I smirk, but don’t say anything.
“That money was for you, though. For school, for a house, or whatever you wanted to do with your life.” Her voice softens now. “I should’ve told you the truth about your father a long time ago. I thought I was protecting you. I didn’t want you carrying around the pain of knowing the truth. I thought I was saving you the heartache. But I can see now that hiding it didn’t help either.”
I nod even though she can’t see me.
“I’m sorry,” she says after a second.
I let the words settle between us.
“I thought you took it,” I admit quietly. “When he told me, I believed him.”
There’s a pause on the other end of the line.
“I told myself it made sense… that maybe you just didn’t want to tell me. And I think part of me…” I swallow. “I think part of me blamed you for it. For everything feeling so hard all the time.”
My chest tightens.
“I feel like I resented the wrong person,” I add, my voice softer now. “And I didn’t even realize I was doing it.” Her breath catches softly through the phone. “Mom, I’m really sorry. I should’ve called you sooner too.”
“You don’t owe me an apology for that, sweetheart,” she says gently. “You were trying to make sense of something that didn’t make sense.”
Another quiet moment passes, then she clears her throat.
“The article mentioned something else.”
I already know where this is going, and a smile starts across my face without even trying.
“Is it true you’re dating one of his players?”
Right as she asks, the bedroom door opens. Cooper walks in holding two coffee cups.
He stops when he sees me holding the phone, and this time, I don’t hold back the smile at the sight of him.
“Yeah,” I say into the phone. “His name is Cooper.”
My mom lets out a small breath.
“Is it serious?”
Cooper crosses the room and sets one of the cups on the nightstand, his hand brushing my shoulder as he does.
“Yeah, it’s serious.” I glance up at him. “I think you’d really like him.”
“Well,” my mom says, “I think I would too—just from the way your voice changes when you talk about him. He must make you happy.”
“He does.”
We talk for a few more minutes before ending the call, promising to stay in touch. A second later, my phone buzzes with a message. She’s sent over the account details, including the login information she set up for it.
When I drop the phone onto the bed, Cooper is already watching me.
“That looked like it went okay,” he says, softer. “You seem better. And from what I caught, it sounded like it went well.”
“It did,” I admit. “Better than I expected.”
I lean forward and kiss him. He hums against my mouth, his hand coming up to cup my cheek.
“Thanks for the coffee,” I whisper when I pull away. “And for the flowers. They’re beautiful.”
