Page 89 of Unraveled

“What happened?”

Annie’s and my questions mixed, and Mom sighed, sitting back to rest on her heels. She let go of us to wipe away the tears that fell down her cheeks.

“Don’t ask me this. Can it be enough to know that I was in an awful marriage before your dad and that’s what I’m afraid of for you?”

She looked up at me, and I could see the pleading in her eyes, but I shook my head. “No.” It was awful ofme, but I just couldn’t make the pieces fit. I couldnotpicture Mom with that man.

“Girls, please. Y’all were never supposed to know. It was a time in my life that I wanted to forget. And I had for so long. It was shoved back behind all of the good memories of your dad and thewonderfullife we built together. Neither of you needed to know about that part of my past.”

“Well, I’m asking to know now. If it’s so awful that it’s holding you back from giving Tucker and me your blessing, then I need you to explain.”

Mom shook her head. “Izzy…”

“Tell me and I swear to stop holding back from you. All of you.” I looked up at Tucker’s parents, their expressions only growing confused. “I will tell y’all everything.”

“Trust me. Y’all need to hear it,” Tucker said, realizing what I planned to do.

Mom swallowed hard and closed her eyes before she began.

“Brian was my brother’s best friend. So many of my childhood memories include him. We basically grew up together, and even though I tried to deny my feelings, I had eyes for him for years, but it wasn’t until my sophomore year of high school that he finally noticed me. He was a senior at the time, and as soon as I realized he’d started flirting with me, I’d thought I’d died and gone to heaven. He was the heartthrob of the school, and I could hardly believe he was choosing me. Somehow, he had, and within months of us dating, I knew I was in love. He played the part of the perfect boyfriend so well. Everything about him was intense and possessive, but the way he could sweet talk was so perfect I couldfeel it down in my toes. Being with him was thrilling and encompassing, and my young heart was certain he was the one.

“Even when he left for college, he insisted we stay together. His school wasn’t too far away, but it was still the longest two years of my life, and when he proposed on my eighteenth birthday, I didn’t even second guess saying yes. My brother was already married and happy, and I just knew I wanted that life. My mom tried to talk me into waiting, but God, was I stubborn. I knew what I wanted, and when she tried to put her foot down, I ran off after graduation and eloped.”

Her nose scrunched. “Guess I should have considered that when I put my foot down with you today. Don’t do what I did. Please. If you insist on ignoring my concerns, at least don’t elope. It meant so much to my mom when she came to my next wedding. It hurt her so much to miss my first. I want you to wait, but if you refuse to, don’t make me miss yours.”

She looked up at me, and I nodded, her plea striking my chest. Seeing me agree, she continued. “Blake and Rosa were our witnesses, and just minutes before my wedding, she tried to warn me. She’d sensed it when I didn’t, but I was in love, and I didn’t listen.”

“She sensed what, Mom?” Annie asked, concern replacing any trace of her anger, and Mom closed her eyes again.

“What kind of man he was, the part of him that he was careful not to let others see. It was great in the beginning, though. I was the good little wife. Cleaning and cooking his meals, waiting for him at the door when he came home. The little Stepford Wife I thought I was supposedto be because I was too young to really knowmyselfyet. I just wanted to make him happy. But what I did willingly in the beginning later felt like it was shoved down my throat. He didn’t appreciate it. Heexpectedit. And while part of me didn’t mind, I wanted more in my life.

“I wasn’t allowed friends besides phone calls with our parents, Rosa, or my brother. He got mad when I tried to find a job, saying it wasn’t right for me to work around other men, and when I applied to school at the local university, he made me feel so guilty, especially when I tried to change my major to one he didn’t approve of. I’d only been working on my basics before that, and they’d all been online, but I had started craving socialization outside my tiny approved circle. I felt stifled. Caged. But every time I tried to let him know, he found some way to get in my head again.

“I was a goner for those sweet words of his, falling for them every time, and he was good at twisting things after he’d gotten mad, making it seem likehewas the one forgivingme. But I loved him. So thoroughly that I couldn’t see the depth of the damage. How slowly, over time, I was barely myself anymore.

“We went through over two years of marriage that way. Then I found out I was pregnant.”

I stiffened, but Mom gripped my hand like she was begging me to listen, unable to stop now that she’d started.

“It was way ahead of what we’d planned. He’d wanted to finish law school first, but I was so excited and made it into a whole surprise when I told him, certain he’d have to feel as happy as I did. Instead, he was furious, storming out of our apartment and accusing me of ruining everything. After hours passed and he wouldn’t answermy calls, I had to call Blake to track him down, somehow convincing myself he was just surprised and that he just needed some time. Yes, it was early, but a baby was a blessing. So, I read aloud from baby books and talked about nursery plans for weeks. I even hung up sonogram pictures on our fridge, hoping he’d catch some of my excitement, and it finally felt like he was coming around. Until the morning I made the coffee wrong…”

My stomach twisted at hearing the change in her tone, and I could feel every bit of tension coming through Annie, too.

“I was going on about a picture of a crib I’d seen in a magazine when I felt the crack of his mug across my face. Stars blinded me, and I flew back, hitting my hip and lower back against the edge of the counter before landing hard on the ground while he yelled about weak coffee and his weak wife, and how he was sick of all of the baby talk.

“He grabbed his briefcase and books for that day’s law classes and slammed the door, leaving me surrounded by shattered ceramic and scalding coffee on the kitchen floor. I sat there for about five minutes in shock. It was the first time he’d hit me. Everything before that had been mental and emotional abuse, though I hadn’t acknowledged that yet at the time, and I was trying to reconcile how things had spiraled that far. Then the cramping started, and I had to crawl my way to the counter for the phone.

“Rosa was there in a heartbeat, and my brother was begging me to file a police report, knowing the second I told the doctors I’d just slipped and hit my face against the counter on the way down that I was lying. He knew what must have happened. Even before I lied, I think heknew. He’d just been in denial that his best friend would abuse his sister. Like how I’d been in denial about my marriage. That fracture in my cheekbone forced us both to face reality that day, and I think it was the first time I’d cursed my brother being a cop, but no matter how much he begged, I refused to press charges. There was too much history between the three of us.

“When Brian walked into the hospital room after classes that afternoon, his performance was…phenomenal. Even I was fooled. I’d been lying to myself and everyone else about him for so long, I couldn’t see which way was up anymore. My resolve before he’d arrived started to dissolve as he performed, but it was his reaction to losing the baby that finally did it. I was grieving, mourning the precious life we’d lost. And he washappy.

“Thatwas the moment I knew I was done. The next day when he left for class, I packed my bags and called Blake to pick me up. I never looked back. I swore I’d never be that weak, pathetic version of myself again, and I shoved him so far down in my past that I thought I’d buried his abuse for good. Until you said you wanted to get married, sweetheart.”

Her gaze shifted to Tucker. “Even knowing it wasyoushe wanted to be with and how wonderful you are with her, it scared me. Brian was wonderful, too, in the beginning. When my protests at your engagement dinner failed, I did decide to support y’all, convincing myself I was being paranoid, but then Brian turned up at the school just days later after what happened to Izzy.” She paused, swallowing. “Seeing him again… seeing herhurt… it shoved all of my old trauma right back into my face, andI… I…”

Her lips pressed together, and I knew she was unable to finish, her throat visibly tightening as she swallowed and fought her tears. Mine were streaming down my cheeks, and just like she’d done for Annie earlier today, I slid from Tucker’s lap to the floor in front of her and wrapped her shaking body in my arms.

A giant sob escaped her chest, and she clung to me, only letting go when Annie joined us on the floor to bring her into our fold.

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