“Yes, it’s wonderful. Have you?”
“No,” I answered. “She’s so protective over it. She has so much self-doubt; she thinks we’ll laugh at ’er if we read it. She finished it ages ago and is no closer to publishin’ it.”
“It’s ’er baby.” Ma soothed. “It’s a project she has put blood, sweat, and tears into. It’s normal for ’er to be scared, but she shouldn’t let the fear of people dislikin’ it keep ’er from publishin’ it.”
“Have you told her that?”
“Of course,” Ma answered. “It’ll register with ’er eventually. She just needs time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, after all.”
“I hope I am as wise as you when I’m older.”
“Stick with me, kid.” She winked. “I’ll rub off on you.”
I laughed. “The chicken is ready.”
Together, we finished preparing dinner, taking turns cooking and seasoning the food. In the thirty minutes it took us to get everything ready, I had never laughed so much in my life, and that was a big deal, considering how often Alec Slater cracked me up. But my ma? She was on a whole other level of funny.
“Me sides are killin’ me,” I said as I set the table.
Ma snorted. “I think we both needed that laugh.”
“I know I did.”
I felt better. After the week I had, and the current day especially, it was nice to forget about everything and just laugh with my ma. She always knew what to say and do to make me feel better. We continued to tell jokes and laugh ... until the front door opened.
“I’m home, love.”
I looked up at my ma and watched as a huge smile broke out across her face as my da entered the house. She quickly adjusted her apron and ruffled her hair and ran out to the hall to meet him like she was sixteen and her boyfriend just randomly stopped by for a visit. If I didn’t know what a piece of shite my da was, I would have thought his relationship with my ma was perfect, but it was one-sided. My ma adored him, and he repaid that love and admiration by sleeping with another woman.
It made my blood boil.
“Alannah, love,” Da beamed when he entered the room, his arms still around my ma as she hugged him tightly, her face buried against his chest. “You’re ’ere early.”
There was no way on God’s green earth that I was telling him the real reason I was here early, and I knew my ma wouldn’t either.
I shrugged. “I wanted to spend some time with Ma.”
He smiled, looked down at my ma, and gave her a kiss. My fingers flexed before balling into fists. I wanted to savage the man like a wild animal for his deceit and leave nothing left for the birds to pick at, and the only reason I hadn’t already done it was because of my ma. She was the only reason.
“Are you ready for food now?” Ma asked my da, leaning back so she could look up at him.
She was my height—five-foot-five—and my da was six-foot-four. He was super tall, and was called lanky more times than not by my ma. For some reason, my mind compared him to Damien because they were the same height. It annoyed me further because I wished that I could say that Damien would never cheat on a partner, but after witnessing my da cheating on my ma, it faulted my trust in all men.
Da nodded. “Starved.”
“Perfect,” Ma chirped, removing her arms from him and turning to the food. “Go wash up, and I’ll dish the food.”
My da didn’t need to be told twice; he headed out of the room, removing his coat and suit jacket as he went, and hung them up in the hall on the coat rack. I left him to use the upstairs bathroom to wash up while I waited for my ma to finish at the sink so I could use it. I didn’t want to be on my own with my da—I was afraid of what I would or wouldn’t say to him if I was.
“What’s that face for?”
I looked at my ma. “Huh?”
“You look like you’ve swallowed somethin’ sour,” she joked.
“Just starvin’ for this dinner. It smells amazin’.”
“Sit down,” Ma shooed. “I’ll dish your plate first.”
I did as I was told and took my seat at the table. My ma put a steaming hot plate of chicken stir-fry in front of me, followed by some rice. My da re-entered the room, and she did the same for him, before joining us with her own plate of food. We bowed our heads as my ma thanked God for our meal, and when she was finished, my da echoed her amen.
I remained mute.
“How was your meetin’?” Ma asked my da, starting the conversation.
“Pretty good,” Da answered, taking a bite of his food. “This quarter was better than our last, so sales are improvin’ steadily.”