Page 109 of The Invitation
“I need to find a way to talk to my mother about this,” I say, my heart growing heavy.
“She really hates my whole family that badly?”
“Unfortunately, yes. I think it was a perfect storm of things that hit her hard. My dad left her, pretty much overnight. One of her closest friends was married to Dad’s best friend, so Mom lost her in the divorce, too. Then your dad really broke her heart.” I sigh sadly. “I think she put all of her hopes into a future with him—believed the things he said and really thought it was her happy ending, only to get crushed a second time on the heels of the first.”
She’s never been the same since.
Ripley frowns.
“She’s a very …” I bite my lip, trying to find a way to describe my mother without being disrespectful and sounding harsh. “She has main character energy. She is the star of her—everyone’s—show in her mind. You can argue with her and try to explain that her self-image doesn’t translate into other people’sworlds, and she wouldn’t understand. That concept doesn’t exist with her.”
He glances at me with many questions on his mind.
“Even if she’s dramatic and her feelings are extreme … even if we don’t understand them all the time, it doesn’t invalidate them.”
“I understand. But do you really think she’d want to keep you from being with someone just because their dad fucked her over?”
“Simply put? Yes. I do. I know that will happen.”
“That sounds selfish as hell.”
I sit up and sigh again. “She is selfish. She doesn’t understand boundaries. She has flaws like everyone else. But she’s a good person, Ripley. Even though she frustrates me to the edges of the earth most days, I love her with all of my heart.”
He squeezes me again.
“She’s the only family I have,” I say. “I haven’t spoken to my father since the night I was telling you about when he called me over my tuition.”
Ripley’s jaw sets and he stares at the road ahead.
“My mother sort of raised herself, and then my father took over parenting her when they married, really, and now … I guess it’s me in that role.” My heart sinks at the realization. “I know she’s going to throw a fit when she finds out about us. I hope not, but I know she will. But if I can sit her down with a bottle of wine and catch her on a good day, I might be able to smooth it over enough not to worry about it anymore.”
“It’s whatever you want. Whatever you need. You know that I’ll never come between you and your mother. Family is the most important thing in the world to me.”
“I know.”
He looks over his shoulder at me. “And you. You are quickly becoming number one on that list.”
A wave of emotion cascades over me, crashing in soft, beautiful splashes in my heart and soul.
I’ve avoided hoping for much in my life because hope never pans out. It’s a setup to being burned. It’s akin to the universe laughing at you.Here, see this thing? Want it so you can never have it.
But maybe that’s my experience because I’ve always hoped for the wrong thing.
Maybe hope only works when you hope for the right thing.
Admitting that I’m considering, maybe even dreaming of, a future with Ripley scares the bejesus out of me. My stomach churns and my fight or flight reflex kicks in. But, for the first time, flight feels like a scarier option than fight. Because, if I fight, I have a chance to win. If I fly away, I leave him behind. And I can’t think of a worse scenario than that.
“Do you know why this is so easy?” I ask.
He hums, turning back to the road.
“It’s easy because this is the way it’s supposed to be.”
“You’re damn right it is.”
He turns onto my street and rolls through my middle-class neighborhood in his fancy car. People turn to look, little kids wave, and it’s an experience that I don’t know how to handle.
“When can I see you again?” he asks.
