I’m ready for lighthearted.
I’m ready for laughter.
I’m ready for more of what we just did because that?
That was so fantastic.
“I went to see my mother yesterday,” he says. He’s rubbing his hands together, fidgeting, and I can tell that he’s nervous. The way he says he went to see his mom tells me this isn’t something he often does. I hold no judgment there. My own mother is locked away in the mental health ward of the Crescent County Hospital.
It’s not like I’m one to talk.
“What did you want to talk to your mother about?” I ask gently, but I think I already know the answer.
If Gavin needs to talk to me about his visit, then the discussion concerns me, which means they talked about my dad.
They talked about our dads.
“I had some questions for her about my father.”
“About the deal my dad cut.”
“Yeah.”
“No one ever bothered to tell you what was happening,” I say.
“Nope,” he shakes his head and lets out a long, low breath. The air flees from his body like a deflating balloon.
“And you wanted to know if it was true.”
“Yeah.”
“Your mother told you?” I try to coax it out of him. He obviously wants to talk to me. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of bringing me to Lover’s Lane. I mean, Parker Point is a nice place, but you really only come up here for one reason.
“Emilia,” he turns to me, and now I’m starting to feel scared because his eyes are wide, and red, and I think Gavin might start crying.
“What is it Gavin? You better fuckin’ tell me,” I say.
“She told me...”
And then Gavin Reynolds starts to cry. He starts sobbing like
a little kid and I don’t know what to do, so I launch myself into his arms and I just hold him. Inside, I’m totally freaking out, but on the outside, I try to keep it together.
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “Everything is okay.”
“She did it,” he pulls back and looks at me. “My mom. She’s the one who did it.”
“Who did what?” I ask, confused.
“She turned them in.”
I think I’m going to be sick.
“Your mom knew what they were doing?”
“Yeah, and she says your mom knew, too. They decided together to turn them in. I haven’t talked to your mom, Emmie. It might be lies. It might be some made up story, but I...”
Suddenly, it all clicks into place.