“I’ve never really had that same attachment, I guess.It was somewhere to stay.”
“That’s a shitty way to grow up, Drea.For all it sucked when Mom left, Dad held us together.”
Drea took her last mouthful of soup and pushed her bowl away.
“I’m scared, Drea.”
The words were so quiet she nearly missed them.“Oh, Brody,” she said, reaching for his hand.
“I have all of these mixed feelings about Mom.I hated her for so long, it’s hard to switch it off.I mean, I might not be able to have kids and it fucking kills me.She had three of us.And left us.I dreamed of seeing her one day, and being able to show her all this.My home, and Second Circle.Tell her I’m a partner in Devon’s garage and Connor’s business.I’m a cancer survivor.Then tell hernoneof it was because of her.”
Cujo took another drink of wine.Drea didn’t know what to say, so instead, she stood, and moved between his knees.
“It’s sucks, Brody.I wish I had some profound words of wisdom, but I don’t.”
His arms snaked around her waist.
“The tough part is, I see this woman lying in a hospital bed, and the man in me wants to pulverize the asshole who did that to her.I can’t tell whether I feel so strongly because Dad raised me to never hit a woman, or whether it’s something more… I don’t know… primal, maybe?Because she’s my mom.”
She rested her hands on his shoulders, squeezing them to loosen the tension.
“What the fuck do I say to her tomorrow, Shortcake?She’s been through enough without me acting like a fucking eight-year-old pussy.”
“Hey,” Drea interjected.“Enough.You’re allowed to be hurt, Cujo.What Evelyn did was cruel.It will do neither of you any good to pretend you aren’t.But maybe you need to give her time to heal a little more before you have that conversation.”
Cujo rested his forehead on her chest.“I’m glad you’re here, Drea.”
She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed the top of his head.“Me, too.”
They stayed like that for a while longer, lost in their own thoughts.
After several minutes, Cujo pulled back.“Do you feel like walking me through what you found out in the beginning?The reports and the stuff that dude in Alberta sent you.”
“You mean about the drill site, the reserve size… all the environmental stuff?”
“Did I tell you I love it when you talk geo-dirty to me?”
“Cujo.”She slapped his arm.“Of course, but why?”
“I don’t know.Maybe if I know what my mom was involved in, it might help me… figure this shit out.”
Cujo ran his hands down her side and gripped her hips.She could feel the desperation through his fingers.She understood the need to find some kind of common ground with someone you had nothing in common with.She’d been trying, unsuccessfully, for years with her mom.
“Okay.Let me clean up this mess, and we can start.”
“Will you come with me?To see Mom tomorrow?”
“Of course.Whatever you need, Brody.”
He let her go, and Drea collected the bowls.She placed them next to the sink and opened the dishwasher.
“You know, Drea, I hope you’ll feel like this is home, eventually.I like you here, but I get you have things you need to figure out first.”
Drea smiled.“Well, you do have a nice bed.And you cook great meals I’ve never heard of.”
“It’s still about the bed, huh?”
“And perhaps the man who sleeps in it,” she conceded with a smile.
