Deciding to play it safe, Gramps said, “The second step on the back porch is creaking a bit.Want to look at it with me after dinner?’
“Not a problem,” I replied easily, more than willing to help the man out.“I also want to check the windows before winter kicks in.”
The rest of the evening was spent with me listening to everything that my grandparents had going on, and despite my parents, my life really had turned out perfectly.
Chapter 21
Leandra~
Dalton and Rya were both working today, and because I had spent the past few weeks avoiding Dalton at work, I was off today, which meant that I probably wasn’t going to see Dalton at all today.He had three tattoo appointments tonight, so unless he stopped by between his shifts at Precious Pets and Blood & Ink, then I wasn’t going to see him until tomorrow.
At any rate, I had plenty to keep me busy, laundry being the bulk of it.While I wouldn’t say that I was lazy, I preferred one hard day to a week of endless errands and housework.Luckily, Precious Pets made it so that I could schedule my week in a way that worked best for me, and so today was laundry day, though I didn’t have a whole lot to clean up house-wise.My place was small, and since it was only me, there was hardly a mess to clean up on a weekly basis.Plus, once a month, I did a deep-dive clean where I scrubbed the toilet, cleaned out the fridge, wiped down the baseboards...you name it.
Now, thankfully, my apartment building had a laundry room behind the parking area, and though it was a bit of a walk, it was better than lugging bags and bags of clothes to a laundromat in town.If you had a laundry cart, it wasn’t that bad, and there was also no charge.The cost of operation was included in the rent, and that helped a lot.
An hour into separating all my laundry, there was a knock at my door, and as I checked the time, my heart began to beat stupidly with the hope that Dalton had decided to surprise me before heading over to Blood & Ink.Though he had sent me a text earlier, telling me that he might not be able to stop by, this could still be a pleasant surprise.Not that I expected Dalton to revolve his life around seeing me, but I was still in the honeymoon stage of this thing, no matter how long I’d been knowing him.
However, racing over to the door, when I peeked through the peephole, it wasn’t Dalton standing on the other side.It wasn’t Rya or Ms.Elena, either.
It was my goddamn mother.
“Open this door, Leandra,” she ordered.“I know you’re home.”
How she knew that, I had no idea.Still, it wasn’t as if I’d been quietly walking over to the door when I’d been hoping that it was Dalton, so it could just be the simple fact that she could hear.Nevertheless, I wasn’t about to let her cause Ms.Elena any further concern, so I opened the door like an idiot who was a glutton for punishment.
Not waiting for me to invite her in, my mother just pushed her way past me, and while her behavior had never been okay, I was finding my patience running thin with her now.
“Come in,” I deadpanned as I shut the door.
Instead of acknowledging her rudeness, she started in on her holier-than-thou soapbox.“I’ve spoken to your father, and we both agree that you need to end things with Dalton.”
I could only stare at her, wondering how I had let things get this far.I was twenty-six, but she was speaking to me as if I was still sixteen, living under her roof and having to abide by her rules.She was speaking to me as if I wasn’t an adult, someone capable of running her own life.Honestly, it hadn’t ever occurred to me that her control issues would extend what was reasonable, yet here we were.
“You can’t tell me what to do, Mother,” I pointed out.“And neither can Dad.While I’m more than happy to listen to your concerns and consider your advice as my parents, in the end, any decisions I make about my life are my own to make.You have no say on who I do or don’t date.”
“This is for your own good, Leandra,” she said, completely ignoring everything that I’d just said.“Dalton is not the guy for you.”
“You barely know him,” I pointed out.“For that matter, you barely know me.This is about whatyouwant, Mother.That’s all that this has ever been about.For whatever reason, you’re not happy with your life, and you seem to think that my money will make a difference for you.”
“That’s not true,” she lied.“My life is perfect.”
“If that’s the case, then why are you such a horrible person?”I shot back.“If you’re so happy in life, then why are you so critical and judgmental?Why do you insist on dumping misery on people that don’t need it?”
Her blue eyes widened, and she looked like she might faint at any moment.“I do no such thing,” she denied.“How dare you attack me like that.”
“Oh, but it’s okay for you to attack me at every turn?”I practically yelled.“Honest to God, I don’t think I’ve heard you say one nice thing to me since the day that I got that stupid inheritance, and if I thought that my grandparents wouldn’t roll over in their graves, I’d give it to you just to shut you up.”
“All of this because I’m trying to keep you from making the biggest mistake of your life?”she gasped.“I’m only trying to look out for you, Leandra.”
“No, you’re not,” I told her.“You’re trying to look out for yourself, and you’re just afraid that Dalton has the power to come into my life and completely remove your influence over it.”
It was the truth, and we both knew it, but instead of taking ownership of her issues, she decided to play hardball.“I hate to have to do this, but if you refuse to see all the red flags in Dalton’s pursuit of you, then I’m afraid that your father and I are going to have to take a step back from your life, Leandra.Neither of us want to witness this trainwreck firsthand.”
She was threatening to cut me off.
She was actually threatening to walk out of my life.
Holy fucking shit.
