Her mom ignored her. “I’m still your mother and I happen to know that you’re never going to have room for love, joy, and commitment in your life as long as you keep bottling up all of your anger, resentment, and abandonment issues.”
“I’m not bottling up anything.” Her father was a non-issue in her life.
“Yes, you are. The negative energy that you’re holding onto is clogging your emotional system the same way your hair clogs the shower drain.”
Gross.
“But it’s okay, because you’re going to release it all soon. And then you’ll be free. You’ll be clear. You’ll be empowered.”
“Great.”
Her mother had been making predictions about Brynn’s life before Brynn even knew what predictions were. Some were ominous and vague, like the one she’d just made regarding her “releasing it all soon.” And some were specific, like when Shea started putting bananas in Brynn’s lunchbox every day in fourth grade. When Brynn asked her about it, her mother said that she’d need the potassium to help her heal. Two weeks later, Brynn fell out of a tree that she’d been climbing and broke her arm and leg.
When her mother told her that was why she’d had her eating the bananas, Brynn asked her why she didn’t just tell her not to climb the tree. Her mother told her that her gift didn’t work like that. Even at eight, Brynn had thought, then what’s the point?
“How are things going with Mr. Fixer Upper?”
“Are you talking about Gannon or Axel?” Brynn smiled to herself. Her mother wouldn’t get the reference. Gannon was the hero from Brynn’s favorite Lucy Score book, Mr. Fixer Upper. She had to amuse herself in these conversations or she’d lose it.
It was every woman for herself when she was talking to her mother.
“Who’s Gannon?”
“Never mind. Everything is fine with Axel.”
“And what about you? How are things with you and my handsome grandson?”
“Fine.”
“And is Ryder spending all his free time with Axel?”
Brynn thought about lying just so she didn’t encourage her mother’s “intuition,” but she went with honesty.
“Yes.”
“As soon as I read Axel, I knew he was exactly what you both needed.”
“We don’t need him.”
She might want him, badly, but need and want were two very different things.
“Yes you do. You’re just too stubborn to admit it. You’ve always been stubborn.”
Her phone buzzed again and she jumped at the chance to end the call and not go down the Brynn-is-stubborn rabbit hole.
“Okay, well, dinner’s here. I gotta go. Love you, Mom.”
She hung up before her mom could respond and saw that it wasn’t pizza after all, it was Ali. She didn’t need to take a deep breath before she answered this call. “Hey.”
“Hey, chickadee! What are you up to?”
Oh, just trying not to lose my mind.
“Not much.”
“I was calling to see if Ryder’s going to the Friday Night Freshman Lock-in.”
“He is.”