“How he can sleep amongst all this noise is beyond me.”
Jackie leans in, laughing. “Oh please, he sleeps like his uncle. From what I recall, once you were out, you were dead to the world.”
Our gazes lock as I pick my head up, and a just that quickly, a charged energy pulses between us. Colin takes that moment to stretch in his sleep, sighing heavily. Jackie’s gaze drops to the baby.
“You ever think about having one of these?”
“All the time,” she answers before glancing back up at me.
That same pulse vibrates around us, only stronger.
“Just waiting on the right man to do it with.”
My eyes narrow as I attempt to read the look in her eyes.
“Mark O’Brien!”
The sudden burst of sound from the other side of Jackie snaps us out of our connection. I move forward to gain better sight of her mother.
“Mark O'Brien, that’s you, right?” her mother asks, her voice slurring. She’s loud enough that some at the table and the living room look over at her.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I remember you.” She points her finger at me as if calling in a memory from long ago.
I lift both eyebrows because I’m certain Jackie’s mother and I never met before. It was one of the things that bothered me about our relationship. She never introduced me to her parents. Never even allowed me over to her home.
“Jackie talked all about you in that diary she kept in high school.”
“Mama, you read my diary?” Jackie asks, startled.
Her mother looks to her and nods. “You never talked to me about your life, and your father—”
“That’s enough, Mama,” Jackie suddenly cuts her off.
Mrs. Hinkerson keeps going, despite Jackie trying to get her to stop talking. “She wrote that she loved you.”
The scene in front of me confuses and then starts to anger me. I recall back all those years ago when Jackie’s reluctance to let me meet her family brought up the feelings of not being good enough.
But she was writing in her journal that she loved me? The hell sense did that make?
“Jackie, why didn’t you tell me we’re having dinner with your old high school boyfriend? Your father would’ve—”
“Let’s go, Mama,” Jackie suddenly declares, standing from her seat and hurriedly helping her mother up.
I don’t pay much attention as the pair make their awkward exit. The emotional fog of anger and confusion consumes me whole.
Why the hell do I keep letting this woman who obviously doesn’t believe I’m good enough for her reel me in?
Chapter 12
I’m so pissed with my mother I could spit nails. Not only did she completely embarrass me in front of Mark’s entire family and friends, but she could be the reason this whole thing blows up in my face.
Sighing, I press back against my driver’s seat as I sit in the parking garage of Mark’s condo.
“This isn’t her fault,” I say over and over because it’s not. My mother, for better or worse, is hurting. Pain mixed with alcohol is never a good thing. I should know, seeing as how I’ve worked in treatment centers for years. Yet, this is the first night I’ve ever seen my mother drink so much.
Who knew she becomes a Chatty Kathy when she’s drunk?
