Her brows drew together. “Awkward position?”
“The day you caught me crying,” he prompted.
She continued to look confused. After a few moments of staring at each other, her face cleared and her lips parted. “Oh...that?”
“That? Tamara, you caught me crying in a closet. I didn’t want anyone to see me like that. Especially a girl that I thought was cute. My own mom never saw me cry after my dad walked out.”
Her brows drew together. “Is that why you were crying? Because of your dad?”
“They’d argued the night before. They always argued, but I hoped it was just another day. But my mom told my dad, ‘if you don’t want to be here, then leave.’ He packed a bag and walked out. He didn’t come back that night or the next morning. I knew that time he was gone for good.”
Sympathy filled her eyes. “I didn’t know.”
“No one knew. Not then anyway. Later, everyone knew he’d walked out on my mom. When you caught me crying, I didn’t know how to act around you. I thought you’d tell everyone.”
“Why would I tell anyone? What kind of a person did you think I was? When I saw you, I knew something had to be going on for you to do that. You weren’t the type of person to get emotional like that. I didn’t know what to do or how to help, so I just left you alone. I never thought about telling anyone what I saw because we were friends.”
He understood that now. As an adult he could look back on the situation without the embarrassment or fear he’d had as a teen. Tamara hadn’t been the kind of person to play off of other people’s pain. She’d been kind to everyone in her circle. He’d been foolish to think she would embarrass him. Foolish, and consumed with his own anger and pain about his parents’ failing relationship. He couldn’t lash out at his mom, and his dad hadn’t been around to receive his anger. Which meant he had no one to take things out on but Tamara.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“For crying?”
“No, for being an asshole back then. I didn’t know how to handle everything that was happening in my life. I took my frustration out on you and that wasn’t right. Later, when everyone found out about my dad leaving, they kept bad-mouthing him or saying my mom did something to drive him away. Everyone had a reason, but it wasn’t what I believed. I thought I was the reason he finally left.”
Her eyes filled with empathy, and she closed the space between them. “Andre, no, don’t say that.”
“I know that now. He made his own choice. But back then, I’d gotten angry. I shouted in the middle of their argument and begged them to just stop it already. That’s when my mom gave him the ultimatum and he left. I know it wasn’t really my fault. But he walked out after that and never came back. It was hard not to believe it was because of me.”
She placed a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”
He pulled back. Not liking the way the compassion in her eyes brought back those feelings of loss, anguish and guilt after his dad left. He’d had to step up and start taking care of himself and his mom after that day. His mom, while she’d still tried to keep things together, had also clung to him and let him become the man of the house. A role that meant she stopped nurturing and started relying on him to fill in where his dad had left off. His chores became the things his dad used to do around the house. Getting a job to provide money for bills became one of his responsibilities. Andre didn’t resent or regret doing what he could to step in. He wanted to help his mom, but the change in role meant he’d learned quickly that he was responsible for himself, and no one was going to look out for him anymore.
He didn’t need people to care for or look out for him. So why did the compassion in Tamara’s eyes make him feel a little less alone? He’d never talked in depth about that turbulent time in his life. No details, just a gloss over of his parents divorcing like so many other married couples. He never thought he’d needed to tell anyone, yet he’d just poured everything out to Tamara.
“I’ve got to get going,” he said. “Let me know how the siding holds up.”
He avoided her eyes and hurried toward the front door before he spilled any more of the emotions bubbling up inside him. The sound of her lighter footsteps followed. He turned at the door and met her eyes. “And, Tamara, despite the way I’ve acted in the past when it comes you, I’m never cold. I always run hot.”
CHAPTER FIVE
THEFIRSTVOICETamara heard when she came through the front door of her parents’ house was Thomas’s. She gritted her teeth and swallowed the curse rising in her throat. What the hell was he doing here? She’d gone through the trouble of getting her car towed to the tire-repair place and using a rideshare app to get to her parents’ house. She wasn’t in the mood to have to deal with an ex and a flat-tire repair in the same day.
As if sensing the swell of annoyance in the house, her mom came out of the kitchen into the entryway. The savory smell of her mom’s pot roast filled the house. Tamara’s favorite, but the idea of having to eat the meal with Thomas across the table diminished any enjoyment she’d typically have.
“Don’t start. He came over to borrow one of your dad’s tools and the two of them got to talking. You know how that goes.” Adele Bradford hurried over and hugged Tamara.
Her mom smelled like cake and baby powder. She was all softness and comfort as her arms surrounded Tamara. Some of Tamara’s annoyance eased just from being wrapped in her mom’s arms. Some, but not all.
“Mom, why does Daddy still entertain him? He knows we broke up,” Tamara said as she pulled back.
“You two broke up, but he’s still our neighbor. We aren’t going to stop talking to him just because you decided you needed space.” Adele said the words with a hint of censure. “He’s a good neighbor and your dad liked him before you two decided to date.”
Tamara had no comeback for that. Her dad had introduced her to Thomas. Well, reintroduced her. Thomas had graduated from high school two years before Tamara. Though they hadn’t hung out together, she’d known who he was. He’d left for college and returned a successful engineer because he wanted to be closer to his family. His firm was the only engineering firm in Peachtree Cove, and he had contracts to do work with the town and many of the surrounding cities.
“I don’t want to make things more complicated,” Tamara said. “Him hanging out with my parents after we broke up makes things complicated.”
“Well, you did say you needed time. Maybe seeing him will remind you that opportunity waits for no one,” Adele said with a wink.
