“Uh, no comment, Mother? Normally, you say something inappropriate. That’s your MO on most things.”
While that was true, Alice didn’t know what to say.
“You don’t want to hear what I have to say. Whenever I give you advice, you lose your mind. I’m learning that it’s best to stay silent, even when I know my advice could help.”
Well, she wasn’t wrong there.
Only, this was the one time he might need her help.
“You can say it. I already know what you’re going to say to me.”
Alice went there.
Since he felt like that, then, she wouldn’t be shocked.
“I wish with everything in my whole being that I never introduced you and Will all of those years ago. Had I known it would have destroyed your life like this, I would have scared him away.”
Oh, shit.
Yeah, that wasn’t what he thought she’d say to him.
Not.
At.
All.
For all the years, he’d never suspected that she felt that way, but now, he had to address it.
“MOM!”
She stopped him.
“Will was a good man, but he became your identity. You stopped being Corbin when you married him. You threw your whole self into his life. His business. His problems. You stopped being you. When he was taken away, you spiraled. I’m sorry that I interfered. I’m the reason your whole life is ruined.”
He was flabbergasted.
What?
Was?
This?
“I thought you liked Will!” he admitted.
Alice was honest.
“I loved him. I just hate how it destroyed you, and keeps coming back to do it again. You have to let him and it go, Corbin. You need to stop mourning a man that was only a portion of your life.”
And that hurt.
So, Corbin said nothing.
Alice continued.
“I was with your father for a very long time, so I understand the pain of losing someone you love. When John died, I lost half of me. I get it that when Will died, you lost half of you, but here we are, Corbin, and I’ve healed. Your father wouldn’t want me living like that. You need to let him go. I know this is going to make you angry, but you picked up and found a new life. Start living it.”
He said nothing.
