Page 20 of Speechless
“Yeah, I guess. But sometimes there are things in your past you can’t leave behind.”
ChapterSeven
Codie
I’d snuck away from the shop for a quick lunch with my mama, but when she started firing questions at me about Mav, I cursed myself for not bringing a sandwich from home.
“Obviously you’ve been talking to Gracie,” I said, digging into my chicken Caesar salad.
“Your sister’s worried about you, hon. And frankly, so am I. Mav? That man has always been your kryptonite.”
No truer words were ever spoken. After we got off the phone last night, thoughts of him, and the way we’d left things, cost me half a night’s sleep, and I was paying for it today.
“I’m fine, Mama. No need to worry.”
She paused with a French fry half-way to her mouth. “But you know I do worry, about both my girls. What kind of mama would I be if I didn’t?”
Since our daddy had never been in the picture, my mama had filled her shoes as well as his, and she couldn’t accept the fact that me and my sister were both grown up now and didn’t need her to police our lives anymore.
“The kind who knows she raised two smart, capable, strong women who can take care of themselves. I don’t make bad decisions when it comes to men, Mama. You know that. I always date guys who treat me right, so I don’t know what you’re so worried about.”
“I’m worried because…” She closed her eyes, drawing a breath. “When you broke up with that man, you hit rock bottom, Codie. I never thought I’d see you in that state. And it nearly destroyed me. I felt so helpless. I didn’t know how to help you—”
“I know.” I covered her hand with mine. “But that’s all ancient history now. We need to put it behind us, and chock it up to a learning experience. That’s what I’ve done.”
“But things are different now,” she whispered, leaning in. “Maverick’s successful. He’s trying to get his life together, from what your sister tells me. What if this Maverick 2.0 is too tempting for you to resist?”
I laughed, but it really wasn’t funny. I’d asked myself that same question. “I’m not that same weak little girl anymore. I know how to say no and I’ve already told Mav we can’t be friends… or anything else.”
“And?” she asked, adjusting her silver-framed glasses before taking a bite of her tuna melt. “How did he take that?”
“He seemed okay with it.” If not, okay, at least he seemed willing to accept it.
“I find that hard to believe. That man was always crazy about you. Until he wasn’t anymore.” She sighed. “Oh well, I’m sure he has his pick of women out on the road, right? All those groupies. It probably won’t be long before he takes up with one of them and forgets all about you again.”
And just like that, I lost my appetite.
* * *
I was tattooing an old friend, a biker who was old enough to be my father, when he said, “Hey, didn’t I see you at a concert this weekend?”
Ugh. That damn video where Mav dedicated the song to me had gone viral and my friends, employees and clients had been giving me grief about it all week. “Yeah, you did.”
He chuckled. “Sounds like I’m not the first to mention it. What’s the deal? That singer, what’s his name, Mac—”
“Mav. Maverick.”
“Right. Opening for Trey Turner, he must be a pretty big deal, huh?”
“He’s well on his way.” I was happy for Mav, finally finding the success he’d always been chasing, but I couldn’t help but wonder how wealth and fame would change him. And why I even cared.
He watched me shade the rosary tattoo bearing the names of all four of his children. “How do you know him?”
I didn’t want to discuss Mav or the nature of my relationship with him, but it seemed to be the only thing anyone had wanted to talk to me about all damn week. “We dated in high school.”
“Huh, that’s a long time for a guy to be hung up on a girl.” He winked. “Even one as pretty as you.”
“It was complicated.” That seemed like an understatement. Loving Mav had changed the course of my life. If he hadn’t dumped me, I probably wouldn’t have started drinking so heavily. But the alcoholism put me on a healing path that changed my life, so I couldn’t be sorry for the choices I’d made back then. “We had some unfinished business, I guess. Maybe writing that song helped him work through things, I don’t know.”
