Page 496 of Hell Hath No Fury
Bryn scowled. “What do you mean, he’s no longer available?”
“He said for you to call him, and you can work out the details.”
“When you doin’ that?” I asked.
“August fifteenth,” Briggs said.
“I can do it.”
Bryn and Briggs’s heads whipped my way.
I wiped my mouth with a napkin and nodded. “What size truck do you need?”
“Like, a U-Haul small-size,” Briggs said. “My brother has an apartment he’s rented for us just off campus.”
“Gotcha covered,” I said. “If you want, you can come down to the club and have a look at what we got and pick one that’ll work. I can follow you up and drive your mom back. And if you needsome extra muscle, got a couple of recruits who need some earn time, so they can come too.”
“No way, really?” Briggs asked. “I have money saved up from working, so let me know what that’ll cost and—”
“Bud, it’s no charge,” I said.
I didn’t miss Bryn’s eyes as she turned away and wiped away tears before composing herself and facing her kid again.
“Are you sure?” Briggs asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Why?”
“Briggs,” Bryn admonished.
“It’s all good, Bryn,” I said, then turned to Briggs. “I consider your mom a friend, bud, and that friendship extends to you and your brother. There aren’t strings attached to it. It also isn’t gonna cost you anything. If you need somethin’, and I can provide it, I will. End of story.”
“Wow, okay, thanks.”
I nodded. “No problem.”
“I think Dad’s doing this to mess with you, Mom.”
Bryn’s body locked. “Why do you say that?”
“Because he was fine to go until I told him about the new locks on the door.”
Bryn took a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly. “Well, don’t you worry about that, honey. That’s between me and your dad.”
“Except it’s not,” he countered, leaning across the island. “Look, I get that you feel like you need to be cordial with Dad, but I’m eighteen now and Bay and I have been talking.”
“Uh-oh,” Bryn said.
“We’re over his shit, Mom.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“We’ve decided we’re going to take on extra work and figure out a way to pay for school ourselves because we no longer wantto have anything to do with him. We’re cutting him out of our lives for good. This was the last straw.”
“Baby, you don’t need to do that on my account.”
“We’re not,” he said. “We’re doing it for us. He’s a piece of shit, Mom, and he treats you like crap. We’re over it.” His phone pinged, and he glanced at the screen. “Crap, I forgot to pick up my cap and gown. I’m gonna head back to school and do that.” He made his way to Bryn and hugged her. “Do youwantus to keep a relationship with Dad?”
