Page 269 of Come Back to Me

“Want a sip?”

I don’t. I really don’t. “Sure.” After I drink, I hiss. “Jesus, how much rum did you put in that?”

She grins. “Ida knows I like ‘em strong.”

“She delivered.”

A soft hand tugs on my elbow, and she guides me from the clearing where I was standing toward a small alcove housing a bench that’s been Callanized on the outskirts of the backyard with blossoms tucked all around it.

Honestly, the little shit’s missed his calling as a wedding planner.

“You want to talk about something?”

“I—” Do I? The panic that fills me at the prospect of Tee wanting to walk away, of her deciding that I can never make up for what I did as Butch doubles down on a truth I was already fully aware of—I don’t want to ‘do’ this life without her. “I don’t understand her.”

When more words aren’t forthcoming, she muses, “Noticed you’ve been spending time with Tee in her room.”

Agitated, I run a hand through my hair. “Don’t need the birds and the bees talk, Mum.”

“Wasn’t going to give it to you. Smart arse.”

I release a chuckle. “Long time since you’ve called me that.”

She sniffs as I sit back, shoving my arm up against hers. Her head tips to the side and rests on my shoulder. “Long time since you’ve deserved it. What’s going on, Cody? Is it... I thought everything was okay between you two. I overheard Zee and Colt talking about you sending her the ‘Dear John’ letter she was upset about at the summer BBQ.

“It’s unlike you to be such a coward, but I gave you the benefit of the doubt like she clearly did because next thing I knew, you were spending time together... at night. So, what’s going on?”

“I love her, Mum,” I confess like it’s a sin.

“That’s always positive. Does she know that?”

“Yeah.” I rub my brow. “But she told me she’s scared.”

“Of what?”

“I don’t know. We were looking at each other throughout the ceremony and we were happy, I know we were, and then her mood...”

“Shifted.”

“Yes.”

“There a reason you haven’t gone public with her?”

“She wants to keep things simple. Says her mom will pressure her into being normal.”

“Angela MacFarlane is like one of those...” She clicks her fingers. “You know, the women who make cinnamon grahams from scratch.”

“A trad wife.”

“Yes, one of those. I can imagine it must be very difficult for someone of Tee’s nature to be raised in a household like that.”

“She was safe. And loved.”

“Oh, darling, that doesn’t mean it was a perfect childhood. In comparison to yours, it probably seems like she was raised with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, but that doesn’t take away her own trials and tribulations.

“As much of a trad wife as her mom is, her father’s the same. It must be frustrating when you don’t want to be a round peg being shoved into a round hole.” She takes a sip of her drink. “When she was talking with Callan one night, I heard her tell him she was pansexual. That isn’t an issue for you, is it?”

“Why would it be?” I grouse, annoyed by the irrelevant topic. “I’m the one she chooses to be with.”That’s if shehaschosen to be with me. Goddammit.

---