“No, Ma. I mean to trust myself. I thought Katie loved me. I thought she was something that she wasn’t.”
“She was a chameleon, that one. I never liked her, but I bit my tongue because you were into her.”
“Don’t hold your tongue ever again.”
“But how you got two beautiful and sweet girls out of such a monster is beyond me.”
“I wouldn’t change a thing, Ma. Without my time with Katie, I wouldn’t have Hazel and Maddox.”
“Sometimes the best things come out of a flaming pile of crap.”
I snort at her statement. “You’re so eloquent.”
“Well, tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re not.”
“So, baby, you and Tate officially a thing now?”
“I think so.”
Ma rolls her eyes. “What the hell does that mean?”
“We didn’t really talk about our status, but I kind of made some claims in front of Thumper.”
“Claims?”
“I said she was mine.”
Ma smiles so damn big, I’m surprised she is able to keep her eyes open. “I like that. But, son, you need to talk to her about it.You don’t get to make relationship decisions without the other person agreeing to whatever it is or isn’t.”
“He pissed me off.”
“You’re a Romeo,” she teases.
“It was shitty. I knew it when the words came out of my mouth, but he pissed me off so much, I couldn’t stop myself.”
“Men,” she breathes.
“I’ll talk with her.”
“Good, sweetheart. Don’t fuck it up.”
I bark out a laugh. “Ma.”
“When are you seeing her again?”
“Tonight.”
“You better have the talk—and fast. Don’t leave the girl hanging any longer than you already have.”
“Yes, Ma.”
“Now, come inside and look at the sink and tell me about how the girls did when you dropped them off at camp. I want to hear everything.”
“Okay,” I tell her as we push ourselves up from the step. “But there’s not much to tell.”
“I want to hear everything that happened yesterday.” She holds open the front door for me, waiting for me to go in first. “And don’t leave anything out,” she says.
