Page 42 of Imperfections Forbidden
“Kate and my mother.I was outnumbered and outmatched.”
I take my coat off and sit down on the couch next to her.She lightly touches the side of my cheek with her fingertips, and I flinch from the pain.“Ouch!”
“I’m going to get you some ice; your face is fucked up.God, it looks like it hurts.”
I grab her arm to keep her from getting up.“No.I’ll be fine.Does it look as bad as it feels?”
She scrunches up her face and shakes her head in a sympathetic way.She also looks mad.
“What the hell happened?Which one did that to your face?”
“My mother.”
“She hit you on purpose?”
“She slapped the shit out of me when I called her a two-dollar whore.”
Ava’s blue eyes almost pop out of her head.“You didn’t!”
“I did.”And it was worth it to see the look on her face.
I tell Ava everything, about the whole argument between Kate, my mother, and me, from start to finish, leaving nothing out.
“I can’t believe all of this happened this morning.I would have never in a million years have guessed that Mr.Reed wasn’t Kate’s and Chris’s father.I can’t believe your mother cheated on your father!And had two kids that weren’t his, and he still took her back!My God, if that isn’t love, then I don’t know what is.”
“I don’t know.Is it love, Ava?”
“I don’t know, but it takes a certain type of man to deal with that.I can’t think of one man I know that would be able to deal with that.”
“Me either.”I nod my head in agreement.“You know what gets me, he forgave her after she did all of that to him, and one call from this man who left her when she was pregnant with twins, and she was actually considering leaving my father again to be with him.How fucked up is that?”
“Your father never knew?”
“No, before she had a chance to see him, he died in a plane accident.”
“Would you really tell your father?”
“No, what purpose would it serve for him to find out the woman he considered the love of his life was thinking about leaving her son and him a second time?”I slump back in the couch, my hand over my face, and groan.Damn, my face hurts.I pull a compact mirror out of my purse, the same one I had at Nick’s house—I didn’t have time to change bags.I wince when I see the side of my face in the mirror.My face is puffy and swollen, and there’s a nasty black-and-blue mark across my left cheekbone.
“It’s not that bad.I can help you cover it with makeup,” Ava offers.
“Thanks,” I say quietly, putting the compact back.
“Did you tell Nick?”
“Not yet.I didn’t want to bother him; he’s in court all day.”
“If he sees that, he’s going to lose it.”She tips her chin toward my face.
“I know.Oh God, Ava.What am I going to do?”I groan, resting my head back on the couch, looking at the ceiling like it holds the answers I’m looking for.
“I know how my cousin feels about you, Cat, but did you find out how you feel about him?”
“No man has ever made me feel this way.I know in my soul no one ever will.I have wanted to be with this man from when I was a little girl with stars in my eyes.I have dreamed of it countless times, and it was everything I knew it would be and more.If this baby is his, I don’t know if I can do it.Can you tell me, how I stop loving him when I’ve just begun?”
“Cat, I’m sorry it all happened like this.”
“So am I.”
