Page 24 of Laugh

The explosion of laughter that escapes me physically hurts. It was so loud that Beau glances at me with a look of bewilderment. “Sorry, sorry.No!Marcus and I arenotdating. I’ve known him since we were really little.” Wiping away the tears as I try to control my laughter, I add, “I honestly think he’d be horrified if you asked him that question. He’s just my closest friend in the world. My podmate.”

“Podmate?”

Nodding, I relax into the comfy seats. “Yeah. Non-sexual life partner. Two peas in a pod. Podmate. I won’t go anywhere without him.”

Beau hums under his breath as he considers my description of mine and Marcus’s friendship. We really are closer than friends, closer than siblings even. He’s a part of me, and I’m a part of him. I’ve never doubted my status around Marcus. That man has accepted me from day one exactly as I am.

“I’ve got a few pretty close friends. Jensen is one of them. I don’t know if I’d classify any like that, though. How did you both–”

The ringing of my cell interrupts his question, and I groan when I hear theImperial Death March.

“The fuck is that?” Beau asks me. “TheDeath Marchfrom Star Wars?”

Fishing my phone out, I flick my eyes over to him briefly as I pull out my phone to see my stepmonster calling. “Yeah. I’m so sorry about this, but I have to answer. Ignore everything that’s about to happen in the next five minutes.”

“Huh?” I know he’s confused, but I don’t have time to explain, other than sending him a pleading look as I answer the phone.

“Deborah!To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Chapter 9

You’re Not My Mom

Haddie

“Harriet. Honey. For the love of God, would you stop calling me Deborah? Debbie or mom would suffice.”

“I’ll try my best to remember that, Deborah. What’s up? I’m kind of in the middle of something.” I flash a quick look over to Beau and pray he can’t hear the other side of this conversation.

“I’m sure you’re not so busy that you can’t take a few minutes for your mom.”

I grit my teeth and bite out, “You’re not my mom, Deborah.”

Beau’s head tilts to the side a little when I say that, but he doesn’t show any other expression.

I roll my eyes when I hear a fake sniffle through the phone, and I know I should have just kept my mouth shut. “Harriet. I’m doing my best here to have a real relationship with you. It’s so important to me and your father that you realize we ARE family. We’re all you’ve got, honey. I wish you wouldn’t put your nose up at that and understand that I love you, and I’m making a real effort here.”

Sighing, I try to twist in the seat and turn my back to Beau to pretend I have some semblance of privacy. “Debbie.” I try to cater a bit to her because dealing with Deborah Byer when she’s like this is draining. “I’m not trying to hurt your feelings. I care about these things. I just don’t feel comfortable being forced into the whole ‘mom’ thing. There’s nothing wrong with calling you by your first name. I’ve done it the entire time you’ve been married to dad. But my mom is my mom. I don’t understand why you can’t just leave it alone.”

“You’re constantly making me compete with a dead woman.”

I suck in a breath at her harsh words and fight back the tingle of tears that want to surface. Done with placating her, I ask, “What did you call for, Deborah?”

“I need you to come a bit earlier for our next dinner. It’s not fair for Amber to be the only one forced into helping. Family dinners are for all of us, and I’d like you to pull your weight for once.”

Clamping my mouth shut to prevent an incredulous laugh from sounding, I grit out, “I’ll do my best. But you all decided to have these dinners on days that I work, so if I get out early enough, I will.”

“Family is important, honey.”

“My job is important.” I ignore the low sound that comes from Beau behind me. I definitely don’t want to look at him to see what it was about.

Her laughter is cruel, and I wish she would call me when dad was around so he could hear this shit. He never believes me when I try to explain.

“Oh? Library work, stacking books, and organizing the index files is such important work? Family is forever. You think your little job is more important than us? You know your father isn’t the healthiest. It’s important to spend time with him now while he’s still around.”

This fucking bitch!

“I thought you just said family was forever?”

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