"I'm not sure?—"
Tina huffs and drags me into her living room. "Nonsense. You sit, Nate will get us some of Ellis' glorious banana muffins."
"Ellis made them?" I blurt, once again glancing back to see Nate. I'm completely out of my depth here. Nate's mom wants to talk to me, and her hard stare is scaring the crap out of me. And also, since when does Ellis the asshole bake freaking banana muffins?
Tina cocks her head at me and softens her tone. "Ellis is always baking me goodies."
"Oh." Goodness, I'm uncomfortable. This was a mistake. Wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans, I prepare to stand up and call an Uber.
"Violet, honey," Tina whispers, leaning forward in her chair. With our proximity, I can easily see the laugh lines around her eyes and dimples in her cheeks. She's stunning and sostrong.
"Y-yes, Tina?" Swallowing, I try not to act like she's going to murder me. I broke her son’s heart for shit’s sake. This woman has every right to kick me out of her house after giving me a piece of her mind.
To my surprise, she grabs one of my hands in a gentle hold and places her other palm over her heart.
"I am so,sosorry for what my son did. The way he's hurt you...Well," she clears her throat, "I'll just say I'm grateful for the opportunity to meet you. After he told me what he and Ellisdid...My heart broke thinking I could never meet the woman they've loved for seven years. I am also so very sorry about what happened to your mama. I couldn't imagine the fear and awful feelings you must be living with. When I was young, I tried to outrun my trauma too, honey."
Well, shit...Tears blur my vision and tumble down my cheeks. "I-I didn't expect you to-to?—"
"Baby, breathe," Nate coos, seating himself on the couch beside me. His large, warm hand cradles the back of my neck, helping to ground me and warm the chill overtaking my body. "Baby."
Nate sounds worried, but all I can do is try to force my sobs back down. "T-thank you, T-Tina," I gasp out, then fold over my legs and let loose the back-breaking sob that has been threatening me for a long time.
"Shit," Nate curses and drops to his knees in front of me. "Look at me, Violet."
I vaguely hear his mom murmuring something, then Nate grabs my chin in his fingers and forces me to look at him. "In through your nose, out through your mouth. Fucking hell, don't make me call Jamie. He will kill me."
Sucking a greedy gulp of air in, I blow a raspberry as I push it back out. I do this over and over again, trying to pay attention to the tingles in my lips when they vibrate together.
"Good girl. Such a good job. Keep doing that," he coos, pushing my hair behind my ear and maintaining eye contact.
"I wasn't—" I hiccup. "I wasn't having a panic attack."
"You needed to stop crying."
Tina snorts and kicks her son gently in the back, making him rock forward a bit. "Everyone needs a hard cry, Nate. She will probably have many more with the shit you've pulled. Go get her some water."
My heart aches when he closes his eyes and hangs his head. He acts as though his mom’s reminder of the way he's failed me hurts him.
"Yes, ma'am," he agrees and stands as he plants a kiss on the top of my head.
"Give us ten minutes!" Tina hollers. and Nate gives her a thumbs up, releasing a quivering giggle from me.
"I'm sorry." I cringe and wipe my eyes with a tissue she hands over. "What you said was very overwhelming. I really thought you were going to h-hate on me or something."
Tina dabs under her eyes, and I finally register that she also got choked up. "No need to apologize, Violet. Men sometimes have a hard time when the woman they love is in tears. Sends them right into panic mode."
There's that L word again.
Tina once again holds my hand. "I'm not going to pretend to know why you're here or assume you're giving the boys another chance. And I won't defend them or excuse their actions. What I would like to offer you, if you let me, is some understanding. Two points of view I bet you've wondered about."
"What do you mean?" Wiping my nose and cheeks, I blink at Nate's mom.What is she saying?
She gives me a sad smile. "Would you like to hear how they handled your breakup the first time? Sometimes having as much information as possible leads to more confident decisions."
Do I want to know howmyshitty choices hurt them? No, not even a little.Butthe past is important if I want to have a future with them. Maybe if I have a tiny glimpse, then I can figure out how I can move forward with all of this. Because one thing is for certain, I miss them so much.
"Okay," I nod, sounding a bit scared. "Please tell me."
