“Grounded?” I stared at her. “Mom, I’m thirty-seven. You can’t ground me.”
“I most certainly can.”
“This is fucking ridiculous,” I said, pacing as the clock kept ticking down, every second another nail in my chest.
Then she said, “I know you’re really confused after Ethan’s death.”
I spun on her. “How dare you bring him up right now?”
Her face softened just a fraction. “I’m sorry if that’s a sensitive subject. I’m only trying to help.”
And that was when I realized she was never going to stop trying to control me.
“He is not a sensitive subject,” I said, my whole body shaking. “He was the love of my life. He is Ava’s father. And he deserves more respect than that.”
“Oh, now he deserves respect?” she shot back. “What about when you’re with that other man?” The way she said it was thick with disdain, like Alex’s name was something dirty.
Something inside me went very, very still.
“How dare you?” I said, my voice calm only because the storm inside me had nowhere left to go. “How dare you say that to me. You don’t even know him. You don’t know how hard this has been. Derby and Alex have healed a part of me. And you, as my mother, should be happy.”
For once, she had nothing to say.
I turned and headed for the front door.
“Where are you going?” she demanded.
“To the rink,” I shot back.
“How are you going to get there?”
“I’ll walk.”
“It’s miles away!”
“I don’t care. I’m not staying here. You don’t get to control me. And I won’t let Ava live here, constantly wondering what she did wrong. I will do whatever it takes to get us both away from you.”
I flung the front door open?—
And there was Alex, standing on the porch with my missing skate in his hands, his knuckles raised to knock.
46
ALEX
Iwas at the rink way earlier than I needed to be.
The place was already buzzing. I stood near the entrance, scanning every person who walked through the doors, waiting for Eleanor’s familiar smile.
Nothing.
I checked my phone again and sent her another text.
You close?
No reply.
I tried calling her.
