“Calm down, Rambo. You started it by being impolite.”
“She—”
“Ah!” He stopped the onslaught of rambling by covering my mouth with his hand. “Now, before you go on a tirade about how terrible she is, let’s go see your boyfriend.”
“But we don’t even know where he is!”
Jeff held out his hand to the door just as it opened and Lizzy walked through with a grin on her face. “He wants to see you.”
13
LIAM
“You’relucky you weren’t killed,” Ma chastised, as if it was my fault that the brakes went out on the car.
“I’m still alive, Ma.”
“Barely. You’re broken. Literally broken!”
“Ma—”
“Collarbone, wrist, head injury?—”
“Ma—”
“Don’t bother, son. She’s not done yet,” Pop said from where he lounged in the corner of this depressing as fuck hospital room. I would hate the color Seafoam green for the rest of my life.
“What were you thinking, getting in the way of a semi?”
“I didn’t?—”
“I’m not done talking,” she snapped, pacing across the room to the table beside my bed. “We taught you how to drive. You should have known better.”
Pouring a cup of water, she thrust it at my face, not giving me the option of whether or not to take it.
“That turn is always dangerous. Idiots constantly pass on the shoulder, which you should have known. Drink your water.”
“I’m not actually thirsty.”
“Just drink it,” Pop sighed. “She won’t relent.”
“And in someone else’s vehicle!” Ma shouted at the ceiling. Then she spun on me, jabbing her finger in my face. “Do you know how disgraceful it is to get in an accident in someone else’s vehicle? You know her insurance is going to go sky high. Did you think of that when you got in the accident?”
“It was my sole concern,” I retorted.
“Don’t be cute with me, young man. I have a good mind to ground you for the rest of your thirties.”
“But then how would I ever get married and have kids?” I asked.
“Well, obviously, I’d let you out for those activities, but other than that, you’re grounded. Not allowed to leave the ranch unless your father is driving.”
“Only with you,” Pop said. “How else would I know when to brake or which way to go?”
Ma spun on him, her anger now directed at my father. “Don’t be cute.”
Holding up both hands, humor danced in his eyes. “I’m not. Hell, I don’t know how I’ve survived these past thirty years when you weren’t with me. There was no one to tell me the speed limit, where to turn, the fastest way around town, or how much space to leave between me and the car in front of me. It’s been a goddamn nightmare out there.”
I rolled my head to the side, wincing as my shoulder pulled slightly. “Has she been like this the whole time?” I asked Krista.
