“I guess . . .” She looks at her phone for a second.
“Princess, you’ve got to talk to her. Christmas is in a week.”
“Fine.”
I hit the button, and Lindy throws me a look. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, Madeline. Why do you sound far away?”
“I’m in the car with Easton. You’re on Bluetooth.”
I link my fingers with her and squeeze. “Hey, Ashlyn.”
“Hi, Easton. Are you guys going out or going home?” she asks, and Lindy looks almost panicked.
“We’re just leaving the rink to go home and grab dinner,” I tell her, then wait as the beat of silence lasts a few seconds too long.
“Why don’t you come over here for dinner? Your sister is spending the night at Hudson’s house, so it’s just Brandon and me. We haven’t seen you in weeks. It would be nice to see you.”
“Thanks, Mom, but we—”
I cut my wife off. Let her be pissed. She’ll thank me eventually. “That sounds great, Ashlyn. Want us to pick up anything?”
“No. We’re calling in an order now. We’ll see you in a few minutes.”
“See you in a few minutes, Mom.” She disconnects the call and drops her head against the seat. “Really, E? I just sucked your dick. Aren’t you supposed to be in a good mood?”
“I am in a good mood, baby. I want you to fix things with your mom, and you’ve come up with every excuse imaginable to avoid her for weeks. Weeks, Lindy. Time’s up. Christmas is a week away. You don’t want to miss that with your family.”
She turns her head and watches me as I navigate the few streets between the practice facility and her mom’s house. “I hate when you’re right, you know that?”
“I do, baby. But I’m doing this for you.”
She takes a deep breath and sighs. “I still hate it. But I love you for caring about my relationship with my mom.”
“I’ll always care about your family, princess. They’re mostly annoying as fuck, but they matter to you, so they matter to me too. Even Jace.” We pull into her mom’s driveway, and I walk around the car and open the door. “Now, come on. The sooner you make up with your mom, the sooner I can take you home and give you your prize.”
“My prize?”
I pull her close to me. “Hey, I’m an equal opportunity competitor. You had better jumps and spins than me. Pretty sure that gets you a few orgasms.”
“I love the way you think. Let’s get this over with.”
LINDY
We stop at the door and knock before walking in. Mom’s rule has always been I’m supposed to walk in because it’s still my house. But still, it doesn’t feel right. “Hello . . .” I call out, then take Easton’s hand in mine. “They’re probably in the kitchen.”
“We’re in the kitchen,” Mom yells back.
I turn to E and shrug. “Told ya.”
We moved into this house after that night. I loved our old house. It was sandwiched between two of my brothers’ houses. But even with that, none of us wanted to step foot in there again. This was the house Mom and Brandon bought together. It’s where we became a family. Before this house, it was just Mom and me.
“Hey, shortcake.” Brandon drops a kiss on my head, then offers Easton his hand. “Hey, Easton. Good to see you.”
“You too.”
Brandon smacks Easton’s back. “Have I shown you the new sound system we installed in the gym downstairs?”
“Uh, no.” E looks confused.
“He’s trying to take you away to force a little alone time on Mom and me,” I groan and see right through my stepfather.
A smile breaks out on Easton’s face, and he slaps Brandon’s back. “You know what? I’d love to see that sound system. Lead the way.”
He looks back at me and winks.
I mouth back, I hate you, then make my way down to the kitchen, where my mom’s making a salad. She was barely my age when she had me after a completely fucked up life. It was just us for so long before Brandon came along. We had my brothers and sisters, but Mom and I were a team. Tears burn the back of my eyes as I walk in.
“Hey, Mom.”
She puts her knife down and pushes away the cutting board full of tomatoes. “Oh, sweetheart. Don’t cry. If you cry, I’ll cry.”
We both move at the same time and wrap our arms around each other. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask you what you wanted and how you felt, Lindy. I was so caught off guard and mad about the way everything happened. I just dug my heels in, and the harder you fought, the harder I pulled.”
“You shouldn’t have had to find out the way you did, and for that, I’m so sorry. But Mom, I’m not sorry for marrying Easton. I love him,” I tell her and take a step back.
“That should have been what I asked you that day.” She cups my face like she used to when I was little, her eyes filling with her own tears. “And does he love you, Madeline?”
“He does.” I smile, thinking about just how much. “He’s been bugging me to fix things with you from the beginning. He kept saying he’d give anything to see his mom one more time, and I was wasting time with you.” My heart tugs, just from saying that out loud. “He’s such a good man.”
“And where is he? And Brandon? Are they hiding?” she asks, then pours me a glass of wine.
“Brandon’s showing Easton something in the gym. I think he wanted to give us some space.” I sit down and sip my wine. “I hired a new security detail.”
“I heard,” she muses as she finishes dicing her tomatoes while I watch.
“Did Sam tell you?” I ask, already annoyed. He wasn’t supposed to say anything.
“Sweetheart, how many Revolution games has that man been at with you? Your family spreads gossip faster than a teenage girl. Now, we need to talk about a few things.” She adds her tomatoes to a big salad, then sets it aside to eat when dinner gets here.
“We do,” I agree.
“You said some things at Sweet Temptations I’ve never heard you say before, and I need you to talk to me. Did you feel like you had to skate for me, Madeline?” There’s a shakiness in her voice, and it makes me feel like shit because I put it there.
“No, Mom. I never felt like you forced me into skating. I skated because I loved it. I still do. But you said I’m floundering because I’m not sure what I want to do right now, and that stung. I don’t think I’m floundering.”
“It’s just so not like you to not have a direction. And then you went to Vegas, and Everly posted those pictures, which looked so bad. And we had to discover you were married on social media. It just all hit so hard.”