Page 58 of Dash

“Bunny…” She calls me by my childhood nickname, which tells me just how upset she truly is. “How can you say that?” She removes her hand from the side of my head and gently runs her fingertip over the stitches placed above my eyebrow. I flinch even though it didn’t hurt.

She leans back on her heels and lowers her hands to her lap. “I just don’t understand,” she says softly. “I thought you were happy with him? Was he…Had he been hurting you this entire time?” Her bottom lip starts to tremble, and I hate that my mom and I aren’t closer. I love her to death, but I have always been a daddy’s girl. Mainly because my mother was always the one to tell me that I couldn’t do something. My father only knew the word yes.

“No,” I lie, and she lets out a long breath as if she doesn’t believe me. “It wasn’t all bad,” I try to reassure her. “I…we…” I shake my head. “I think he only hurt me because of Dash,” I say, trying to explain it to her without telling her too much about my and Rodger’s relationship. But Dash, I’ll tell her everything about him.

“Your father filled me in on him as well. And I think we need to talk about him as well,” she says, straightening her back and hardening her beautiful features. She’s giving me her business face. And I understand why. Dash rides for my father. Well, did. I just cost them their prized racer.

She stands, and I can’t help but laugh at the water that drenches her pants from where she kneeled in it on my floor. She looks down and lets out a little laugh, too. “Finish up in here and then come down to talk to me.” She leans over and gives me a soft kiss on my temple then turns and walks out, closing the door behind her.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath before I place my face under the water.

***

After finishing up, I got dressed in a pair of comfy shorts and a tank top. I make my way down the stairs and into the long hallway. I peek into my father’s office to see if he’s in there, but it’s empty. I continue down the hallway and hear my mother in the kitchen. I walk in and sit down at the table when she turns around and sees me. She smiles as she walks over and sets down a cup. I look down into it, and it looks nothing like coffee. I frown.

“It’s wine,” she says, sitting down across from me with a cup of her own.

“In a coffee cup?” I ask.

She shrugs. “We don’t have a wine glass big enough to accommodate the kind of day you have had,” she says simply, and I agree with her. No amount of wine could fix what happened last night.

“Where’s Dad?” I ask as I lift the cup and take a sip.

“The police station.”

“Why?”

She sets her cup down and leans back in her chair getting comfortable. “He’s still up there with Erik. Guess he had to give a statement and is pressing charges against Rodger. And your father informed me that he had some begging to do.” I guess she means my father needing to get Dash back on the team.

It’s so weird to hear my mom call him Erik. As if she’s talking about someone I don’t know. But how well do I really know Dash?

“Tabatha?”

I look back up at her and she gives me a soft smile. “You love him.” It’s not a question.

“I don’t know him.” I tell her how I feel.

“You don’t need to know someone to love them,” she says with a shrug. “I loved your father before I knew him.”

“That sounds crazy when you say it like that.” How can you love someone you don’t know?

“I met your father at a young age,” she starts. “He was so attractive,” she says with a smile, and it causes me to smile. It’s crazy how much they love one another after all this time. Yes, they are both very busy with their careers and everyday life, but they always make time for one another.

I wrap my hand around the cool coffee cup and speak. “What you speak of is lust. Not love, mother.”

She tilts to her head in confusion “How so?”

“You don’t just fall in love with someone by the way they look.” I roll my eyes.

She chuckles. “I agree. He may have been attractive, but that wasn’t why I fell in love with him.”

“But you said…”

“I fell in love with him because of the way he made me feel. Not my feelings toward him, but my feelings toward myself. I lit up when he walked into a room. I had a smile on my face that wouldn’t go away. My skin would tingle whenever he would look at me.” Her eyes drop to the cut on my lip, and I lick it nervously. Her eyes meet mine once again, and she continues. “I loved myself first. I fell in love with the person who I was when he was around. And in loving myself, I fell in love with him.”

“I wish it was that easy,” I say, and she sits quietly, waiting for me to fill her in. “I fell for Rodger fast and look where that got me?” I chuckle to myself, but she stays quiet.

“You have a big heart.”

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