I didn’t want her and my dad to hate him. It was strange. I had this need to protect him and his… image? No, character might be a better word. Perhaps I was in denial, refusing to believe he didn’t love me. My heart didn’t want it to be true.
Staring at the phone, I forced myself to push the call button. We weren’t the kind of mother and daughter who talked daily, or even weekly. With my busy schedule and Will, it wasn’t unusual to go weeks between calls. Mom had her job at the elementary school, and was the best kindergarten teacher to ever walk the face of the earth. She loved her kids like they were her own. Between working and golfing with my dad, she was pretty busy herself.
Reality hit me then.
My parents were going to be grandparents, and I had moved away with their grandchild. The news would devastate my mom. God, I hoped they wouldn’t hate Will, but how could I blame them if they did? His infidelity broke my heart, and it would break my parents’ hearts too.
Yeah, they would hate him.
I pushed the button and listened to it ring.
“Hello?” she answered, hesitation in her voice. Of course she wouldn’t recognize the number. I hadn’t thought about that before.
“Mom… It’s me.”
“Miranda? Oh, I’m so happy to hear from you! Did you get a new phone number?” I cringed, hearing my name woven through her joyful voice.
I took a deep breath, preparing for a lengthy call. “Yes, I got a new number. How’s Dad?”
“Miranda, you sound different. What’s going on? You never ask about Dad before telling me about yourself.”
Shit, she wasn’t wrong. I always gabbed about work or Will or Lily before asking about her and my dad. I was screwing this up before I even confessed what had happened.
“Mom, I have some stuff to tell you. I want you to listen to everything I have to say before asking questions or giving me yourveryopinionated opinion. Can you do that for me?”
“Miranda Rose Bradford, you just made my blood pressure spike. I’ll listen, but you better get talking and fast.”
Shit, shit, shit!
I sent up a prayer, then told her the heartbreaking, sordid story, dating back to when Jason moved to town in June. My mouth ran away with me at some point. I told her about Will’s late nights out, and against my better judgment, I told her about Cori. I even called her his lover. But I didn’t mention the baby yet. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t. Fear probably.
“Thank you for listening, Mom.” I had no idea how long I’d talked, but my sweet mom didn’t make a sound. Now that I thought of it, silence was probably the worst response from her.
“You changed your name and moved to Spokane all because Will cheated on you? Did I understand that correctly? Because if I did, that seems crazy, Miranda.”
“Please call me Anna.”
“I will not! Answer my question.”
“No, not exactly.” Hearing her angry-mom voice made me quake.
“Then, what exactly?”
“I’m pregnant.”
Silence.
“Mom?”
“Pregnant? Oh, honey,” she choked out, and I knew she was crying.
I swallowed the lump of emotion in my throat and fought to hold back my own tears. “Mom, I’m afraid the St. James family might convince Will to take my baby because we aren’t together. They’re powerful like that. Do you understand? If he contacts you, you can’t tell him where I’m at.” How much should I tell her? She had to know it would be dire so she and my dad wouldn’t tell Will or anyone else information about me. I was sure he would contact them.
“Miranda, are you in trouble? Are you afraid of Will?”
“He never gave me a reason to fear him, but his family is another story. They took his cousin away from his mother. I would die if they did that to me. I once believed Will loved me, but if he did, how could he cheat on me?”
“Oh, sweetie, I just can’t believe he would do such a thing. Your father and I love him. He always looked at you like you were his everything.” She sniffled. My poor mom was a crier. The most sensitive person I knew. Now I really felt horrible for being the cause of her tears. “I was certain you two would get married one day. He’d even asked your dad for his blessing,” she whimpered.