Page 96 of Pelvic Flaws

“Well you’re more stupid than I thought,” she huffed.

“Annie.”

“Mother,” she replied in a warning tone. “I’m being serious, if that’s why you finished with him then I’m never asking you for relationship advice ever again – because let’s face it, you suck at it.”

“I don’t,” I cried. “Dex said he would do it again and I’m not comfortable with that. What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong with it, is that he was right,” Annie said, grabbing my shoulder. “I was rude to you and embarrassed you in front of your hot old man. I shouldn’t have said those things.”

“Why because they weren’t true?” I asked, with a watery smile.

Annie shrugged, her lips twitching.

“Well some of it was…but,” she emphasized, holding up a finger. “I know you don’t really have your favorites. You’re a great mum and I was being rude, saying those things.”

I sat up and stared at her, peering closely.

“Where’s my Annie and what have you done with her?”

“Mum,” she groaned. “I can be grown up when I need to be. I just find acting like a spoiled Princess generally gets me what I want.

I shook my head, wishing that sometimes I hadn’t encouraged my children to be so outspoken or full of sass.

“Seriously Annie, this isn’t funny. Has someone drugged you?”

She rolled her eyes and scrambled off the bed. “Mum, just call him and make up. I like him, the boys like him, I think Nana might even fancy him, but more importantly, you like him. He likes you and he’s made you happier than I’ve seen you in years, so sort it out. And for the record, I really don’t mind him telling me to ‘cut you a break’,” she said, doing a decent impression of Dex’s Texan drawl. “Because not only does he sound like someone from a Hollywood film, but he’s looking out for you.”

With that, she left, and I spent the night and most of this morning, pondering on what she’d said. I knew she was right. He did make me happy and if the kids were okay with him saying what he did, should I really hold it against him? Maybe we should try and reach a compromise.

So, without even making it two steps into the hall, I quickly turned around and got into my car, turned the key and…it wouldn’t bloody start.

Dex

When I pulled up outside Katie’s house, I could see she was sitting in her car, and once I got out and walked up the drive, I could hear her trying to get the piece of crap started.

Moving alongside it, I tapped on the roof. Katie’s door opened and she poked her head out.

“Dex,” she gasped.

She didn’t look mad at me being there, in fact, her eyes were shining and she had a faint glimmer of a smile.

“Sounds like a flat battery,” I said. “Did Barry not get you a new one?”

Katie shook her head and I made a note to tear him a new ass hole, seeing as I’d asked him to make sure every aspect of the car was okay.

“I think he mentioned it,” Katie said, looking at me warily. “But I said no.”

I nodded. “Okay, I’ll give you a jump start, but I’ll need to push it down on to the road next to mine.”

She nodded and chewed on her lip.

“Want me to do it now or can we talk first?” I asked.

“Talk.” Katie’s voice was barely above a whisper, but her agreeing to talk was as good as her shouting it from the rooftops, as far as I was concerned.

She slammed the car door closed and walked to the house with me following. We then walked to the kitchen in silence, but the crackle in the atmosphere kinda gave it away that we both had something to say – it was a case of who was going to have their say first.

Turned out it was Katie. She threw her bag on the table and had barely turned to face me when she spoke.

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