Page 19 of Where the Little Birds Are (Little Bird Duet 2)

I whisper, “Pickles?”

“And peanut butter.”

My nose scrunches. “Together?”

She laughs. “Darling, you’ve got a long way to go by the looks of it. You’ll start wanting things you never thought you’d like. Just wait.”

I blow out a breath. Great.

The familiar sight of peppered dark hair greets me as I walk toward my front door. Her hair is styled in a short ‘do that rests just above her shoulders, highlighted with silver that the sun emphasizes when she turns around. My feet slow as I tighten my grip on the bag of candy.

“Hello, Kinley.”

I swallow my nerves. “Hi, Mom.”

My eyes go to the black car parked in my driveway behind my own. When I meet Mom’s distant gaze, I know she knows. It’s the way her lips twitch like she wants to say something but can’t. She rarely holds back.

She silently moves out of the way for me to unlock the door, then follows me inside. Since she knows where to put her coat, I let her settle in while I drop my keys and food onto the kitchen counter. Too afraid to take off my own jacket, I stuff my hands in the pockets and walk over to where she stands in between the foyer and living room.

Penny rubs against her shins, but she doesn’t pay her any attention. Her eyes are on me until my soul feels the burn of her unspoken words. Her gaze doesn’t even have to linger to the midsection I hide under layers of clothing.

“How are you?”

She walks into the living room. “Don’t start with me, Kinley Ann.” Cringing over the middle name, I follow her in. She takes a seat on the couch and I sit in the chair next to it.

Drawing my legs onto the edge of the cushion to hide my torso, I bite down on my thumbnail. “Where’s Dad?”

“At home.”

Her short replies mean I’m in big trouble, so I prepare myself. “I know you’re upset, but I really need you not to be right now.”

Her hard expression doesn’t change, leaving me sinking back. “And what about what I need? Or your father? We’ve been worried sick about you. Your brother—”

“Don’t.”

She throws her hands up, staring with hard eyes unforgivingly at me. “Don’t what?”

“Whatever Gavin told you isn’t…” I lick my dry lips, feeling them crack under the tip of my tongue. “I can explain, okay? It’s not going to be easy to hear, but there’s a reason.”

Mom doesn’t answer, but doubt is displayed across her face. “Then explain it to me because I don’t understand where we went wrong. How many times have we told you to let go? We didn’t tell you that because we wanted to control you. It was to protect you.”

Protect you from this, is what she doesn’t add. It’s clearly stated between the lines. Her gaze finally dips down to my midsection.

“Tell me.”

My lips part, but only air comes out.

At the worst time possible, I think about Parker. What does he think of me? Mom and Dad didn’t offer their opinions about him like they didn’t with Corbin, but their hesitance wasn’t as obvious. They’d ask me about Parker and seemed happy to hear he was doing well. They liked him.

I bet he doesn’t like me very much.

Standing up, she paces a few times before turning to me again. “We have tried to be supportive of your choices, but we can’t keep standing around and watching you self-destruct over somebody who isn’t worth it.”

I loosen the grip I have on my thumbnail, blinking at her as I absorb the words. “You gave me a chance to bond with somebody who understood what it was like to dream beyond the town line. I needed Corbin back then.”

She rolls the same dark color eyes I get from her. “You didn’t need him then, and you don’t need him now. Same for Parker. You’ve always been stronger than that and Corbin poisoned your mindset. He’s not a good—”

“I’m not a good person,” I cut her off, dropping my feet onto the floor. “You can call him names and put all the blame on him, but you don’t see both sides. You want to take mine because it’s in your nature to. But I fucked up, Mom. And I don’t want to be in this position, but I have no other choice.”

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