Page 112 of Toxic Wishes

“Oh,” she waves a hand at me. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Am I? Or am I wise and smart, taking initiative to give a damn what’s going on in my son’s life. Unlike the father we were given.”

Her shoulders dropped slightly, which stung, but it was the truth. All the children my dad seeded to all these various women he never gave a damn about, including myself. And I know it’s not all my mom's fault. She was charmed and fooled. But I wish she never fell for his bullshit in the first place.

“He’s only six Colt, and I think it’s a good thing he takes an interest in something like music.”

“He takes an interest in football.”

“No, that’s you taking an interest in brainwashing him, just like your dad.”

I frowned at her as the hairs on my neck stood up, causing a prickling feeling to run down my back.

She knows I hate being compared to him in any shape or form. He was just a sperm donor in my eyes, nothing more. Nothing less.

“Are you sure you aren’t ready to get out there and start dating again, Mom?”

A smile flickers in her eyes. “Why, you trying to get rid of me now?”

“Maybe,” I snag a piece of bacon off the plate on the island.

“I’m fine where I am, thank you very much. If a man wanders into my life, I’ll ensure it’s meant to be.”

I loved my mom, but she needed to find a guy to keep her busy instead of constantly prying into my personal and parental life.

The doorbell rings, and she stops mid-sentence as she’s about to make a snarky comment.

Thank goodness, saved by the doorbell. I walk across the living room and open the front door.

“Hello, handsome,” Naomi stands with a tray full of what looks like brownies. I brought goodies,” she says with her toothy smile. She is bright-eyed and cheery, and I just wanted to shut the door on her face. She was the last person I wanted to deal with right now.

I stared at her, and my first thought was Abigail. I didn’t want Abigail to come out here and see Naomi, especially after last night and this morning. Noami needed to stop this. I was nice because of her father dying, but now, this is getting ridiculous. We aren’t together, and I know I was playing it safe by keeping her around because this was a small town and people love to talk, and I get enough of that from the press, but I didn’t want to keep playing it safe. Not anymore. I was ready to give them something to talk about.

36

Abigail

“Music is a great natural high and a great natural escape.” — Shania Twain

When I pulled out of the driveway this morning after my shower, I wanted to say goodbye to Bodie, Colt, and Nora. I was glad I didn’t, and the stars aligned with my gut feeling about getting to class because when I walked out to my car from around the corner of the back, Naomi’s car was parked in the driveway, which was no coincidence. After all, she texted me thirty minutes earlier about how she’d been a horrible cousin and wanted to hang out this weekend.

Yeah, I knew exactly why she wanted to hang out. She didn’t give two shits about me. She was only being nosey and invasive about my living situation with Colt. Between the fantastic sex last night and this morning, my cousin showing up at the lake house unannounced made it extremely hard to concentrate in class today.

The weather is warm, but a little cloud cover keeps the heat at bay. Summer heat and the carefree light that lingers from summer break are dying down. School will be starting soon, and I can already feel the mental numbness that comes from all the stress of juggling work, homework, labs, and bills. I was twenty-one; I shouldn’t be so stressed out already at this age. I should be living it up like Josh or Mel. I went out and partied during the summer, but I was too worried about saving money to even think about letting loose. These thoughts ran through my head as I listened to Don Henley on the playtunes list, flipping through the fall catalog at my university. I already registered for next semester, but I’m considering adding another class.

I pop in another piece of gum. It’s probably my third piece, and I knew keeping my stash of gum and candies in my glove box was a bad idea. It was an old habit to break, one that stuck with me in my anorexic and bulimia years.

You think I would have learned from all the money I spent on dental bills from the years of abuse on my teeth, chewing Bubble gum to help curb my appetite or sucking on lollipops, and I’ll forever be grateful for Mel helping me with all that. I think when I met her, I needed three fillings, a root canal, and a crown, all of which I couldn’t afford, but she saw how much pain I was in one night when we were talking. A toothache pain came out of nowhere and was probably one of the worst pains I ever endured. Maybe it’s why I suffered from a martyr complex.

I look at the time and figure it’s been enough time to hang out after class. The lab was canceled, and as much as I wanted to run back into Colt’s arms and have him have me again in his sheets, I didn’t want to risk running into Naomi. I turn on my car and put it in reverse when my phone dings. I look down and see an unknown number. But it wasn’t a text from some random advertisement.

Unknown: Hey, where are you?

My eyebrows squish together as I stare at the screen, trying to figure out who this is. Did my sister get a new number and not tell me?

My phone dings again.

Unknown: Shouldn’t you be back by now? My mom just left to take Bodie to the music store. So….we're all alone.

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