Page 72 of From This Moment (After We Fall 4)
“It is.” She bit her lip, torn between accepting such a big gift and wanting Abby to have it. “We’re not your responsibility.”
“Hannah.” I took her by the shoulders and turned her to face me. “Let me. It’s best when they start young. You can pay me back later, if you want to. In blowjobs, even.”
She broke into laughter. “Deal.”
I gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. “Good. Now I’m going to find the best, most expensive piano money can buy. I want it to take forever for you to work off.”
“Ha. I better get upstairs. See you later?”
I nodded, but I didn’t want to leave. “See you later.”
I let myself out and drove home, feeling much better than I had yesterday about everything.
Trust my mother to ruin my mood.
“Wes? Is that you?” she called from the kitchen when I came in the front door.
“It’s me.” I wished I could just go to my room and avoid her interrogation, but I dutifully went into the kitchen to say hello.
“Did you eat?” she asked, closing up the dishwasher and turning it on. “I can make you a plate.”
“I ate.” I leaned back against the counter, hands in my pockets.
She waited expectantly, and when I didn’t offer any details, she asked. “Where?”
I thought about lying and decided against it. “At Hannah’s.”
She blanched. “What were you doing at Hannah’s?”
“I took her and Abby over to see my new house. Brad called today—the offer was accepted.”
But instead of being happy about that, she focused on the part where I took Hannah to see it first. “You took them to the house already? I haven’t even seen it!”
“Would you like to? I have to return the key to Brad tomorrow, but I’d be glad to run over there with you right now and show you around.”
“I can’t. I have bridge club tonight. I have to leave soon.”
“Well, let me ask Brad if I can keep the key one more day. I’ll take you there tomorrow after work.”
She pressed her lips together. “That will be fine, I guess. But I won’t say I’m not hurt that you took Hannah before you took me. Or Daddy,” she added as she took a sponge from the sink and began wiping down the island.
“Come on, Mom. It was just a quick thing. I thought it would cheer her up, and I wanted to get her opinion on the kitchen remodel.”
“I can help you with that too, you know.” She scrubbed viciously at a spill on the marble.
“I know. And I’ll be glad for your help. I’ll need a lot of help with this new house. Your input will be needed and appreciated.”
That seemed to mollify her, and her movements slowed, her voice softening. “Fine, dear. But I do wonder,” she began in a way that let me know I wasn’t going to like what she had to say. “I do wonder if all this time with Hannah isn’t a little bit…tacky.”
“Tacky?”
“Well, people talk. And if they see you two together around town, or catch you coming and going from her house, they might get the wrong idea. Of course, I know that nothing untoward is going on, but can you imagine the terrible gossip that would spread? The name calling? Poor Hannah. It would be devastating to her reputation. Not to mention little Abby.”
“What do you mean?”
“Children can be horribly cruel. If they hear their parents saying things, they might repeat them.” She took the sponge to the sink and rinsed it. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do, dear. I’m only concerned for Hannah and Abby.”
She was so full of shit. “But not me?”
