Page 36 of The Girl I Once Loved

But before Daisy is able to open her mouth with one of her witty comebacks, she’s interrupted by the sound of our mother’s boisterous laughter coming from outside our front yard.

“I guess you're right. Some things never change around here. Looks like Mom and Curt still go at it like a pair of teenagers,” I state evenly.

“Nope, it’s not Curt. He left early this morning on an errand. It’s probably just Mom and Noah goofing around.” She shrugs like what she just said is a common occurrence and not the earth shattering revelation that it is.

Did she just say Mom and Noah?

Together?

Without being forced?

What the hell.

Needing to see this with my own eyes, I jump out of bed and rush over to my window, sliding my curtain to the side.

My frown deepens when I see my mother on her knees tending to the garden, laughing away at something Noah just said. They look completely comfortable with each other, their back-and-forth banter feeling like someone just punched me in the gut. And when Noah helps my wide-grinned mother to her feet, pressing a tender kiss to her cheek before giving her a hug, my jaw slams to the floor.

It’s official.

Hell has frozen over.

And the devil is currently hugging my mother with a fucking smile on his face.

“What the fuck?!” I growl, unable to keep my temper at bay.

“What? What’s going on?” Daisy asks worriedly, rushing towards me. When she spies over my shoulder and sees the same scene I am, her curiosity morphs into confusion.

“Jesus, Sky. You startled me. I thought something was wrong.”

“Doesn’t get any more wrong than that. Seriously,thatdoesn’t bother you?” I point at Noah and our mother being all…all…caring with each other, like they’re friends or something.

No.

Like they’re family.

“Why would it? Nothing I haven’t seen before.” She shrugs, unfazed, walking back to the bed to sit down at its edge. “Those two are inseparable. I swear they even have their own language, always whispering in the corners. If I didn’t know Mom loves us to death, I’d swear she would have preferred having sons to daughters. And Noah loves the attention she dotes on him. Don’t tell him I said this to you, but the dude is quite the momma’s boy.” She laughs, unaware how those words strike such a painful chord inside me.

Yes.

Me, more than anyone, knows just how much Noah has always craved motherly affection. Guess he finally found it. Not sure how I feel about it though, given the fact that it’smymother showering him with it. The same mother who has shown me nothing but her cold shoulder since I left home.

“When…” I croak, unable to get the words out, “when…did…they become so close?”

Daisy’s expression turns pensive, as if trying to recall exactly what catalyst event could have brought these opposing forces to unite.

“Hmm, maybe after you two graduated from Bayshore High. No, wait… maybe it was when you went off to college or when Noah started working with his dad. Honestly, I’m not sure when they ended up gravitating to each other. One day they were still using monosyllabic sentences, and the next, they were spending hours sitting at the kitchen counter just talking to each other. I think they both needed someone to just vent with and ended up finding each other. I don’t know. It was so long ago. I can’t even remember a time when they weren’t mother and son.”

Mother and son.

This time, I feel the metaphorical punch to my stomach so strongly that I need to physically wrap my arms around my waist to keep the pain at bay.

“Babe, are you okay? You look pale,” Daisy states worriedly, springing to her feet and hurrying to me.

“I’m fine,” I lie. “Just a little lightheaded all of a sudden.”

“You know what this is? Hunger pains. You should eat something,” she says. “Grab your shower and I’ll make some breakfast for you. Do you still like toast with sprinkled cinnamon on top?”

My beloved sister having to ask me that question, like I’m a stranger to her, only increases the pain I feel inside. Not having the strength to dive into why that is, since I know damn well it’s my fault we’ve been out of sync for so long, all I do is nod.

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