“Us?”
Heaving a sigh, I explain.“Yes.Part of my mom’s patter was to wring as much pathos as she could out of our situation.Single mom.Her horrible parents.Struggling to make ends meet looking after her young daughter.Meeting him has been the only joy she’s had in a long time… and so on.”
Pushing my plate away, I sigh.
“Do I have to spell it out for you?My mom might just be the greatest salesperson in the world.And our complicated family dynamic was her product.”
I have no idea why they keep the light out of this dim breakfast room, but it suits my mood.
“Why did you stick around?”Theron is unemotional about my story.I like that.He looks at the situation with analytical clarity.“What are you now?Twenty-five?”
“Twenty-eight.”
I see his eyes get wider.“Damn, darlin’.You’re nearly thirty.You should get a move on before—” He cuts off the rest of what he was going to say.
“Before I end up like my mother?”The sarcasm in my voice could melt steel.
Leaning his elbows on the table—which makes it creak under the stress—Theron confesses.“Yep, I was gonna say that, but can we get through this conversation without taking offense?”
He’s got a point.
“We would skate by until one of the men asked my mom to move in.I would move in too, of course.I have to admit, it was heavenly in the beginning.”
The cute pink girly bedroom.The closet full of clothes and shoes.The toys, house, cars, and garden.
“I’ll tell you why I’m sticking by my mom, Theron.It’s because she stuck by me.I was always included in her plans.I was always part of the deal.No exceptions.”
He looks skeptical.It riles me up the way he leans back in his chair after linking his hands behind his head.He looks relaxed, but I know he’s getting ready to pounce with another judgment.
“I feel you, Aila.I do.But I don’t think your mother would still be single if your li’l system worked.”
“Allow me to share my insights about the male psyche with you, Mr.Rabane.”My little smirk gets an answering smile from him.“My mom scored her first sponsor when she was twenty.He was loaded.Rich beyond our wildest dreams.But whenever my mom brought up the subject of marriage, he would tell her to wait.Turns out, the wealthiest men prefer to marry women from their own background and status.You want to know what he said when my mom finally got the courage to leave him?”
Theron lifts an eyebrow.“Enlighten me with that scumbag’s point of view.”
“He said, ‘why marry the cow when you’re getting the milk for free?’”
It still hurts, even after ten years.I called that man “Dad” for God’s sake!He would introduce me to everyone as his daughter, only for him to kick my mom to the curb when she turned thirty-five so that he could marry a trust fund baby in her twenties.
“So, we eventually came to Canada.My mom had saved enough to allow me to finish college if I took out a small student loan.She had zero work experience and no academic qualifications.But we made it work.”
“What were you studying?”Theron is back with his elbows on the table, studying my face keenly.I think he’s waiting for me to crack, to start crying about my lost childhood home.
Standing up, I brush away the question.“Doesn’t matter now.I flunked out.Are you in the mood for another hike?Let’s go swimming in the creek.”
He hesitates.Have I scared him off with my brutally honest background info dump?
“I can take you for a ride around the island.Would you like that?”
Yes.I would love that.Even in the gloomy atmosphere of the breakfast room, Theron is this weird combination of attractive and dangerous.Yes, he could totally take advantage of me if he really wanted to, but he has this way of dominating the direction of my thoughts without being bossy about it.
He’s not gentle, but he’s most certainly tender.My mind flicks to what it might be like to lie with him on my narrow little bed…
“If that won’t be getting in the way of your plans for the day, that would be nice.”
“Heh.”That gruff laugh; the one Theron uses when he’s appreciating a joke he knows I will never understand.“I have no plans other than to be with you, Aila.And I’m hoping we can get out of here before your mother comes looking for us.”
“‘Nuff said.”Suddenly I feel lighthearted and free.
