Page 43 of Mr. Broody

“Mom, we were having a conversation.” I stomp after her, wanting to get this over and done with now that we’re in it.

“Are we?” she asks. “Usually there isn’t a lot of conversation with you.”

I balk. What is wrong with her? “Why would you say that?”

“Because all day you’ve been moping around, and I didn’t raise you to be some ‘woe is me’ person with a victim mentality.” She takes out a can of tuna and sets it on the counter with more force than necessary. Why is she mad at me?

“Moping? I’m just having a lazy day.”

She grabs the mayonnaise out of the fridge. “What did you expect to come back to? Did you expect him to be waiting with open arms for you to run into?”

Her words make my eyes sting. “Whoa. I never expected anything.” I open the silverware drawer and pull out the can opener, slamming the drawer shut.

“He moved on. And I understand that upsets you because you love him, but?—”

“I loved him.”

She glares at me, the fridge shutting behind her. “You love that boy.”

She’s right. I’ll always love Henry. Ramsey was great, and he treated me okay until he didn’t, but he wasn’t Henry. Not even close. No one ever has been.

“So what? We can’t be together?—”

Her hands tighten into fists. “You two drive me crazy. I just can’t.” Taking the can of tuna from me, she drains the water and dumps it in a bowl.

“I don’t think you should be so angry with your eye thing.” I watch her flit around the room, cupboards banging, utensils clanking.

“I’m fine.” Her tone has a definite bite to it, and I try to figure out how this conversation got so derailed.

The room is silent except for the fork in the tuna, the spoon scrapping the mayo container, the saltshaker sliding on the countertop. I’m not sure what to say. I’m not thirteen, and I don’t want to revert to acting like a teenager, but sometimes it’s hard when you’re arguing with your mom.

“You’re the one who didn’t want me to follow him,” I say.

She stops mashing the mayo and tuna together with a fork. If she had some kind of superpower where her glare could send me to the next galaxy, I’d already be there. “I never said that.”

“Come on, Mom. You didn’t want me to go to Minnesota. You said I was making my life revolve around him, and you didn’t like him because of it.”

She slams the fork on the countertop. “I love Henry. I love him like a son, Jade. It was you. You failed yourself. At some point, you allowed him to be your everything. You stopped wanting more.”

“Oh, well, sorry for loving him and wanting him to remain in my life.” I stomp over to the fridge and take out a bottle of white wine.

My mom closes her eyes like she does when my brothers snip at each other and drive her to her last thread of sanity. “I love Reed, but if he ever left me, I know I can stand on my own.”

“I’ve stood on my own for the last eight years!” I pour my glass of wine. Too bad she can’t have any because of her surgery. Maybe then our heated argument could turn more civilized. More for me, I guess.

“You ran away, Jade. There’s a difference.”

The air rushes out of my lungs as if she threw a quick punch to my gut. Is that what she’s thought this entire time? “Ran?”

She nods. “Don’t deny it. At first it was good that Henry did what he did. It was a selfless act, but you’re the one who chose to never come back. You had opportunities to find yourself here, but instead of facing your biggest fear head-on, you hid away in tourist towns with strangers instead of being part of this family.”

I open my mouth but close it, afraid I’m going to say something I can never take back. But then her words run through my head again, and my anger feels like a furnace in my gut. “You ran from Los Angeles. Took me away from Dad.”

There’s that glare again. “Really?”

My shoulders slump. I took it too far. Her bringing me to Chicago was the best thing for me. I got to spend so much time with my grandma, and Mom met Reed, who has been a great father figure to me. That’s not even bringing Henry into the equation.

“I’m sorry.” I sit on a stool and bury my head in my arms. “Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong anywhere?”

---