Tatum, doesn’t matter. I know you have doubts. I know you’re scared, whether you admit it or not, but I have to tell you that I haven’t seen you that happy in years. Maybe ever.”
I nodded; as usual, she was absolutely right. I had never been as happy with anyone as I was with Paige.
“What will we do with the shop? Who will run it while I’m gone?” I started going down the checklist that had formed in my mind.
She waved a hand at me, dismissing my concerns. “I’ll take care of that. You know that someone will step up to help out. Let me worry about those things. I’m tired of you putting your life on pause. I can’t have you doing it anymore.”
“But—”
“But nothing. I don’t want to hear another word about it,” she said as I opened my mouth to argue, and she raised a warning finger at me. “I mean it. Not another word.”
I smiled, but responded anyway. “What will you do while I’m gone?” Leaving the only town I’d truly ever known was hard, but leaving my mom for any length of time since my dad died was a thousand times harder.
My mother gave me a brave smile. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I’m a grown woman. And honestly, I’ve always wanted to see California. Maybe you’ll settle down out there and I’ll come visit,” she suggested, and her face lit up in a way I’d never seen before.
“I’m just going out there to see Paige and try to fix this. That doesn’t mean I’m never coming back here,” I said, my voice stern.
“We’ll see about that,” she said with a grin as a knock on the screen door startled us.
I turned around to see Brina on the porch, clearly dressed to impress and wearing way too much makeup. I groaned, but didn’t move from the table to greet her as my mom cast a glance my way and I shook my head at her.
Mama narrowed her eyes at me in disapproval before pushing out of her chair and giving my ex a friendly smile. “Brina. How lovely to see you,” she said as she stepped toward the door.
“Hi, Emily. I was wondering if I could talk to Tatum for a minute.” Brina tilted her head so that she could see me past my mom’s shoulder.
“What do you want, Brina?” I spat out. I didn’t want her here. I didn’t want Brina anywhere near me after everything she’d done.
My mom walked over to me and whispered, “Maybe she came to apologize. At least give her the chance to do that.”
Without a word, I walked toward the screen door, pushed it open, and stepped out on to the porch.
“Can we walk?” Brina asked.
Waving my hand, I signaled she should lead the way before falling in step beside her.
“So, Paige is gone, huh?” Brina said nonchalantly.
Really? Is that how she’s going to play this?
I stopped and glared at her. “You know damn well she’s gone. You’re the one who called her agent and told him where to find her.”
Her expression changed to shock before quickly turning to anger. “Celeste,” she practically growled.
“What about her? As far as I can tell, Celeste is the most decent person I know here. You, on the other hand—”
Brina jabbed a finger into my chest as her cheeks flamed. “I what? Huh, Tatum? So I got rid of her. You were never going to get back together with me as long as she was still around, so I did what I had to do. Any girl would have done the same thing.”
I saw red. Everything that spewed from this delusional woman’s mouth only fueled my quickly building temper. “Brina, listen to me and listen well. We are never getting back together. You and me? That shit’s old news.”
Putting on a practiced pout, Brina said, “Are you trying to tell me you don’t still love me? Because I don’t believe you.”
Tempted to pull my hair out strand by strand, I leaned toward her, my mouth mere inches from hers as if I were leaning in for a kiss, but I felt nothing but anger. “I don’t love you, haven’t loved you for years. We’re done. We’ve been done. The only reason you’re acting like this is because it’s the first time you’ve seen someone else want me. And not just any someone, but Paige.”
“Oh, please, like that’s going anywhere. She’s gone now, and we can—” She reached out and touched her