How many years was it going to take to erase this woman’s face from my memory? Even after decades, I still recognized her.
My mother didn’t look much different now than she had the day she’d left me standing in the middle of my aunt’s living room. Her hair was a lighter blond and shorter now. I didn’t remember her being so thin. But her voice was the same. It sounded exactly like it had the day she’d left me with my aunt, telling me I’d be happy there.
Lying bitch.
Why the fuck was she here? After all these years, why had she come now? She must have had some kind of sixth sense to know I was actually happy, so she’d come to ruin it.
But I wasn’t going to let her. I wasn’t a kid anymore and she didn’t have any power over me or my life.
“I’m not going to say it again,” I barked. “Get the fuck out.”
She didn’t move. “You look good, Son. Grew up to look a lot like your granddaddy. But you got my eyes.”
The room, which was already silent, went wired as Willa and Thea realized this woman was my mother.
“I spent a lot of time tracking you down.” She smiled. “How are you?”
Did she expect me to be grateful? She sounded like she was doing me the favor here. I crossed my arms over my chest. “You wasted your time coming here. Get out.”
“I need to talk to you about somethin’.”
“No,” I snapped. The hold I had on my temper was about to break. “I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
Her sugar-sweet smile fell away. “Jackson—”
“You heard him.” Thea cut her off with an angry snarl. She looked like she was seconds from leaping across the bar to throat punch my mom. “Get out.”
Thea knew all about my mother, and so did Hazel. It was a good thing she wasn’t here today because she would have already kicked Mom’s ass through the door.
“Leave.” Thea rounded the bar. “Now.”
Mom glared at Thea but didn’t move.
Willa slid out of her seat, standing with her arms crossed over her chest. Her shoulders were stiff. I was betting the look on her face held anything but her normal cheery smile.
Mom turned away from Thea and scowled at Willa, then looked her up and down. She was about four inches taller than Willa and trying to intimidate her. But Willa just stood straighter, not backing off an inch.
My shy Willa, ready to throw down against my shitty mother. If I hadn’t started falling for her already, that would have tipped me over.
Mom puffed her chest out, inching closer to Willa. The movement unfroze my feet. I did not want Mom infecting Willa’s space.
“Fine. You don’t want to leave? I’ll toss your ass out myself.” With long, angry strides, I walked out from behind the bar and went right up to Mom, gripping one of her arms and hauling her toward the door.
“Let me go,” she spat, trying to shake her arm loose.
“Out.” I opened the door with my free hand and shoved her through it. Then I pulled it closed, fighting the hydraulic, and gripped the knob tight.
“Jackson!” she shrieked from the other side of the steel. “I need to talk to you!”
She pounded her fists against it a couple of times, trying to open the door again, but I kept a firm hold on the knob. It didn’t take long for Mom to get the hint and stop her banging and shouting.
Thea crossed the room to stand by one of the windows in the front. I didn’t move as she watched the parking lot, waiting.
“There,” Thea said a few moments later, leaving the window. “She’s gone.”
She grumbled something else and pulled her phone from her pocket. With it pressed to her ear, she marched through the bar toward the back, probably to call Logan or Hazel. Or both.
I closed my eyes and took a breath, sagging into the door. My heart was racing and I felt like someone had just punched me in the gut.
Why was Mom here? Why now? What could she possibly want? Maybe I should have talked to her.
As my head spun, a pair of delicate arms wrapped around my waist from behind.
Willa’s cheek pressed against my back. “Want to talk about it? Or pretend it never happened?”
“Pretend it never happened.”
“Okay.”
Okay. That was it. She wouldn’t push. She’d just ride shotgun and let me navigate this.
I just wish I had a fucking clue which direction to go.
“Hazel is coming down here,” Thea announced as she returned, pissed off and snarling. “If that bitch comes back, I swear to god I’m going to beat her ass.”
“I’ll help,” Willa told her.
I chuckled. Only she could make me smile after having just thrown my mother out of my bar.
I loosened her hands from my stomach and turned, bending to give her a soft kiss. “I’m going to get back to work. Shake this off. Are you going to hang with me tonight?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
And she didn’t.
Willa sat stoically on a barstool all afternoon and evening, keeping a watchful eye on the door the entire time. Right beside her was Hazel, who’d come down minutes after Thea’s phone call.
“You should go home,” I told Hazel. It was one in the morning and she was yawning every other minute.
She yawned again. “I think I will. I’m too old to stay until closing anymore.”
“Thanks for coming down.” I leaned across the bar and kissed her cheek.
“You sure you’re okay?”
“I told you, I’m fine. It was just a shock.”
That wasn’t entirely true, but I refused to talk about my mother’s surprise visit.
Thea had given Hazel all the details earlier, then the two of them had sat and ranted about it for a couple of hours. They’d pestered me for a while, wanting to talk about my feelings, but I’d told them I was fine.
I think Willa must have said something to the pair at one point while I’d been in the kitchen because when I’d come back out, the topic had been dropped completely.
Thea had left the bar shortly before dinner to go home and eat with Logan and Charlie. Hazel and Willa had stayed to eat here with me and bullshit with the random tourist who’d plopped down in the seat next to them.
“Will you call me immediately if she shows up?” Hazel asked, standing from her seat.
If? More like when.
I had no doubt Mom would be back, but I wasn’t going to play her games. “If she shows up again, I’ll keep kicking her ass out the door until she gets the hint.”
Hazel frowned, dismissing me and turning to my girlfriend. “Willa, will you please call me immediately if that woman shows up again? I have some things I’d like to say to her.”
Willa just bit her lip, trying not to smile.
“I see how it is. You’re on his side now.” Hazel gave me a pointed look as she slung her purse over her shoulder. “Don’t forget I have spies everywhere, and I’m going to have my five minutes with that woman.”
“It would just be a waste of your time.”
Mom’s face hadn’t held an ounce of remorse. She could have earned five minutes with me, but she hadn’t said the magic word. Sorry.
“I’ve got nothing but time these days, Jackson. And I don’t want to talk to her because I think she’ll hear a word I say. Telling her off is for me.” Hazel gave me a sad smile. “And you.”
“Fine.” I sighed and gave her a nod. “I’ll call.”
Hazel had earned the right to a confrontation with Mom years ago when she’d stepped in to take Mom’s place.
“Stop by and see me tomorrow.” Hazel gave Willa a hug. “You too.”
“We will,” Willa said. “Have a good night.”
“Do you want another beer, babe?” I asked as Hazel walked out the door.
Willa shook her head. “Just water.”
“I’ll take another beer.” The tourist who’d been sitting on Hazel’s side held up his empty glass. Then he moved into the seat Hazel had just left to sit next to Willa. The guy had already had four beers, but he didn’t seem too drunk, so I poured him a fresh glass.
“Be back,” I told Willa, winking at her before leaving to check on the other customers.