“I can’t believe this has been going on for so long. Why didn’t you ever confront him?”
“I didn’t want to put my folks through another confrontation,” he said gruffly. “They’ve already suffered enough.”
“And you think an eight-year-long rift between their sons isn’t making them suffer?”
Mia had a point. And she was also spot-on. Jackson’s mother had been pleading with him for years to make things right with his brother, but he couldn’t muster up the desire to do it. Whenever he thought about Shane, he remembered meaty fists smashing into his ribs. He remembered the coppery taste of blood in his mouth, the sticky feel of it pouring out of his nose. And each time he saw his brother in person, he experienced the sickest urge to return the favor. To show Shane what it felt like to have your body ripped to shreds by your own brother.
“Jackson…” Mia bit her lip as she met his eyes. “I can’t believe I’m saying this—it probably makes me the biggest hypocrite on the planet—but I think you should go home for Thanksgiving and air everything out with Shane.”
An ironic smile tickled his lips. “Yep, totally hypocritical.”
“I know, but my situation with my mother is different,” she protested. “I’ve given her a million chances to prove me wrong. You and Shane never even talked about what happened.”
He dragged both hands through his hair before resting them on Mia’s slender hips. “Honestly? The thought of going home makes me want to throw up.”
There was a beat.
And then, “What if I went with you?”
His jaw hit the floor. “Are you serious?”
She nodded, though he didn’t miss the brief flicker of anxiety in her gaze. “I’ve got Thanksgiving weekend off, so I can be your moral support if you want.”
“What about Danny?”
“We don’t usually do anything special. Last year I went with him to Angie’s parents’ house, and I felt totally out of place. He was invited there again this year, so he’ll be all right if I leave town with you. I’m sure Angie’s parents will let him spend the weekend with them.”
Jackson was still floored—but also touched. Very, very touched. Mia’s offer to accompany him to Abbott Creek for the holiday was unexpected but absolutely welcome. He saw it as yet another sign that he was chipping away at her resistance toward a long-term relationship with him. As each day passed, she was acting more and more like a girlfriend than a temporary sexual partner, and as reluctant as he was to go home, he knew he couldn’t pass up this opportunity.
Her gesture was a step in the right direction. A promising omen that she cared about more than having sex with him. That she cared about him as a man, and not just a lover. So much that she was willing to be there for him during what was bound to be an extremely painful visit to Texas.
But if he was finally going to face his demons, he refused to be the only one.
“I’ll make you a deal,” he said quietly. “I’ll go home and talk to Shane—and yes, I would love it if you came along, sugar—but only if you keep an open mind about your mother.”
Mia frowned.
“She’s already back in your life,” he pointed out. “And Danny clearly wants her here, which means you can’t get rid of her so easily this time. So as long as she’s stickin’ around, would it hurt to hear her out? I’m not sayin’ to completely drop your guard and open your heart to her again. Just give her the benefit of the doubt.”
Several seconds ticked by, and still Mia didn’t utter a word.
“C’mon, darlin’, just promise to keep an open mind,” he coaxed. “Can you do that for me?”
Her shoulders sagged in resignation. “Fine,” she muttered. “I guess it wouldn’t kill me to try.”
Two weeks later
“Isn’t this so exciting, Mia?” Brenda bubbled happily as the three of them walked into the apartment.
Mia smiled in spite of herself, then blamed the reaction on the high she was still riding after watching the Warriors clinch a playoff spot. She and Brenda had sat together in the stands, and as her mom cheered for Danny and his teammates with unbridled enthusiasm, Mia had been reminded of the fact that her mother wasn’t all bad.
When she wasn’t chasing after her next husband or drowning her sorrows in a black hole of H?agen-Dazs, Brenda had been a lot of fun. She was like an endearing child, possessing a knack for spontaneity and an unmatched lust for life. Except there was a flipside to that, because children weren’t equipped to handle adult problems, and so when faced with the not-so-fun grown-up parts of life, Brenda reacted…poorly, for lack of a better word.
Mia refused to let herself forget that, even as she tried to keep her promise to Jackson and remain open-minded about Brenda’s motives for being here.