Publication date: October 21st 2022
Genres: Coming of Age, Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Izzy
The shock of finding
Renée on the doorstep is fading, taken over by the sheer hypocrisy of her
arrival. Why now? It’s a little late if she wants to make amends. Not a word
for two stinking years and she shows up thinking I’m going to be grateful she’s
here?
Not in this lifetime.
The warm sincerity of
her embrace, though… it tries to weaken the resentment I’ve fostered since she
walked out on her family, leaving me to pick up the pieces.
“I don’t want you here,”
I snarl, unable to hide my bitterness. I’d rather act as though I don’t care.
Renée eyes me warily,
rubbing a reddened palm. I feel a childish delight to have caused her even a
minuscule amount of the pain she’s caused me.
“I’m aware,” she says
calmly, bending to pick up a bulging overnight bag. “But I’m here now, so let’s
make the best of it—for Mom.”
Red hot rage rises from
the pit of my stomach to spit and steam from my ears. “Do. Not. Use Mom
against me. You lost that right a long time ago.”
Months of caregiving
flicker behind my eyes. My father’s suicide did something to Mom. She
shouldered the blame and wore it like a hairshirt, ripping the blinders away
from their relationship to show the fractures in the foundation. She shut down.
Stopped eating, washing, and caring. It was left to me to get Benjamin off to
school, clothes washed, and a semblance of normalcy when everything was insane.
“You should have
called.” Renée’s empathetic gaze gets on my last nerve.
I whirl away before I plant my fist in her
face. “Your room is the way you left it. You can stay the weekend, then I want
you to leave. Ben doesn’t need to get his hopes up.” And neither do I.
- $25 Amazon gift card
Thanks for sharing my new release, Freda!
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