking her heart.
I thought I wasn’t ready for this, dealing with my daughter and boys. Maybe it’s Law’s reappearance or the fact I’m normally an emotional mess, but I found talking about love and boys with her to be ridiculously cathartic.
I text both Law and Nathan as soon as appropriate to tell them all is well in our world. The way Evelyn screamed into the night would have scared most into believing something horrible had happened. I don’t know where I stand with either of these men, but I don’t want them thinking the worst.
Law responds with good to hear. Nathan says, appreciate you letting me know you girls are all right. Get some ice on that foot and go to sleep. See you tomorrow.
Night. And. Day.
A giant scoop of salted caramel gelato balances on my spoon in front of my mouth. Evelyn and I are eating it straight from the carton. Teaching her to eat her emotions isn’t the best idea, but when she wouldn’t stop crying about this Dean boy I hadn’t heard of before today, I panicked.
“So, when you go to school tomorrow, don’t even give Dean a second of your attention.” I circle the spoon wide between us, and the ice cream slides across my spoon. “I mean, don’t even look at him. Be cool. No, wait. What I mean is be yourself. Don’t make a big scene.”
Don’t do exactly what I did when Law broke my heart. I wish I could tell her that in detail. Someday, I’ll tell her everything. When she hears my story, she’ll have to hear all the gory details, including the identity of her actual father. I can hardly admit it to myself.
“Mom.” She sighs and drops her spoon with a thud into the carton. “Dean’s not even the reason I’m so upset. I mean, he is since he said yes to being my boyfriend but then dumped me the next day. But he’s not the whole reason. It’s that Casey betrayed me. How can my best friend leave me for the boy she knew I had a crush on?” Her face crumbles as she goes on, and my heart damn near breaks all over again.
“I thought Maggie was your best friend?”
“No, I haven’t been best friends with Maggie since the summer ended and she started hanging out with Kate.” The attitude I know so well peeks out.
“Ah, I remember now.” I shove another spoonful in my mouth. So, maybe I’m not so good at this stuff. Good or not, it feels great to have this conversation with my daughter. With it being just the two of us, I’ve made it my mission to be as open and honest with her as I can be, and to keep her open and honest with me.
I swallow the cold deliciousness, and after licking my spoon clean, I set it on the coffee table. Leaning forward, I take each of Evelyn’s hands in mine.
“I know it sucks, baby. Even more so because it’s a part of life. You’re going to encounter many people who only care about themselves and will push others out of the way to get what they want. It doesn’t sound like Casey was thinking about your friendship very much, and for that, I’m sorry. I hope the next time someone lets you down so deeply, it doesn’t hurt as bad as this.”
“And when you see her tomorrow, you have a couple options. One, you can confront her. That is your right to let her know she hurt you, and that she wasn’t being a very good friend. Or, number two, you can smile when she walks passed you, and not let her know that she made you sad. Many people think standing up for yourself means using your words. I don’t think that’s true. Sometimes, we can stand up to our enemies by showing them they didn’t hurt us like