Plus, she would hate seeing us ‘living in sin.’
That was a huge issue with her when she found out we were moving in together at seventeen and sixteen.
She hated that we weren’t married yet.
Though, that was just one of many complaints she had at the time.
“How long are we giving her?” I teased.
“About ten minutes max.”
She got back to the house in seven.
Black came in through the back door a couple of minutes later, having taken the back way through the woods to get to my house.
“She back?” he grumbled as he walked to my fridge and pulled out a beer like he owned the place.
“Just pulled in.” Nettie narrowed her eyes at him. “Your boots are filthy.”
Black looked at his muddy boots and his boot prints.
“Take them off,” she ordered.
Black took a swig of beer before slipping them off using the zipper on the side. “I’ll have to borrow some shoes to put her ass in the cruiser, though.”
I shrugged and pointed at the pile of shoes by the back door.
Just as he directed his gaze toward the shoes, the pounding started. “Bartholomew Windsor, you open this door right now!”
“Scary.” Nettie wiggled her fingers.
I walked to the door and opened it, fully expecting Black to protect Nettie if the need arose.
“You’re not allowed to be here anymore, Mother,” I said. “I don’t want you here, and Black trespassed you for a reason.”
“And what would be that reason?” She pushed forward, only then realizing that Nettie was in the room, too. Black was still partially hidden in the pantry for now. “I’m your mother.”
“Are you?” I asked. “Because no mother I know would’ve harmed the mother of my child and my child.”
My mother said nothing.
Never admit wrongdoing.
Ever.
“Or how about you tell me about Ida Bell.”
My mother froze. “Who?”
“Cut the shit, Mother,” I said, going over the suggestions that Nettie had come up with for telling my mom how we’d found out about Ida Bell. “Have you ever heard of the DNA testing thing that’s pretty popular right now? I’m sorry if I’m curious about who my father is, seeing as you decided to cheat on Dad with some random man. Color me surprised when I find that I’m genetically half siblings with a woman named Ida Bell who lives two towns over.”
My mother’s mouth thinned.
“Or we could talk about how Felicia isn’t related to me at all,” I said. “Nor is she related to you.”
My mother’s lips were so thin, you could barely tell she’d had any work done on them at all. “Cat got your tongue, Mom?”
Again, silence.
