Page 63 of Cloud Nine Love

I’d taken her phone from her room so her alarm wouldn’t wake her up. She needed her rest.

“It’s 10:00 a.m.”

Her eyes widened. “Ten? I have to go. I’m late.”

“I spoke to Tami Lynn and Bud. They know you’re not coming in today.”

Or tomorrow, or the day after that, or the day after that. I kept those details to myself. Even before I’d spoken to Misty and agreed to let her buy me out, I’d made the executive decision to let The Spoon know my mom would not be coming in for the foreseeable future. I hadn’t gone into detail since it wasn’t my story to tell, but I told her that she had some health issues she needed to deal with. I had enough in my savings that I knew I could replace her income, even before I found out I’d be receiving the buyout. My mom’s days on her feet, serving people, were over.

“You can’t do that.” She shook her head. “Where’s my phone? I need to?—”

“Mom, sit down. Please.”

“I don’t have time. And why are you still here? Shouldn’t you be on a flight back home?”

“I am home. I’m staying in Wishing Well.”

“Remington Asher Rhodes, you are going to get on a plane and fly back to California today. You need to make things right with Misty and?—”

“She’s pregnant with another man’s baby.” I figured if I wanted my mom to open up to me, it was only fair that I did the same.

My mom froze, then slowly lowered down in the chair opposite me. “She is?”

“Yes. And I’m actually okay about it, which says a lot about our relationship. I don’t want you to think badly of her. I was gone so much and?—”

She held up her hand. “Believe me, I’m the last one who would ever judge someone. As long as you’re okay, then that’s all that matters to me.”

“I am okay. Really. I’m not going back to California. She’s buying me out of the house, so if it’s okay with you, I was going to stay here for a while.”

Her head was shaking back and forth. “That’s fine as long as your decision has nothing to do with me. I’m fine. I just got overtired, and I have an iron?—”

I stopped her, placing my hand over hers. “You don’t have to tell me what is going on with you. But don’t lie to me.”

As soon as I said it, I heard my dad’s voice. My mom must have, too, because her eyes filled with tears. It was something he always said to me as a kid. He never forced me to tell him the answer to something; his only rule was that I never lied to him.

She nodded as she sniffed and wiped her cheeks. “It’s Lupus, and there are some other complications with my heart.”

“When did you find out?”

“This summer.”

“Is that why you broke up with Randy?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Or tell Ruby?”

“I knew you were worried about your sister, and I just… honestly, I don’t deserve for either of you to be worried about me. I was…I wasn’t there for you after…” More tears fell down her face.

“Mom, we’re your kids. We’re family. We love you.”

“I know, but I don’t deserve your love.”

“Did you deserve to have your mom die when you were younger than Harper? Or to be raised by an abusive alcoholic? Or to get pregnant at sixteen? Or to lose your husband, the love of your life and father of your child, at twenty-five, leaving you a heartbroken single mom? Or to get pregnant by a married asshole who took advantage of you when you were grieving? You don’t deserve a lot of things, Mom, but you do deserve my love, and you have it, unconditionally.”

More tears fell as she squeezed my hand back.

“You have to tell Ruby.”

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