Page 5 of My Almost Ex

“Will you please look at me?”

She glances up.

“Can we talk about what a huge thing this is? I just remembered being at Adam’s thirteenth birthday party. I mean, until twenty minutes ago, I didn’t even know he existed.”

She puts her phone down and sits on the edge of the bed, taking my hands. “This is what I was afraid of. I’m not going to lie, I’d hoped maybe you wouldn’t remember being married. When you came to us in Idaho, you were so distraught. You didn’t get out of bed for an entire month.”

“Why did we break up?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know. You wouldn’t say.”

“Why? Why wouldn’t I have told you?” My forehead creases.

She sighs, her telltale sign she’s holding back information and would rather not tell me. “I think you were afraid I would say I told you so.”

“Why would you have done that?”

“Because we forbade your marriage.” She pats my hand. “I never saw you get married, Luce. Your father and I didn’t agree with it and there was a fight and…”

I slide my hands out from hers and stand, looking out the window that has views of the bay. “Why didn’t you support us?”

She sighs again. It’s grating on my nerves. “It’s a long story.”

“Good thing we have nowhere to be then.”

She stands and grabs her overnight bag, ready to go to the bathroom.

“Mom,” I plead, “you can’t keep me in the dark. Dr. Lipstein said when I have questions, you should answer them and maybe they’ll help me remember.”

At times in the past three months, I’ve felt my mom keeping information from me. My brother, Zane, would say something that didn’t quite make sense to me and then my parents would shift conversation in another direction.

“Some things are meant to stay in the past. You came back to us. Can’t we just let that be?”

I raise my hands in frustration. What did she expect to happen when we returned here? Did she hope I would remember nothing and this entire part of my life would be erased forever? I think I’m starting to understand why she was so hesitant for me to return.

“Either you tell me or I hear it from Adam, because I’m not leaving Sunrise Bay without an answer.” I cross my arms.

“Okay, okay. Just let me get ready for bed and process everything, then we’ll hash out what happened.” She opens the door and disappears down the hall.

I wait for the bathroom door to shut down the hall, then I grab my coat and slide out of the room. If she has to think about it, she won’t tell me the full truth. And I’m starting to figure out that it’s up to me to remember for myself.

Going downstairs, I tiptoe past the front desk and out the door, but I freeze in place when I see Mandi’s finger poking Adam in the chest.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

Both of them look over. Adam steps forward only for Mandi to wrap her hand around his wrist and tug him back.

Looks like it’s not only my family who wants to keep us apart.

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