by Amity Hope
“Reece,” his mom’s tone was meant to stop him. It worked and he turned around. She sighed. “Why not? Are you that embarrassed by us?”
He didn’t know for sure if she was joking. Or maybe trying to be sarcastic? But she was looking at him like she was serious. “No, why would I be embarrassed by you?” he asked, not sure what to make of her question.
She shrugged. “First you wouldn’t bring Cleo here and now you won’t bring Mia here. All that time you were with Cleo and I only got to meet her…what? Three, four times? And I’ve yet to meet Mia. What am I supposed to think?”
“I wasn’t allowed to bring Cleo here,” he bitterly reminded her.
Beth walked the salad over to the fridge and popped it in. Then she made her way over to where he was leaning against the counter and looked right at him. Confusion was etched across her face.
“What do you mean by that?” she demanded.
He stared at her because he wasn’t sure what she wanted him to say. It seemed pretty self- explanatory to him. She stared right back, still waiting. “Cleo wasn’t allowed here,” he repeated. Was he not clear the first time?
Beth shook her head and looked at him like he’d suddenly learned French. “Says who?”
“You and Dad!” he almost shouted at her. He managed to tone it down a bit. Just thinking about it, even now, he got pissed off all over again. And after the day he’d had, he was already on edge before this conversation even started.
She stood there, studying his face like she didn’t understand what he was saying.
“What would ever give you that idea?” she finally asked.
“Are you kidding me?” he shot back.
“Reece,” she said calmly, “I want you to change your tone. But I do think you need to tell me what you’re talking about because I really have no idea.”
“Dad told me I wasn’t allowed to bring Cleo here,” he said. It was a struggle to keep his tone in check. He wasn’t sure he was succeeding.
Beth shook her head. Like she couldn’t have heard him right. Or like she didn’t believe him. Which kind of set him off all over again.
“When?”
He just stood there, looking at her for a minute thinking she’d remember on her own. Reece wondered, How could she forget? “Pretty much right after we started dating. Don’t pretend you don’t know how much Dad disliked her.”
“Reece,” she said in a reprimanding tone, “I think you’re exaggerating.”
A sarcastic laugh bolted out of his mouth. “Exaggerating?”
A memory of one night in particular dumped itself into his head. That was the last night Cleo had come to his house. At least, while his parents were home. And even then, when they would leave for the weekend to visit one of his sisters, he could still tell she didn’t feel comfortable being here. “I’m not exaggerating.”
“Then maybe you misunderstood.” Beth was frowning.
Reece was already shaking his head in disagreement.
“No. I didn’t. He was pretty point-blank.”
“Come on, let’s sit down,” she said as she made her way to the table. They took their usual dinner seats so Reece was sitting right across from her.
“Tell me exactly what your father said about Cleo.”
So he did. He told her everything. How Landon was on his case about Cleo all the time. For the most part, he tried to ignore it. But there was one night, one awful night, when he made a scene specifically so that Cleo would hear. Reece still got a little sick when he thought about it. But he told his mom about it, holding nothing back.
Landon had also accused Cleo of ruining Reece’s social life. It was hardly ruined, it was just different, Reece explained. Like it was a bad thing that he chose to spend time at Cleo’s and not out partying. Like it was embarrassing to Landon that Reece didn’t make himself part of the party crowd.
Reece was sure that, in some twisted way, Landon was almost disappointed that Reece hadn’t been at Justin Miller’s New Year’s Eve party last year. The party that had gotten busted and had landed a record number of his classmates with minor consumptions on their records. He didn’t happen to be one of them. Why? Because despite her protests that he should go to the party, he was hanging out at Cleo’s instead. Ironic because he knew without a doubt that had he been there and been caught, he would’ve lost his vehicle.
What he didn’t bother to point out was that while Landon had the nerve to call Cleo a gold digger, it was actually Mia that “let” him pay for every single date. She had never even so much as offered a single time. And more than once she’d had Reece put gas in her car. True, he had his dad’s gas card. But that should be beside the point. And it wasn’t like Mia couldn’t afford it. Her parents were loaded. But he didn’t want to talk about Mia.
So he kept the conversation strictly on Cleo.
“I just…” Beth trailed off. “I don’t know what to say. I know that for a while, your dad was having problems with Paul at work. Well, there were other problems too. With the economy the way it is, we had a few big contracts fall through. Then with Paul stirring up problems, that just made it worse. Your dad went through a bit of a rough time. I think he felt like he was losing control at the factory. For a while, we thought we’d have to lay quite a few people off. Luckily, it didn’t come to that. But your dad didn’t take it well. He didn’t want to be responsible for taking away people’s livelihoods. I’m not saying that excuses him, it doesn’t,” she pointed out. “But…well, for a while, it made him incredibly difficult to be around.” Reece knew what she was referring to. Landon had gotten so ‘difficult’ that she’d needed three months worth of space from him. Reece had heard the expression “midlife crisis” tossed around on a regular basis. “I’m sure he didn’t mean what he said,” she finally tacked on.
“Mom,” Reece started. He was annoyed and his tone didn’t hide it. “He said he didn’t want Cleo in his house. His message was loud—emphasis on loud—and clear. She heard it. I heard it. ‘I don’t want that girl in my house’ is a little hard to misunderstand.”
“Excuse me?” Beth said, her tone sharpening.
Reece hesitated for a minute. Beth was looking at him like he had just cussed. He had to think back real quick. Had he let something slip? No. He was pretty sure he hadn’t.
“His house? His house?” she repeated again as she shook her head. “Is he forgetting which one of us worked their butt off at two jobs for years to support him and help pay his way through grad school? Is he forgetting which one of us continued to work their butt off because someone couldn’t find a job right away? Is he forgetting who put in just as much overtime as he did those first few years when the factory was on shaky ground and we didn’t know if we were going to make it?”
She was looking at Reece like she really expected him to have an answer. “Maybe?” he tried.
“He had no right to say she couldn’t be here. I don’t know what got into him. I just can’t believe he’d go that far.” She let out a weary sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Reece, I’m so sorry. I had no idea things had gotten so bad with you and your dad. I mean, I know the two of you were struggling with the football situation. But that had been going on for a while. And I know how disappointed he is that you aren’t interested in the business. But still…I just can’t believe things got that bad. He should’ve left Cleo out of it.”
Reece just shrugged. He probably should’ve said more. But he hadn’t been sure what else to say. He had thought she’d side with him. He and his dad had never really gotten along the best. After that night, they got along even worse. In fact, Reece had started to go out of his way to avoid him altogether.
“I don’t believe it was Cleo that he had a problem with. But he did put her in the middle of something that she had nothing to do with.” Reece realized his mom hadn’t looked that mad since he backed her Escalade into the garage door. “Does this…” she carefully began, “does it have anything to do with why you two broke up?”
Reece shook his head, somehow wishing he could blame it on his dad. But they’d worked through that. “No. She wanted to date other people,” he said as he started messing with the edge of the placemat. It was the first time he’d admitted it out loud to anyone. In those words, anyway. He couldn’t believe he was admitting it to his mom.
She sighed. “That’s not a bad idea, honey. You two were awfully young to be so serious.”
“Well,” he ground out, “we’re not serious anymore. So you should be happy about that.”
“I’m not happy. I just think,” she paused, obviously trying to choose her words carefully, “that maybe this is a good thing. If it’s meant to be,” she shrugged, “it’ll be. Your dad and I were pretty young when we met. I mean, we knew each other in high school. But we didn’t start dating until that following summer.”
He gave her a look to cut her off. He was never in the mood to hear about his parents’ romance. Least of all now.
She sighed. “I just wish I’d known about this.”
Reece shrugged. “I thought you knew. The way he talked, I thought you felt the same way. That she came from a bad family and that I shouldn’t be involved with her.”
She shook her head, appalled. “No, Reece, I had no idea. I know I only met Cleo a few times but she seemed like a very sweet girl. What happened with her mother was a shame. And her step-father,” Beth shook her head again. “Well, he’s a real piece of work. But Cleo can’t be blamed for his actions.”
“Why didn’t you ever invite her over for dinner?” he wanted to know.
“Anytime I even tried to bring up Cleo, you became defensive. You never let me get out more than a few words. I thought you felt like I was prying into your relationship or something. Knowing what Cleo had been through, I just let it go. I thought you were just being extra protective of her.”
“I was,” he admitted. But that was only because he had thought he was facing the same onslaught from his mom as he always did from his dad. He knew exactly what she was talking about. She’d bring up Cleo, he’d cut her off, assuming she was going to say things he didn’t want to hear and he’d storm out of the room.
“Also,” Beth added on, “the first time I met Cleo she told me about Luci. I thought she needed to be home all the time so Luci wasn’t alone. I thought that was why you spent all of your time there and not here.” Beth gave him a bewildered look. “I wish I would’ve known. Things would’ve been a whole lot different.”
He tried to smile. He was grateful for her support. Even if it was late in coming. “Too late now,” he had to admit.
She shook her head. “I should’ve been paying more attention. I guess…I guess I was just distracted by things going on in my own life,” she admitted.
Reece didn’t blame her for that one bit.
“Such a shame,” Beth said as she sadly shook her head. “I really did like that girl. I just had no idea that Landon was so harsh. I mean, he did talk to me about the troubles with Paul. But he had to have known that wasn’t Cleo’s fault.”
Reece scoffed. Rudely. Beth gave him a look but he ignored it.
“Dad also thinks it’s Cleo’s fault that I quit football.” He didn’t have to explain the reason to his mom again. He had already discussed it with her and she seemed to understand. But his dad? Reece knew his dad would never accept that he quit because of him. Spending time with Cleo had nothing to do with it. “I didn’t quit because of Cleo.”
“I know,” Beth said. And Reece knew she did.
“He also blames Cleo for me not wanting to work at the mill. He also thought it was her fault I didn’t want to go away to school.”
“Your dad told me about the Northwestern application,” she said. “I wish you would’ve told us earlier.”
Reece shrugged. “What would’ve been the point? The way I see it, it would’ve just given him an extra year or two to shove it at me. As long as I let him think I was interested, he left me alone about it. When I tried telling him last spring, he blew up. He told me he wasn’t going to allow me to throw my future away over some girl.”
Beth sighed. “We always thought you wanted to go to Northwestern. We thought you wanted to take over the business someday.”
“I didn’t. I still don’t,” Reece reaffirmed. “I just didn’t want to fight about it any sooner than I had to. You remember how bad it was around here when Amanda said she had no interest? And then Chelsey? I knew it would be ten times worse when it came to me. I didn’t want to deal with his tirades. But I’ve had my mind made up for a long time. Before Cleo and I were together. I told him that. He didn’t listen.” Not exactly a surprise.
She nodded thoughtfully. “So it wasn’t because of her that you changed your college choice? Your whole career path? Because I’m not blaming her but to be honest, I did think you based your decision on your relationship.”
“No,” he said decisively.
“But you just never brought it up until recently.”
“Like I said, I knew Dad wasn’t going to be happy about it. I knew he wouldn’t let it drop. And I was right, wasn’t I?” he knew he was. “I guess I just took the easy way out and let him think what he wanted for as long as I could. But no, I never wanted to go to Northwestern. And I never wanted to take over the mill. He just thought I did. I mean really, he never asked. If he would’ve asked, I would’ve told him. He just assumed. And then he blamed Cleo when he found out differently. When I told him last year I had other colleges picked out he had a meltdown. I’ve tried to tell him it wasn’t her fault. He ignores me, like I have no say in the matter. Just like I knew he would. That’s why I waited so long to tell him.”
“You could have told me,” she pointed out. “You should have told me. We could’ve talked to him.”
The trouble with that? His parents were already having problems. At the time, they’d been on the verge of separating. He hadn’t wanted to make things worse. Even though he and his mom were close, he hadn’t talked to her like he normally would’ve. Turned out, they separated anyway. Even now, he felt like he was dumping on his mom. And he wasn’t sure just how stable his parents’ marriage was at the moment. “I didn’t want to dump any more on you at the time. You had enough to deal with.”
“I’m your mother. And you are not dumping on me. These are the kinds of things you are supposed to tell me. Yes, your father and I were having problems. That’s no secret. But you and your sisters have always been my first priority.”
Reece didn’t say anything. She was probably right. He had taken the easy way out. Or what he had thought had been easy at the time. He’d been a coward by avoiding the issues altogether.
“What else should I know?” she urged.
“Did he tell you that if I go into forestry, I have to pay my own tuition?”
Beth pursed her lips. This seemed to anger her more than anything they had already talked about.
She finally blew out a breath. “Reece, you do not have to worry about your own tuition. We’ve had money set aside for your education for a long time. You can go into whatever field you want to go into. Just like your sisters did.”
He nodded. He’d had a hunch his dad’s threat was nothing to worry about. At least, not if he got his mom involved. If it were up to Landon? Then Reece would probably have to worry.
“I don’t want to sound like I’m defending his actions, because I’m not. But for as long as I can remember, his dream was to become a successful businessman. You know growing up, he didn’t have much. Part of the reason he was so desperate for that success was because he didn’t want his children to grow up the same way. He wanted the three of you to have it easier than he did. He’s always thought the mill was the key to that. He’s in a position to offer you a career that would probably pay double what you would make starting out elsewhere. He’s prepared to hand the whole operation over to you one day.”
“But—,” Reece interrupted and Beth held up her hand to stop him.
“But you don’t wa
nt it. I understand that. The way I feel is that the mill has provided us with the means to help you and your sisters pave your own way. To follow your own paths. It’s still making life easier for his children, just not in the way he envisioned.”
“I wish he would see it that way,” Reece mumbled.
“I know, honey,” Beth said. She looked exasperated. Reece realized she looked that way a lot lately when it came to her husband.
As long as they were digging into things, he had one more topic he wanted to cover. “I’m thinking I should buy my own car.”
Beth’s brow furrowed. “Why? Why would you want to do that?”
He shrugged. “I’ve been looking around. I have enough in savings. I could probably get something that isn’t too bad. I figure if I bought it, I don’t always have to worry about him taking it away. I’ll be eighteen in a few months and then I can put it in my name.”
Beth slumped in her chair and Reece suddenly felt bad. When she’d asked how his week had gone, he was pretty sure she hadn’t realized what she was in for.
“You don’t need to buy your own vehicle. We’ll be switching your Navigator into your name on your birthday. Just like we did for Amanda and Chelsey. You just keep that money in your savings account until you find something you really want,” she firmly told him. “As for this entire conversation, I’ll be speaking to him about this. And if anything else comes up, I want you to come to me. That’s what I’m here for.” She got up to check whatever was in the oven. Then she turned back to the counter and picked up a knife to slice up the loaf of French bread.
And, as if on cue, or maybe it was just later than Reece realized, they heard the front door open. Beth shot Reece a look as they heard Landon toss his keys onto the table next to the door. Reece heard the closet open and close as he hung up his coat.
Beth was staring at the bread like she was going to enjoy slicing it to bits. Reece took that as his cue to leave. He stood up from the table just as his dad walked in.
He had a big grin on his face. “Damn, whatever you’re making smells good!”