Page 175 of Someone Like Me
We’re picking up our empty plates a few minutes later, when we hear someone approach at the foot of the stairs.
“Andrew?”
Beside me, Drew freezes. In his profile, I see wariness.
“Who is it?” I whisper.
Drew turns his confused gaze to me. “My mother.”
Without another word, I grip his hand, and together we descend the stairs. When we make the turn at the landing, she’s there at the bottom, looking up at us, and I see exactly where Drew gets the ability to hide his thoughts.
Lottie Moroux’s expression is perfectly blank as she watches us come down. But I well remember the look she gave me at the hospital a few weeks ago, and worse than that, the look of devastation Drew wore after she’d spoken to him.
I squeeze his hand. He squeezes back.
I’m ready to be strong for him. To weather with him anything hurtful she might say. So I’m surprised when she addresses me first.
“You’re Evie?” she asks, her face giving nothing away.
“Yes, ma’am. Evie Lalonde.” I’m proud of the way my voice comes out even despite my jangling nerves. Saying it’s nice to meet her wouldn’t really be the truth, so I go for the obvious. “And you’re Mrs. Moroux.”
The corners of her mouth might twitch. “Lottie,” she says. And I don’t want to get my hopes up, but that sounds like an offering, and I’m not about to dismiss it, so I nod.
“Hi, Mrs. Lottie.”
“Just Lottie,” she says flatly, and I see again the resemblance in manner between her and Drew. At once, I soften toward her. She is, after all, the woman who gave him life.
“Very nice to meet you, Lottie.”
This time she nods. “Evie, I have something to ask Andrew. Would you give us a minute or two alone?”
My face goes hot. I can’t refuse her, but I don’t want to leave him. And quite suddenly, I’m remembering the morning my parents arrived home on their surprise visit weeks ago. He didn’t want to leave me then either.
But he did.
I swallow. “Sure, I’ll just—”
“She stays,” Drew says, squeezing my hand tighter. I look up at him, expecting to see hostility, but his features are perfectly calm. “We’re together, Lottie. And this will be her home, too. Whatever you need to say to me, she can hear it.”
I’m sure my eyes are about to bug out of my head. I look back at Drew’s mother, but mostly so I can be ready if she goes for my throat.
Instead, for the first time, her mask of detached coolness wobbles. She suddenly looks unsure of herself. Her gaze snaps to mine.
“I just…” She looks down, and I see now that she’s struggling with shame. She lifts her face to meet Drew’s eyes again, but she fails and lets her gaze fall to the floor between us. “I just need to know if I’ll be welcome here… Now that the house is yours.”
I feel the tremor that passes over Drew.
He squeezes it once and drops my hand before stepping closer to his mother. His movements are slow, tentative, as he lifts a hand and just barely touches his fingertips to her elbow. I’m holding my breath, praying she won’t pull away.
She doesn’t, but the lines around her eyes speak of anguish and uncertainty.
“You will always be welcome here.” His words are low and soft, but I hear the root of hope in them. He wants this so desperately, it hurts me.
Conflict wars in Lottie’s eyes. For a moment, I’m not sure if she’s going to slap him or hug him.
She does neither.
“I don’t know if I can forgive you, Andrew.”
