Page 97 of Rowdy Hearts

“Mom, look, about last week?—”

“Actually, Teresa,” my mom cut in, “I have a few things I need to say first.”

Shit, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to hear this, but she looked so uncomfortable, I bit my tongue.

“I realize now that the situation I created was…not the best.”

Good thing I was sitting down, because I think that might’ve taken my knees out. My mom never apologized. It just wasn’t in my nature. But now, she actually looked contrite. Something I never thought I’d see. Or even believed she was capable of.

“I know we haven’t seen eye to eye on, well,” she grimaced, “much of anything lately. And that’s okay. I just hope you know that everything I’ve ever done has been to make sure you and your sister, and now Krista, are taken care of. My technique isn’t always polished, but I will always fight for my babies.”

My stomach clenched a little. “I know that, Mom. I do. And I appreciate everything you’ve done for us. It’s just?—”

“I realize I broke your trust Thursday night, and I apologize for that. I was out of line, and I should’ve known that.” She took a deep breath, then she nodded, like she’d shut the door on that whole deal. “So, what are we going to do about this scumbag?”

Tears welled, but I blinked them back. It was exactly what I’d needed to hear from her and had never expected. “Thanks, Mom, I appreciate that.”

“I know I should say it more, but I’m proud of you, Teresa. I hope you know that.”

Honestly, I didn’t. I’ve never doubted her love, but I’d never considered the fact that she was proud of me.

“You put yourself through college while raising a baby.” She held up one finger then two. “You manage your own business.” Another finger. “You created a life for you and Krista.”

“I didn’t do it alone.”

“But you didn’t do it with my help, did you?”

I couldn’t deny that. But… “You had Tiff.” When I became a parent, I understood what that meant, the commitment and the fear and joy. “And you showed me how to be strong mom.”

“Well, I’m glad you got something from me.” Her expression softened for a second as her lips curved in a little smile. It softened the lines of her face and made her look younger somehow. “You’re a better mom than I ever was, Tressy. But I’ve got a hard streak that you don’t. Let me help you handle this. I can’t help but feel some responsibility for this. I put you in a horrible position, then I tried to shine a spotlight on it. You felt you had to run to escape me, and that makes me a horrible mother.”

“I didn’t run because you were a horrible mother. I ran because…” I sighed, “I don’t know. I guess I just needed some time to get my head straight.”

“And did you?”

I didn’t even have to think about my answer to that. “Actually, I did. And…I met someone who helped me do that.”

Mom’s brows arched so high, they disappeared beneath her bangs, which she pulled off amazingly well. “Really? Like a male someone? Do you want to talk about it?”

I realized I did want to talk about it. About him. Rowdy.

“I think I screwed everything up, though.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “Anything can be fixed. You just have to be willing to do the hard things, sometimes.”

“And if I’m not sure I’m able to do the hard thing?”

“You’ve been doing the hardest thing for years. You’re raising a daughter on your own. What could be harder than that?”

“Well, I met this guy…”

Shaking her head, Mom sighed. “Men aren’t hard, Tressy. Actually, they’re pretty damn easy to figure out. They either want to get you in bed then forget about you, or they want you to take care of them.”

“Rowdy isn’t like that.” I knew that to my bones. “I think…he wants to take care of us.” I held up my hand before my mom could open her mouth. “And not in a bad way. He’s sweet and sexy and he cares about us?—

“And you’re not used to that.”

“I don’t trust myself to know that he’s not playing us. I want to trust him, and when I’m with him, I do. I trust him more than anyone, but…”

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