Page 64 of Giddy-Up
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
This was the problemwith being a good man.There were rules.Restrictions that came with it.For example, you can’t call bullshit when your girl tells you her mom’s sick.Even though she hadn’t been diagnosed with anything yet.Because then not only would you not be a good man, you’d also be a dick.
Just once, I’d like to be a dick.
Riley was upset.Obviously.She’d rubbed her wrist so hard; she’d left a red mark.
“Petal.”He went to her.Bouncing down on his couch cushions, his hand went to her knee.“It’ll be okay, I promise.We’ll work something out.Together.”
“They want me to move home.”His jaw clenched again, like it had the first time she’d told him that.Of course they wanted her home.It was hard to control someone’s life when they were a two-hour drive away.
You’re being a dick.
He was.But only in his head.He was giving himself that.
“I know, baby.You haven’t told me whatyouwant to do though.”
“I don’t know.”She let out a heavy sigh.“I just keep thinking about something happening and me not being there.”
Wade squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on his breathing.He needed to stay in control.
“They need me.”Riley went on.“My mom does everything.She cooks.She cleans.She pays the bills.If she can’t do that...then I need to step in.I need to help, because they’re, well, they’re my parents.I have to go back, right?”
If she was asking Wade to agree, then she was shit out of luck.
“Listen to me, darlin’.”He kept his voice gentle.“You don’t have to move back home to help them.Yes, you’ll need to go back more often, and yes, if you want to help with money or cooking or cleaning...you can do that, too.But you have to know it’s possible to do all that without moving back.”
“How can I do that from here?”Doe eyes met his.
“We can do it together.”His hand lifted from her knee, and he laced his fingers through hers.“We will work out your hours at the restaurant, so you have more time to go back and forth.We can bulk cook meals, freeze them and take them over to your parents so they always have food.We’ll get a cleaner to go over every week for them.And financially...if they need help, we can work that out too.Together.”
Her eyes went so wide that she looked like she’d seen a ghost.“I can’t...you can’t do that.It’s not your responsibility to do all that.”
“Riley, I love you.With that love comes responsibility.A responsibility to be there for that person.No matter what.Life isn’t all sunshine and roses...but when you love someone, you show up.”
“When you love someone, you show up,” she repeated to herself quietly, her gaze hitting the floor.
Hearing her say those words out loud should have been comforting.But it wasn’t.The way her voice shook made dread pool in his stomach.He knew that she was applying that logic to her mother.Letting it feed into her guilt.So it wasn’t a surprise when she jumped up from the emerald loveseat and announced, “I have to move back, Wade.”
Fuck.
“Because you want to?”He made sure to ask carefully.
“No.Because it’s the right thing to do.”
He didn’t agree.Maybe it was because he could never imagine his mother asking him to make such a sacrifice.Or maybe it was because he’d witnessed firsthand how her parents manipulated her.Either way, he knew that if she went back now, it wouldn’t just be for a few months.It would be forever.
