it odd that so many customers at the garage seemed to pay their bills in cash? Maybe, but Ellie worked retail, where most transactions were done on credit, so it seemed unusual to her when anyone paid cash.
It was easy to see through these things now, but then…she’d had no reason to suspect anything was wrong. Just like she’d had no reason to suspect Kurt’s quirks were anything more than that. He’d always had a bit of a jealous streak, something they’d both laughed about, and by the time they’d moved in together, he’d already told her a couple of times that they’d be together forever. It seemed sweet back then, but once he was released on bail and started stalking her, she realized he hadn’t meant it in the loving way she’d thought.
“Let’s not do this,” Ellie said, huffing out a breath. Sitting cross-legged, she met Gail’s unwavering stare with one of her own. “Tell me what happened with you and Buck.”
Gail and Buck had always presented a united front on everything from family decisions to discipline to curfews and rules for dating. They had each other’s backs in all things, regardless of how big or small, and no matter how much anger Ellie held for her father, she had to give them both credit for that. So for Gail to leave him, it had to be something big.
“Your dad and I love you and Gabbie more than anything in the whole world. I know it’s hard for you to believe that after what’s happened between you and him, but it’s true. You should hear the way he talks about you to his friends. He’s so proud—”
“Mom.”
Gail nodded a little guiltily before focusing back on the actual topic at hand. “Maybe this should wait until you get home from practice. I don’t want—”
“Mom.”
It took a few seconds, but eventually Gail sighed, her words starting slowly, barely more than a whisper, as though she was trying to make them easier to say. Or hear.
“You know I didn’t have the best life growing up.” Gail’s expression clouded and chilled. “I swore if I ever had kids, I’d make damn good and sure they never had to live like that. I’d do whatever it took to make sure my children grew up with both parents, that they were fed, clothed, and had a safe place to live.”
“And you did. We had all that, Mom, but what does that have to do with this?”
Gail’s lips pursed tight for a second before she spoke again.
“I was a high school graduate working two minimum-wage jobs when I met Buck. He was cute and funny and was always so nice to me. He had a way about him, you know, and I knew from the first time I talked to him that he was the kind of man who’d take care of his family. He was on his way up in the firm and needed someone to stand with him, to help him present himself as a good, solid family man. Sounds silly now, but back in the day, having a family meant a man was dependable and trustworthy, and it was those men who moved up faster.”
Ellie didn’t respond, mainly because anything she had to say about Buck was only going to be rude and self-serving and this wasn’t about her. It was about her mom.
“We got along so well,” Gail went on, sinking back in her chair and tucking her feet up beside her. “We both wanted the same thing, and we both knew we could help each other get it, and, well, I loved him so much I believed that would be enough, that it didn’t matter if he didn’t feel the same way, so…” She shrugged. “It made sense.”
“What made sense?” Ellie croaked. “What are you telling me here, Mom? You married Buck knowing he wasn’t in love with you?”
“Yes, but just listen before you say anything else. There are a few things I’d change about the last thirty-five years, but marrying your father wouldn’t be one of them. Think about all the kids you grew up with, Ellie. How many of those families stayed together?”
She didn’t wait for Ellie to answer.
“Not many, and I’d be willing to bet that probably had a lot to do with the fact that the parents didn’t really want the same things, and if they did, they weren’t willing to do whatever it took to get them. I loved Buck, and together we were determined to