Page 109 of Forget That Guy
I had.
“You don’t know me,” I grumbled.
She scoffed. “I’ve known you better than any of my children. Wiser and older parents, I guess.”
I didn’t comment for a long time, and she didn’t bother to fill the silence.
We were pulling into the Heartsans’ driveway when my mother said, “Let me talk first.”
I didn’t argue with her.
My mother was the matriarch of this small town.
She’d helped create it with the help of my father.
That was why we owned so much of the real estate.
Her and my father had been the ones to build it all.
“Don’t make me have to pay more than I have to,” I grumbled.
“You let me deal with that.” She gave me a look. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is my money still. At least until I die and it splits three ways.”
I grimaced. “I don’t want to talk about that.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s cute that you think I’ll live forever, son. But one day I won’t be here, and you’re going to have to finally accept that.”
Before I could say anything more, she opened the door and slid out of the truck.
She may be old, but she was spry.
She slammed the door closed before I’d even finished leaving the truck.
I rounded the hood to see her stomping toward the Heartsans’ front door.
The door opened and a young woman smiled at my mother. “Mrs. Windsor. Hello. What are you doing here?”
The woman was stunning. Probably around Holly’s age.
“Hello, dear. Are your parents home?” Mom asked.
The woman smiled. “Dad’s in the barn. Mom’s not feeling well.”
My mother softened. “How’s the cancer?”
The woman’s face fell. “Not good.” She looked around at the farm. “She thought she was going to beat it, but it came back very aggressively. It’s not looking good.”
Fuck cancer.
“I’m sorry, honey,” my mom said. “You let me know if you need anything. And if the ban’s ever lifted on visits, I’ll be the first to stop by.”
She smiled. “Be careful. The road to the barn’s a little rough.”
Mom waved and caught my hand.
We were halfway to the barn when she said, “Now, I don’t like Mrs. Heartsan all that much, but no one deserves to be riddled away by cancer.”
I rolled my eyes. “What was all that bluster back there then if you don’t like her?”
