Page 40 of Unfinished

“I have no idea, she has this way of finding out things about people. What did she say?”

“The dinner invitation?” Hannah asked, crossing her legs and looking at me.

“Yeah, I wasn’t going to say anything. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because my mom is the queen of cutting people down in a way that looks fine to other people but causes harm. I don’t want her doing that to you.”

“So you want to turn down dinner to protect me?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s not going to work.” Hannah shook her head at me with concern in her eyes.

“What?”

“If we turn down the invite, she’ll think it’s me avoiding her.”

“I’ll tell her it’s me saying no.”

“Which won’t convince her of anything.”

“No, we are not going to dinner. You can meet her in a year or two when I know she can behave herself.”

Hannah laughed, “That’s not how this works Liam. Look, I’m going to face rude people and comments about me eventually. Consider this a test of how I can handle it and rise above it all.”

“No, and I don’t want you to rise above, ever. If they try to insult you, cut them down.”

“Well then, let’s go to dinner,” she argued, and I shook my head.

“No, we aren’t doing that. It’s final.” Ending the conversation, I laid back down and closed my eyes. I wasn’t putting Hannah into the fighting pit with my mother right now. I needed Hannah to be better prepared to handle my mother and her bullshit before we dove into this.

How dare she call Hannah behind my back and put her in this position? What the hell was she up to? This was another typical attempt by my mother to try to control my life. She was going to do something to try to cut Hannah out of my life. I needed to be prepared for anything now because I didn’t really believe my mother knew when to take a loss.

Chapter 17

Hannah

I understood that his mom was not his favorite person, but eventually, I was going to have to deal with her if this was going to last. Unless he didn’t expect this to last. Was he giving up on us already? I tried pushing that doubt out of my brain but it was still there, picking at the wounds I hid so deeply. Everyone left at some point. Could he really love me when my own mother took off like she did?

I tried to shake the doubt, telling myself it was okay if he wanted to keep me away from his mother. He likely had a good reason to do so. Eventually I’d meet her, and when that day came I’d be prepared to handle it. I’d handle it fine now, but maybe Liam didn’t want to handle it now. Maybe he wanted to enjoy this time without the pressure of meeting each other’s parents. Maybe he wanted to wait to make sure we survived the long-distance portion of our relationship.

By the time the party started, Liam and I were barely speaking to each other and my inner voice was screaming every doubt I had at me. Liam’s cousins and Ashley arrived so I was standing near Ashley as the men held their own conversation. Within seconds, she understood the expression on my face. Ashley pulled me with her to walk away from Liam and his cousins. We walked to the other side of our little gathering area and further away from the speakers near where the sand ended.

“Okay spill,” Ashley demanded.

“His mother called me and invited me to dinner with him and his family.”

“That’s good, maybe she’s coming around.”

“Except Liam said it wasn't happening. He said I would meet her next year or in two years.”

Ashley cringed at that. “Okay? Why?”

“He says he’s protecting me because his mother is probably planning some way to cut me down.”

“I can understand that, but if you don’t go to dinner, she’ll think you’re trying to avoid her,” Ashley voiced my same concern and I nodded.

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