Page 67 of Resurrecting the Enemy
This time, my legs did weaken, so I stepped over and sat on the couch. Looking up at him, I asked, “What do you mean?” He slid his hands in his pockets, let out a deep breath, and told me a story that made me almost call him a liar to his face.
I sat there and listen to him tell me a story that I couldn’t reconcile with the man who was standing in front of me. With the woman who he worshipped, day and night. With the partnership I’ve seen with my own two eyes. No way would my father ever do something so heinous to my mother.
He fucking worshipped her.
But then, hadn’t I just done the same thing to Lake? Rather than hunt her down and demand answers, I had believed someone else’s manipulations, and let the pain of her supposed betrayal call the shots.
And then, there was the fact that I wanted to punch my dad in the face for having ever treated my mother like that. But that quickly gave way to thoughts of Lake’s father and how he’d feel, knowing what I’ve done to his daughter.
I dropped my head and ran my hands through my hair. “Fucking Christ,” I muttered because I really had nothing else to say.
Just then, I could hear Mom’s footsteps and I looked up to see her glancing around the room, taking in the broken lamp.
She let out a soft sigh. “Ramsey…” Dad wrapped his arms around her so tightly, I feared he was going to snap her in half.
I also had to look away because, when she returned his embrace, the bond between them threatened to choke me with regret.
After Dad let her go, she came and sat down next to me. She eyed me as she asked, “I take it he told you?”
I stared at my beautiful mother and wondered about all the things I didn’t know about my parents. “Yeah, he did,” I told her. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
She gave me a soft smile. “There’s nothing to say, Ram,” she replied. “While I’ve forgiven your father, this hit a little too close to home, and I just needed a moment.”
“Because you’re mad at me?”
She shook her head. “No,” she said. “Because I’m disappointed with you. But, also, because I was identifying with her, and I can’t be here for you if I’m on her side.”
“Do you think she’ll ever forgive me?” That was really the only issue here.
Again, she shook her head. “No, Ram,” she said brutally. “I don’t think she will.”
“But…but you forgave Dad,” I pointed out.
“I did,” she agreed. “But that was because I was damaged enough to still love him afterwards.” Wow. She sure wasn’t pulling any punches. “What your father and I have has never been healthy, Ramsey. But it is forever.”
I looked back and forth between my mom and dad. “So, that’s it? I’m just fucked?”
“Does she love you?” Dad asked.
I shook my head. “No,” I admitted. “I fucked it all up before she could fall in love with me.”
“Do you love her?” Mom asked.
“I wouldn’t have set out to destroy her if I didn’t, Mom.”
“Then you let her go, Ramsey,” she said. “Don’t hurt her any more than you already have.”
“I can’t do that,” I told her truthfully. “I can’t, Mom.”
“If that’s the case, this is the one time I don’t think I can back you, Ram,” she said, breaking my fucking heart.
“Why?”
“Because if she wasn’t damage before, she is now,” she replied quietly. “And you’re the one who damaged her.” And with that, Dad lost his shit again.
Chapter 36
Lake~
