Soaring (70 page)

“They seemed to be getting along okay during dinner,” I noted hopefully. “I mean, Ash isn’t super talkative and it was a little awkward. Pip was obviously embarrassed and didn’t know how to behave because she’s usually really social but that wouldn’t be appropriate. But it wasn’t the Antarctic.”

“Don’t wanna hurt you, Amy, but I’m not thinkin’ those two are gonna be in the same crew. Ash told me her friends think your girl is a bitch by association so her eyes may have been opened to the way of things but it’s not likely they’re gonna open arms to her.”

“Right,” I murmured.

“She’ll find her way with better guidance from a mom who gives a shit than a dad who’s all about his dick.”

That, I hoped, would be true.

“Just to say, not to take any of the blame off Pippa, who deserves it—” I started.

“You kinda made that clear,” he interrupted me and I heard humor in his tone, which gave me hope.

“Yeah, I definitely did that,” I agreed. “But anyway, during our chat in my bedroom, Ash shared that the struggles she’s experiencing aren’t just about being picked on at school. It’s about her mom.”

“No offense, but no shit, Amy.”

I took no offense and soldiered on, hesitantly, “Also looking after her mom in the way you did when you were married, hiding it from Cillian.”

There was a moment’s silence then a soft, wounded, “Fuck.”

I hated to have to go on but this was his girl so I couldn’t hold back.

“And me.”

“Come again?”

“The reason for the shopping trip. The change in your circumstances your ex-wife who you loved, who also loved you, would react to.” I explained.

“Fuckin’ great,” he muttered.

“I think Rhiannon is adjusting to that,” I told him, thinking I didn’t want to go back on my promise to Rhiannon but I could no longer hold back in sharing what could give the Donovans some hope after all that had spilled out that day.

So I was setting up to tell him his ex had made the colossal step toward recovery…for her kids.

“You guys sittin’ at my bar, drinkin’ tea, think you’re right,” he agreed.

“Ash wanted her mom to know I was cool,” I kept explaining. “I think she wanted her to know that everyone was moving on and it was good and she was trying to make it so her mom moved on with the rest of us.”

Mickey didn’t say anything.

“Anyway, how was the visit with Rhiannon?” I asked, hoping he’d give me a natural lead in to share about his ex-wife.

“Get this, the woman is in AA.”

My mouth dropped open before I used it to ask, “I’m sorry?”

“Obviously had to have a word with her to tell her what was up with Ash and the shit Cillian spewed. Took her out outside to chat. Told her what went down and what was said. Thought that would be yet another fantastic conversation for this stellar Thanksgiving.”

I closed my eyes again.

I opened them when he went on, “She then tells me she’s been in AA for a while, it’s goin’ good, she hasn’t had a drink since the night of town council meeting, and if I’m good with it, we can share that with the kids.”

This was
great
.

“Did you?” I asked.

“Yeah. Cillian didn’t know what to do with it and neither of them did cartwheels, but Rhiannon didn’t expect that. She knows she’s got things to prove and that’s gonna be a long haul. But it was somethin’. She never admitted to having a problem. Now the woman’s in AA?” He paused before finishing, “It was definitely something.”

“I should tell you,” I began carefully. “She shared this with me at Bed Bath and Beyond.”

“Say again?”

“She told me she was in recovery. She didn’t put pressure on for me not to tell you but she did say she wanted to do it herself. Since it’s hers, I agreed.”

He was silent a second.

I fretted that second.

Then he said, “Since you and me got a future, you two gotta establish your own relationship and with that comes trust. Sucks she put you in that position but you probably made the right decision for her.”

I liked his mention about us having a future but I still asked, “Was it the right decision for you?”

“Guess if your ex came and shared somethin’ important with me that affects you and your kids that he didn’t want to share with you. Somethin’ I know might strain things between him and me when we all gotta try to keep shit loose and good. Somethin’ I know might strain things between you and me. I got no good choice. Then he shares it with you a few weeks later. If that ever happens, I’ll be able to answer if it was right or not.”

“Are things…strained?” I pushed.

“Babe, you didn’t keep her secret for eternity.” I could hear the grin in his voice. “Relax.”

“Hard to relax after this day,” I told him.

“No shit,” he replied.

“Are we okay?” I asked.

“Amy.” He said my name, said nothing for very long, terrifying moments, then he gave me what I needed. “I love you. I told you that. I meant it. I meant it in a way you needed to know so you’d know I want a part in your future, which means you definitely got your part in mine. You gave that back to me, tellin’ me you want the same thing. We had a rocky day. We’re fucked if we can’t get through the first rocky day we have together and do it whole.”

I slid down the bed and rolled to my side, curling up like I could curl his words into me.

“Amy?” he called when I didn’t say anything.

“I’m here.”

“Are
you
okay?”

“Your ex-wife is in recovery. My ex-husband has outed himself for the loser cheat he is and the kids want to live with me. There is no longer any mystery around all the things Aisling is coping with, which means those who care about her can focus on helping her through them in a more directed way. I know why my kids were escaping their father. And you and I survived all that because I love you and you love me. It seems I actually
do
give awesome holiday.”

He burst out laughing.

I stayed curled up and listened.

When he stopped laughing, he asked softly, “So you love me, Amy?”

“I
so
love you, Mickey.”

“Trial by fire today, baby. The extremes we waded through today proves we’ll get through anything.”

I curled deeper into myself, curling that knowledge to me, that he believed it and him doing that made me believe it, and replied, “Yeah.”

“More good, your brother is fuckin’ cool.”

Mickey liked Lawrie.

I loved that.

I smiled. “Yeah.”

“You got a good son,” he stated, surprising me. “He did what he did, gettin’ in your face, to protect his sister who took some hits from their dad before they got to you.”

I hadn’t thought of it that way but thinking it then, I knew what I already knew.

I
did
have a good son.

He didn’t go about it the right way but at least he tried.

“Yeah,” I repeated.

“And your girl’s got courage. You laid her out like that, no mercy, your brother backin’ you, she’s got nowhere to turn. She pulls it up to ask Ash to talk. Says a lot, Amy. She’s gonna make it.”

She would.

God, I hoped she would.

“Yeah,” I said.

“We’ll all be okay,” he promised me.

I hoped that too.

“I’d be better now with your arms around me,” I told him.

“We’ll arrange that, soon’s we can.”

I sighed.

“You in bed?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I answered.

“Go to sleep. I’ll call in the mornin’ to check how things are goin’. Then I want you to call me after you have your meet with your ex.”

“Okay, Mickey.”

“Right, love you, baby.”

I sighed again through my, “Love you too, Mickey.”

“’Night.”

“’Night.”

We disconnected and I reached out to put my phone to the nightstand.

I stared at it.

I did not go to sleep.

I got out of bed, put on my robe and walked to my daughter’s room.

I knocked and got no answer, so I went in.

The room was dark.

I moved to her bed, sat on it and gently slid her hair off her neck.

“Love you, baby girl,” I whispered.

She turned her head so she trapped my hand against her neck.

“Love you too, Mom,” she whispered back.

I gave her neck a squeeze, slid it away then bent and kissed her cheek.

I left her, closed the door and went to my son’s room.

At my knock, he called, “Yeah?”

I opened it and went in.

His room was dark but I closed the door behind me and moved to where he was lying in bed.

“Just wanna say goodnight, my handsome boy.”

He shifted so he was sitting and looking up at me.

“’Night, Mom. Sorry the day was all drama. Mickey probably thinks we’re all whacked.”

“It’s over and tomorrow’s another day.”

“Yeah, you and Scarlett O’Hara are all over that.”

I decided to take that as a compliment.

I bent, took his hand and held it tight.

“You did right, trying to protect your sister after what had gone on with your dad. You went about it wrong, but the impulse was right.”

“’Kay,” he muttered, sounding embarrassed.

“Mickey was the one who pointed that out to me,” I shared.

He sounded incredulous, but in a good way, when he asked, “Really?”

“Yes, kiddo.”

“He was pissed I cursed at you,” he noted hesitantly.

“He likes me. Like you with your sister, he was protecting me.”

“It won’t happen again,” he promised.

“That’d be good.”

His fingers gave mine a squeeze. I took it and took the hint, letting him go and moving to the door.

“Mom?” he called.

In the doorway, hand on the handle, I turned to him.

“Yeah, honey?”

“I knew about Polly. Everyone at school knows about Polly. That’s why I wanted to talk to you alone. Just Pip, you and me. Ash isn’t right. She’s living her own thing. I didn’t know who she was. Not being mean, but she’s a freshman. Junior guys don’t pay a lot of attention to freshman girls. I would see her in the hall but had no idea she was Mickey’s girl and never saw Polly go at her. But I’ve seen Polly pulling her crap and the freshmen might live in fear of her, but the upperclassman think she’s a pain in the butt. There’s gonna be a takedown, thinking as a freshman she can lord over the school, and that’s gonna happen soon. I’ve been trying to talk to Pippa about her to get her out of target range, but she wasn’t listening. We’ve been going around about it for a while. It’s been ticking me off.”

Yes, my son was a good kid.

And perhaps I had an explanation of why his patience was shorter with his sister lately.

Further, it appeared a small town didn’t extend to the bubble of the high school world.

“Okay, Auden,” I said when he stopped talking.

“That’s why I wanted to talk alone,” he continued. “I figured, you and me both having a go at her about Polly, she might actually listen. It sucks she had to go through that today, but you were right not to back down. If she’s in on it, that’s not cool. But it’s still a good thing it happened because she needs to be far away from Polly when the
real
mean girls make their move to show that girl her place.”

I forgot how many political minefields there were in high school.

This was a good reminder. I had two kids in it and three and a half years left of guiding them through it.

I felt badly for Polly, and her mom, who I liked, who would be next in line to deal. But Polly needed to learn a lesson too.

I just hoped the timing was right that my baby girl didn’t get caught in the crossfire.

Then again, if her past association drew her in, I had a feeling her brother would be at her back.

“You make me proud,” I told him. “You being you but also you looking out for your sister.”

“She isn’t a bully,” Auden told me, his voice softer, telling me my compliment meant something to him. “Pip and me talked after you went to bed and she told me Ash didn’t know Pip was your daughter because her name is Moss, not Hathaway. And she didn’t know Ash was Mickey’s, because, well, no one knows who kids’ parents are until they meet them or see them with them.”

“I should have probably shared more information with you before the meeting,” I admitted. “I was just nervous. I’ve never done this before. It didn’t even occur to me they were in the same grade and might know each other. My main focus was it all working out, you all getting along, making it safe for you,
all
of you, my two and Mickey’s two, when we tried blending. It’s a big thing, honey,” I said softly. “It means a lot to me, to Mickey, to all of us. So I guess I didn’t think beyond that.”

“It isn’t your fault, Mom,” he assured me. “We get that. This isn’t about you messing up. What I’m trying to say is Pippa was tight with her friends back home in California. She missed them. Dudes they adjust. New guy, they take him in. She’s a girl and it’s hard to find your way into a posse and they got so many games going on, it’s harder to know which is the right one.
She
messed up. Now she knows that and she’ll get it together.”

“I know she will,” I replied.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Thanks for sharing all this with me.”

“No probs, Mom.”

I waited to see if he had more and when he didn’t say anything, I said, “Okay, kiddo. I’m gonna leave you alone. Goodnight, sweets.”

I started to turn the door handle when he called, “Mom?”

“Right here, Auden.”

“Love you.”

The weight that had been lifting since Mickey called disappeared completely and I was again walking on air.

“Love you too, baby,” I replied and shifted out the door, closing it behind me.

I moved through the hall of my house toward my bedroom and did it shouting, “’Night, Lawrie. Love you.”

“’Night, MeeMee,” he called from the log room (more masculine, I’d put him in the beach room when he was there after he hooked up with Robin). “Love you too. Now stop shouting!”

I heard a giggle from Pippa’s room, a loud snort from Auden’s.

And my world was again happy.

Chapter Twenty-Seven