“Yes, you do.”
“No. I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I am.”
“Morgan,” he said stubbornly. “Tell me what you need from me.”
“I don’t need anything from you,” I replied, my own stubbornness more than a match for his. I pulled away but refused to meet his gaze.
“I can see it on your face, baby,” he said. “You called me for a reason.”
“You’re the only person I know who lives close.”
“Bullshit,” he replied before I’d even finished my sentence.
“What do you want me to say?” I practically shouted, throwing my hands into the air in frustration.
“Tell me what you need!” he replied. His tone was just as frustrated, but he never raised his voice.
I stared at him silently.
Trevor sighed and used one hand to rub his eyes like he was tired. He took one step back, but before either of us could leave the porch, we were distracted by the sound of a car coming down his gravel driveway.
Chapter 15
Trevor
It had felt like we were almost there, like we were almost to the point where she could force herself to go beyond the superficial and tell me something real. I was beginning to realize that it was easier for Morgan to ask for help when she wasn’t the one in need, but the minute her needs came into the equation, she completely shut down.
Now, though, any type of breakthrough was completely off the table. Morgan was motionless beside me as my mom pulled to a stop and climbed out of her car.
“Morgan?” Mom said in surprise, her eyebrows nearly reaching her hairline as she stopped short of the porch. “What are you doing here?”
It wasn’t the tone of her voice that got to me, and it wasn’t her body language or the fact that someone must have told her I had guests before she’d arrived. It was the words she’d used. She didn’t say, “I didn’t know you were visiting,” or “When did you get here?” She specifically asked why Morgan was at my house, and that didn’t set well with me at all.
“What are you doing here, Mom?” I asked easily, turning the question back on her.
“Oh, I was out and about,” she replied lamely, making some weird motion with her hands. “I wanted to meet that new puppy of yours.”
I turned to look for Koda, who I’d been completely ignoring during my talk with Morgan, and found him passed out on the welcome mat.
“He’s right here,” I said, lifting him into my arms.
I walked down the steps before my mom could come any closer and handed her the sleepy puppy.
“Oh, he’s cute,” she said, pulling him against her chest. “Did you get him from the Mallorys?”
“Yeah, the last litter,” I replied. I didn’t understand why we were making small talk when we both know Koda wasn’t why she’d come, but I let it slide. The longer I watched her the more I could sense her nervousness, and I didn’t want to make it worse.
When the screen door creaked behind me, Mom’s head shot up to look over my shoulder. “Is Etta here, too?” she asked Morgan, halting her escape.
“Yeah,” Morgan replied. Her voice was hoarse, but any emotional remnants of our previous conversation were gone.
“Can she come out for a few minutes?” Mom asked hopefully, giving Morgan a small smile.
“She’s asleep,” Morgan replied quickly.
As irritating as my mother was, the disappointment on her face was still hard for me to see. Before I thought it through, I turned to Morgan.
“Maybe she hasn’t crashed yet,” I said.
I immediately knew I’d fucked up, but I didn’t fix my mistake. I’d never been able to watch something upset my mom without trying to fix it. So, like an idiot, I met Morgan’s gaze and waited for a response.
“I can check,” she replied.
She turned and walked into the house without another word.
“Why’s she here, Trevor?” my mom asked as soon as Morgan had disappeared. “You didn’t tell me she was coming to Oregon.”
“She’s not here for a visit, Mom.”
“Well, she’s visiting you,” she replied, annoyed. “You could have at least let me know.”
“She didn’t want you to know,” I said, instantly regretting my words when I realized how they’d come across. “I just mean that she’s headed home soon, Ma. She came up to get her sister—”
“Why? Isn’t it the middle of the semester?” she cut in.
I hadn’t had a chance to climb out of the pit I’d dug for myself when Morgan came back outside without Etta.
“Sorry,” she said uncomfortably. “She’s asleep.”
My mom sniffed only loud enough for me to hear but nodded in understanding. “Well, okay then,” she said.
I hated that she was upset. I knew it must be killing her to be so close to her granddaughter without being able to see her, and, honestly, I didn’t understand why Morgan didn’t just wake the baby up. It wasn’t like my family had many chances to see Etta. Waking her up once so that she could have a little visit wasn’t going to do any kind of damage to her schedule. Hell, I wasn’t even sure Etta had a schedule.