“I think it’s sweet. She’s your mother. Mine was the same way, and even though I was much younger, she was a master interrogator each time Cassie and I came home from a party or a date.”
“Meanwhile, neither of you answered the question.” My mother laughed. “Which speaks volumes. But I won’t push.”
“Since when?” I joked, and she lifted her chin.
“I’ve always felt you got the raw end of the deal because of your father. It might’ve made me a little more protective than most mothers, but I had to try and be both, and I didn’t want to fail.”
“You didn’t. He did.”
“I’m not so sure.”
This was an insurmountable issue between us. My mother could never come right out and blame my father. She’d rather take the burden on herself.
And me? I’d perfected the ostrich method. What I didn’t know couldn’t hurt me. Sometimes I wished I had the nerve to pick up the phone and not stop calling until I forced him to speak to me. He should know I grew up fine without him and had a wonderful life.
Then Ronan shocked me…but for an entirely different reason.
“I’m not planning on going anywhere.”
Chapter Nineteen
Ronan
“Erica, you’re staying, and I don’t want to hear any argument. There’s an extra bedroom and everything.” Gabriel might feel weird about his mother knowing we’d be sleeping together, but she should get used to it.
“Next time, I promise, but I really have to get home and take care of my cat. He’ll take it out on my furniture if I leave him for the night. I’m late as it is.”
She stacked the empty plates and put them in the dishwasher. We’d ordered sushi for dinner, and Gabriel had relaxed after the earlier tension. It was obvious he adored his mother, and she loved him. It made me wish for things that could never happen, and I closed my eyes for a second, recalling the minutes before the accident when my parents had been debating whether to stop for pizza or Chinese on the way home.
“Why not both?” my father said. “We can have a party.”
And then the world went black.
“You okay?” Gabriel’s lips touched my ear, and I blinked hard, the memories crashing over me, sucking me under until I couldn’t breathe. I laid my forehead on the wall for a moment to gather my wits. His large palm rested between my shoulder blades, and I knew I’d always want to have him there to hold me whenever my painful past crept in.
“Yeah. I will be. And Erica, if you’re not staying, I’m getting you a car. You’re not taking a train by yourself at night.”
“Don’t argue with him, Mom. Ronan can be very persuasive.”
I grinned and kissed Gabriel’s cheek, watching him blush. How cute was he? “You have no idea.” Once I scheduled a car, Erica picked up her purse and coat.
“Ronan, it was wonderful meeting you, and I hope to see you again soon.”
“I think that can be arranged.” I hooked my arm through hers, suddenly lighter than I’d been all day. “Come on, we’ll walk you out. The car will be here in five minutes.”
As we pushed open the front door to the street, a person with a microphone stepped into my face. “Ronan, we heard there was an altercation at New York Hospital today. Do you have a statement?”
“No comment.” I brushed past the reporter and ignored the cameraman, putting myself between them and Erica.
“Do you know who threw the coffee at you? Do you think it was someone you stole from?”
Erica let go of my hand and faced the two men. “Aren’t you concerned if someone was hurt? That hot coffee hit my son. It could’ve caused him permanent damage. Whatever Ronan might’ve done, he served the time the justice system deemed appropriate. And it certainly doesn’t give anyone the right to physically assault another person. I hope they’re caught and prosecuted.”
Damn. She was in full mama-bear mode, and she was a fucking force.
“Don’t you think people have a right to be angry? People don’t think six years is long enough for all the money he stole.”
Eyes narrowed and hands on her hips, Erica spit out her words like nails. “Then they should take it up with the court. And in case you forgot, he paid it back. So when does the vengeance end?”
