Page 112 of Better Together

Colt huffed and turned his attention back to the floor. “I still do.”

She tried to swallow, but the knot in her throat was unmoving. “Maybe that means I still have a shot.”

“A shot at what?”

“Being honest with you. I haven’t done that before–not really.”

Colt waved a hand in the air. “Be my guest.”

She scooted back on the couch, turned to face him, and tucked her feet under her. “Here it goes. I was born in Idaho. I don’t even know where. I’ve just seen my birth certificate. I don’t remember my dad. I don’t remember when he left. All I know is that mom told me once that he has kids all over the country, and he doesn’t care about any of them.” Remi shrugged. “I was about ten when she told me that, and I still don’t know what to think of it. On one hand, it validated my theory that no one cared about me. It almost made it the norm.”

“When you say ‘On one hand,’ it implies there’s another hand.”

“If no one cared about me, then it was strange when someonedidcare.”

Colt’s brow furrowed. “I care.”

“I know. I just couldn’t understand why.” She waved a hand in the air, trying to get back to the part she needed to tell. “My mom had a revolving door of men in her life. They weren’t all terrible guys, but things never lasted long with any of them. My mom was a charmer. Men fell at her feet, and they fell hard. But Mom’s attention always ran out, and the fallout was always epic.”

“You sure she was your mom? You have none of that thirst for drama.”

Remi huffed. “Like I said, it’s on the birth certificate, or I would have questioned it myself. Anyway, some of them were bad. Not just a little bit bad. They were terrible, and the fights with Mom usually got physical.”

Colt reached out his big hand and squeezed her knee.

“Some of them hit me.” Remi wiped her eyes on the sleeve of Colt’s shirt she wore.

Colt pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her. “Remi, I–”

“I don’t want to talk about it. At least not in detail. I don’t think any good could come from that.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

Remi pulled back a little, determined to do exactly what she’d said she’d do and open up to him. “Basically, Mom’s main focus was her dating life. She loved men a lot, and she didn’t care about me all that much. I got special attention when she wanted to show her current boyfriend that she was the perfect mom, but she didn’t do much for me. I had to learn to do things on my own, and I did. The state took me from her when I was eleven, and she never tried to get me back.”

“Remi, I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “It was actually a relief. I didn’t have to worry about trying to please her anymore. The pretending was over. I’d been pretending to be the quiet, content daughter I thought she wanted, and I didn’t have to do that anymore. From then on, I did everything wrong.”

Colt chuckled. “Everything? Maybe you are dramatic.”

Remi ticked off the list on her fingers. “Lying, sneaking out, drinking, smoking, stealing, vandalizing, influencing the other kids to do the terrible things I did. I was awful.”

“You know, you told me that stuff before we got married, but I still can’t believe it.”

Remi shrugged. “Believe it, because it’s true. I wasn’t ever arrested, but I should have been. I stole from foster families all the time. I never saw anything formally documented, but it happened. Some of the families were nice, but that didn’t stop me from causing trouble.”

“Maybe I should have been calling you trouble instead of princess.”

“It would have been more accurate, that’s for sure.” The truth hurt, but it was her own fault. She’d made a bed, and now she had to lie in it.

Colt squeezed her knee again. “I told you none of that matters to me.”

“I know you said that, but it should matter. I bet you’ve always been a straight edge, but I haven’t. What could you possibly want with me?”

Colt sat up straighter. “Everything. A life, love, kids, the works. I want everything with you.”

“That’s insane, Colt. Do you hear yourself?”

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