“So what? I’m just supposed to let my son cut me out of his life?”
“Again, that’s between you and him—”
“Will you stop saying that!” Sylvia cut in. “I know you don’t understand the bond between a mother and her child—”
“See,that—that right there is why you and I will never get along. Because you say these things aimed to hurt me without eventryingto understand the pain that infertility has brought to my life.” She stepped forward. “Igrievethe child I’ve never held. I see them in my mind. Their little fingers wrapped around my thumb. Their chubby cheeks. Yet I’ve never held them, and I don’t know if I ever will. It’s a sense of loss and pain that you couldn’t even begin to comprehend.”
Tears stung her eyes, but she forced the words out because she needed Sylvia to hear this.
“And there’s a sense of inadequacy that comes with infertility. Like my body is broken, and I don’t know how to fix it. And every time you take a jab at me about how I’m not supposed to be a mother, or how I don’t understand what it’s like to be a mom, you push me deeper into the darkness that swallowed me a year ago—and you make every fear and inadequacy come alive again.”
Sylvia’s face paled.
“I was hurting,” Indie said quietly. “I’mstillhurting, but a year ago, I thought that pain would cut me in two. It’s a kind of sadness that made me feel empty. I did everything I could tosurvive, including ending things with Colt so he was no longer forced to choose between us. And instead of checking in on me, your daughter-in-law, instead of asking if I was okay or what you could do to help while my world was crashing down around me, you demeaned me. Every time you saw me, you went out of your way to make me feel every bit as broken as I thought I was.”
Sylvia didn’t say anything, but the look on her face was one Indie had never seen. Something between shock and understanding…and perhaps a bit of shame. But maybe Indie was just seeing what she wanted to see.
She blinked away the tears. “So no, I won’t betrying to get alongwith you. I will be working on my relationship with Colt and continuing to protect my mental health. Now, I need to go.”
Once the door was closed, she leaned her forehead on the wood.
She wasn’t sure if she was expecting to feel relief after finally telling Sylvia how she felt. She didn’t. She just felt kind of hollow. Like she’d lost something she’d never even had—the mother-in-law she’d always wished for.
Colt climbedout of his Audi, the cool morning air skimming across his skin. He barely felt it, the need to find his father consuming him.
Soon, Randy’s crew would be here, this forest would be crawling with people, and Gordon would be gone.
So, he had a time limit.
He moved down the newly updated trails, his footsteps quick, fueled by adrenaline.
When the cabins came into view, a small light came from one of the windows.
Good. He was here.
The door to the cabin opened and Gordon stepped out, a backpack slung over his shoulder. He didn’t look up as he turned back toward the cabin and pulled the door closed.
Colt took the steps up to the deck two at a time, and the second Gordon turned, he swung, nailing his father in the face.
Gordon grunted and dropped before rolling to his side and grabbing his face. “What the fuck?”
Colt didn’t pause. He grabbed his dad and pulled him to his feet. Then he shoved him hard against the cabin, the wood groaning under the impact. “I told you toleave her alone.”
Blood dripped from a cut on his father’s cheek. “Jesus Christ, you got a good hit. I taught you well.”
“You didn’t teach me shit. Youtriedto teach me how to be weak. You showed me you’re a fucking coward. But you didn’t teach me anything.”
Amusement flitted across his father’s face. “I taught you how to beangry…and I can see that anger in your eyes right now. You wanna kill me. But the little Boy Scout inside you is fighting it.”
“You’re right. Iamfighting the urge to kill you. And I’ll win, because unlike you, I have some damn self-control. Now tell me what you want so you can get the fuck out of town.”
“You know what I want—the money I’m owed.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? You’re not owed a damn thing.”
“Your mother hired Ben, and he forced me to sign divorce papers. I gave up everything—money, the house, all of it. I got scraps compared to what I should have walked away with.”
Colt lowered his head. “You don’t deserve shit, and my mother isn’t giving you another cent of her money. There’s nothing here for you—leave.”
