“What?”
“Pretend.”
Fuck.
But it was so much easier. I’d been doing it for fucking years now, pretending like nothing was wrong. And it had worked out pretty well for me, all things considered.
“How are you, honey?” my mom asked then, and yep, I deflated like a pricked balloon, collapsing in on myself.
God, what a question.
I sighed. “Did Theo tell you?”
Her face softened into a look of compassion that made mythroat tighten, and I knew the answer. I’d told both Natalie and Theo that I didn’t mind if they filled the rest of the family in. I didn’t really have the heart to repeat to everyone what had happened, but I didn’t feel like it needed to be a secret, and Ellie had agreed with me.
“He did.” She lifted her hand to my cheek. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
I let myself lean into the comfort of her touch for a second, all while trying to keep my throat from closing up. My mouth contorted into something between a grimace and a smile, as I tried to let her see how true my next words were.
“We were really excited to tell you, Mom.”
“Oh, Sullivan.” She lifted her other hand, too, cupping my face. In a different situation, it might be comical. If I were any taller, she’d need to rise onto her tiptoes. “I was really excited, too.”
Her watery eyes connected with mine.
“Did you…know?”
She gave a sad smile. “I’ve never seen Ellie fake-drink so many cups of coffee before.”
A tiny shake of my head. “Of course you knew.”
After one soft pat on my cheeks, my mom dropped her hands. “I hope you two are taking care of each other.”
“We are.”
“Your family is here, too, you know.”
“I do know. Thanks, Mom.”
“You let me know if you need anything.”
“I will,” I promised.
She looked like she wanted to say something else but decided against it. I could guess the general direction of her thoughts, though.
Don’t let her go, Sullivan. Not again.
She took to inspecting the kitchen instead, her lips forming a thoughtful pout.
“These cupboards really are hideous, aren’t they?”
“Excuse me?” I laughed, completely caught off guard.
“I never liked them much.” She tugged on the round knob on the cupboard closest to us. “But buying new ones was always too expensive, and painting them is a process.” Her gaze roamed around the rest of the kitchen. “These walls could use a different color, too. Brighten things up in here, you know? Heck, the whole house could use some freshening, don’t you think?”
To say I was baffled by the direction of this conversation was an understatement.
“Mom, you haven’t changed a damn thing in this house for like two decades. I thought you kept everything the same for a reason. What’s going on?”
