Page 120 of Succeeding Love

“Oh.. Oh!” Mom must have just remembered she offered to do that last night. “Yes! Yes, Kevin. I’ll.. I’ll start making it right-”

I stopped her as she got back up. “Not yet, mom. Feighlynn won’t be back… for a while. She’s… she’s busy, so there’s plenty of time.”

Mom looked anxious, but nodded along. As much as I hate seeing her in her confused state, I would prefer it about now. If she was ignorant of what was going on around her, her own mistake wouldn’t hurt her.

“I love you, mom,” I whispered, smiling as tenderly as I could at the woman who raised me. “I’m going to take care of some things. I’ll be in my room.”

By taking care of some things, I meant I was going to wallow in misery alone in my room, agonizing again over all the shit I wish I could change.

~

Lynn

“I’ll see you both on Monday,” I whispered to my kids at the door of Nick’s condo.

Preston looked upset, understandably so. He walked in when my ex-mother-in-law and I were having a very heated disagreement in the kitchen about whose fault it was Nick wrecked his car into the wall of the parking garage. She insisted I was the one ruining her son’s life, and everything going wrong for him is because of me.

First by agreeing to the divorce, and not trying to work through our ‘issues’. Our issues, meaning his cheating and wanting to leave me for another woman. How dare I have enough respect for myself to not fight to keep a cheater by my side, in a miserable excuse for a marriage?

Then, after going over the usual tirade of mistakes I made over the years, including vaccinating my kids and bottle-feeding Jessie after having issues with breast-feeding, she went in to how I should have let my kids stay with their inebriated father, because if they were there, he never would have tried to drive to getthem.

I did not have the patience or the will to correct her about what really happened. It would only make her yell more, and I was reaching my threshold for crap being thrown at me today.

Nick was passed out from the pain medicine by then, so Jessie had to sit awkwardly, watching her grandmother berate me. I ended up asking Preston to come over after the tenth mention of his absence. I didn’t want to leave my daughter alone with the woman, anyway.

Nick may be a decent father, but his mother was proving to be a shrew since I divorced him. I’m seeing why Nick never wanted to move back to his hometown after he graduated. I also fully believe he was a big part of why his mom never showed this side of herself to me before. I guess there were good points to his controlling behavior. I didn’t have to deal withher.

Preston walked into the condo in a rage, hearing his grandmother reprimanding me for not keeping up with myex-husband’slaundry. I stood in the kitchen trying to ignore her, keeping myself busy by making a pot of soup for Jessie to take to her father later. Preston went right into yelling at the old woman for talking to me the way she was, and told her if she wanted laundry done, then do it herself.

Jessie and I were both relieved he came. Now I could finally leave without worrying about Jessie being alone with her invalid father and nagging grandma.

Groaning down the hall turned all our attention away from one another for a second to see Nick had woken up and emerged from his room.

“Daddy!” Jessie ran off to help him as he struggled down the hall to the couch.

His mother looked like a different woman, coddling him as he headed towards a recliner.

“She’s a freaking bit-”

“Eh,” I put my finger over his lips. “No, sir. She’s still your grandma. Be nice and respectful.” He raised a brow at me, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Fine. Nice and respectful. Just watch over your sister for me, and make sure the,” I glanced up at my ex-mother-in-law, “the witch doesn’t gripe at her like she did me.”

“I’ll knock a witch out,” Preston smirked.

I laughed, hugging him one last time around the waist. “Okay. I’ll see you-”

“Wait, mom.” Preston held on to me, not letting me pull away.

He glanced at Jessie, who was sitting in her dad’s lap, drawing pictures on his cast. I couldn’t help but to smile at the sweet moment between them. That was the exact reason I couldn’t completely hate the man. He was a good father, and I know even Preston thought that right now by the look on his face.

“I’ll walk you out, mom.”

“I can find my car myself.” I rolled my eyes.

Preston laughed softly, shaking his head. “I’m sure you can, but I just… I just want to talk.”

My smile tightened. I was sure I already knew what he wanted to talk about, and I wasn’t ready to talk about the subject yet. Not when the witch spoon feeding Nick twenty feet away from me right now, acting like she made it herself, got me so riled up.

“I’m tired, Pres. Maybe tomorrow we can-”

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