“I thought you said it was all handled?” Mom asked. “I’m not upset with you, honey, but I’m upset that they’d go to such lengths to get in touch with you.”
They’d never bothered my parents before. Why now? I wanted to call and tell them where they could shove it, but the lawyer wouldn’t like that one bit, I was sure. “If they call again, make a note. Write down the date and time and anything they say. I’ll give it to the lawyer, and it’ll help our case.” I gave Mom a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry.”
It had to be because I didn’t answer. I’d never told my mom or dad that Walter and Mary called me so frequently about Kyle’s death. It would’ve worried them when I understood why they did it. They’d lost a child. Could I really blame them for needing someone to blame? “I’ll handle it, okay?”
“Is this normal?” Mom asked. “Have they called you before?”
I evaded the question by walking toward the living room when I heard Tiffany. “How’s Tiff? Have a good day?”
“Yes. You didn’t answer my question.”
I sighed and turned back to my mother. “Mary calls me occasionally, but she only wants to reminisce and talk about Kyle. Walter calls about once a week. He’s usually drunk, and he blames me for everything, repeatedly.”
Mom’s face fell. “Oh, Bethany. Honey.” She wrapped her arms around me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?” My dad came out of the living room with a concerned look on his face. “What’s wrong?”
I repeated what I’d told mom. Dad’s face turned into a thundercloud. “I ought to go show Walter what for.”
“Dad, come on, no. They lost their son. They didn’t handle it well, but I try to be sympathetic. They’re hurting.”
“It’s been years. It’s time to place blame where blame is due, and that’s squarely at Kyle’s feet,” Mom said.
I shushed her and nodded my head toward Tiffany, who was on the couch doing a puzzle.
Mom nodded and lowered her voice. “They are wrong for calling and blaming you. Kyle made the choice to drive the way he did. He made the choice to try to pressure you into a relationship you didn’t want.”
“I know, Mom. And that’s why I put it into the mediation.” I explained my clause. They seemed to look a bit mollified at that news.
Mom stepped forward again and put her hands on my shoulders. “Honey, you should’ve told us years ago. You’re not alone in this world. We’re here for you.”
My dad put his arm around my shoulders. “Bethany, Tiffany is about to turn four. In the last four years, nearly five since you got pregnant, you’ve been a superwoman. You need to allow others to help you. Let us do more.”
“I already bring Tiffany here all the time for you to keep,” I pointed out. “What more?”
“Let Maddox keep helping,” Mom suggested. “I’m so glad you let him give you advice about the lawyer and let him go with you. It’s so unlike you.” She was right. It was very unlike me, but like she was, I was so thankful that I had.
“We’ll report any more calls we get, okay?” Mom said. “Keep us posted if you get any, as well.”
I promised, and Tiffany and I managed to get on our way.
“Mommy?” Tiffany said in the car.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Can we have pasketti for dinner?”
I thought about what I had in the cabinets. “We don’t have everything we need for spaghetti; would you settle for lasagna?” I was pretty sure I had a frozen lasagna.
She sniffled, but said, “Yes.”
That little sniffle was more than I could take. “I guess we can stop in the grocery store and get spaghetti noodles.”
I looked at her little face in the rearview mirror. She lit up when I told her we’d go to the grocery store. Mostly because I almost always let her pick out a treat while we were there.
She made it through most of the store before spotting a pack of snack cakes she loved. I let her get them. Of course.
On the way out the door, I looked up and spotted Maddox’s mom walking in. “Hello, Ava,” I said warmly. She’d been so lovely at the cookout.
“Bethany and Tiffany!” Ava looked truly happy to see us. “How are you?”
“I got cakes!” Tiffany exclaimed. She held out her grocery bag. She’d had to have one just for her cakes, of course.
“Those look so good.” Ava tweaked her on the nose and stood. “I’m glad to run into you. I’d like to invite the two of you to have dinner with us. Saturday night. Bring Tiffany, please. Hailey has been bugging me to have her over since the moment you left the manor.”
Ava’s approval was important to me, and the way she spoke to me told me she was genuinely happy to see me. It made my heart glow. “We would love to come,” I said. “Please, let us bring something. The salad or the dessert?”
She waved her hand. “My Nana would roll over in her grave if I let my guest bring food. How about a bottle of wine?”
I clasped my hands together and beamed. “Perfect.” I didn’t know jack diddly about how to pick out a wine, but I trusted the clerk at the liquor store to help me.
After getting home, as I finished the spaghetti dishes, Maddox’s voice rang across the living room. “Hello?”
Tiffany ran screaming out of her room and launched herself into Maddox’s arms. “We’re going to eat dinner at your mommy’s house!”
Maddox looked at me quizzically over her head. “We ran into your mom at the grocery store and she invited us to dinner Saturday night.”
His face broke into a big grin. “That means she likes you. She only feeds the people she likes.”
I sighed in relief. “I’m glad to hear that. She’s such a nice person.”
He snorted. “She’s had her moments. But I’m glad she likes you, because I’m planning to keep you
