got her voice mail. She was on her shift at the Deck Bar. “It’s me. I know you’re working and can’t talk, but I just wanted to tell you that we’re done at the studio, and I just left Cork at your place.” I started to slow the vehicle at Newport, but the traffic changed to green. “I’m with Saber, running an . . . errand.”
Agitated night, treacherous path by the water, steep ascent from the shore, lights all go on the way to my old house . . . things were happening fast. I wished I could talk to Lotus.
What if my mom knew me? If she did, I’d have to come clean with Lotus, and fast.
But maybe that’s what I wanted to do. Despite our agreement, I didn’t want to deceive Lotus anymore, and I wanted to see my mom. My old man? Not so much. But there was no turning back now. There had been no turning back from the moment I saw Lotus in LA. All the moments since then seemed to have been leading up to this one.
Finishing my message, I said, “I’ll come by the Deck Bar afterward.”
My heart beating fast, I hung up as I turned on my old street and then pulled into the driveway. I was surprised to discover that the house looked exactly as I remembered, except maybe a little smaller.
“Dude, how’d you know exactly where my parents’ place is?” Saber asked, his tone unmistakably suspicious.
Before I could formulate an answer, my mother emerged from the house. The years had barely registered on her. She remained as pretty as ever, but her cheeks were streaked with mascara. She was also rolling a large suitcase, and my old man was right behind her.
I opened my door and stepped out onto the driveway, and my mom turned her head. When her gaze met mine, she froze.
My old man frowned at Saber, who had gotten out on the other side of the Scout. Graham didn’t even bother looking at me. Nothing had changed there.
“Ivy, stop!” Graham caught up to her and grabbed her arm.
Mom winced. “Don’t touch me.”
I moved forward to step in, but my interference wasn’t necessary.
“Don’t ever touch me again.” She shrugged out of Graham’s hold, pain and wonder in her eyes as she took two staggering steps toward me.
My heart in my throat, I quickly eliminated the rest of the distance between us.
“Storm,” she said, her voice breaking on a sob. “My boy. You’ve come home.” Her eyes glistening with unshed tears, she lifted her trembling hand and laid it on my cheek. “What’s happened to you? You look so different. So hard.”
“I got into a few bar fights that rearranged the shape of my nose and my jaw a bit.”
And lived a harsh, lonely existence for a long time that had changed me more. But I wasn’t as hard as I looked. Not anymore. There was softening inside me, a merging of the boy I’d been with the man I was now. A light that flickered with hope again because of Lotus.
“You look the same, beautiful as ever,” I said hoarsely, though I noted fine lines around her eyes and mouth that hadn’t been there before. “Sorry I stayed away so long. I missed you, Mom.”
“I missed you too.” Her brown eyes shone. “Not a day passed I didn’t think about you.”
Saber’s jaw dropped. “What the ever-loving fuck?”
He’d moved to stand beside me. Glaring at me, yes, but there was also something else in his eyes.
Before I could figure it out or address him, Graham stomped toward me, his face twisted in that familiar anger. It was a throwback to our last encounter, but he was older, his thick hair dramatically thinned. He seemed smaller to me now, like the house.
Glaring at me, he said, “I told you never to come back.”
“You don’t have any right to tell me what to do anymore.” I drew myself up to my full height.
Since I’d left, I’d grown several inches taller than him. A flicker of concern passed behind his eyes, and maybe even a little fear.
I’d always thought that I would like that, the tables being turned and me having the upper hand like he’d always had over me. But I didn’t like it. In fact, I hated it. I didn’t want to be like him in any way.
“Step away from him, Ivy!” Graham shouted the command, yet his voice sounded weaker than before. He was weaker.