Page 77 of Fractured Mind
“There’s not much to talk about. He’s a self-centered asshole. His career was more important to him than Mom and me. He left not long after your accident.”
“Is that when you started fighting?”
“Yeah,” he answers through a gush of air.
“There’s something else...” I let the words trail off between us. “It’s about my accident. Mom and Nana were explaining to me the guilt that consumed them. They told me how they blamed themselves for what happened. Mom mentioned Jade said you thought the same.”
His eyes narrow slightly. “My mom’s got a big mouth...” Then his face softens. “I should have gone with you that night. Instead, I stayed home to beg my father to stay with us instead of moving away. Look where that got me.” He chuckles darkly, his confession slicing open my heart. “You ended up in the hospital,and he left us anyway. He asked us to move with him, but I knew I wasn’t going anywhere.”
I sit up.
Regret fills his eyes. “I waited for you... and you came back to me.”
Feelings churn within me, but instead of telling him, I want to show him, so I lean in and touch my lips to his. Nothing compares to being with him. To see his eyes burn into mine. To taste the love on his lips and the warmth of being in his arms. He fills me with happiness and acceptance of my life and what I have gone through, because in the end, it all led back to him.
Early the next morning,Jade messages Ashton and asks him to go home and have breakfast with her and his father. Before leaving, Ashton says, “I’d rather not go, but I want my mom to be happy.”
I long for that kind of relationship with my mom. I decide it’s time to put in more effort, so I walk around the house looking for her. I find her on the balcony talking on the phone.
She sees me and smiles. “Geoff, I’ve got to go. I’ll see you tonight at therapy. Yes, you too. Okay, bye.”
I raise a brow, a smirk on my lips, as I sit next to her.
Her head inches back. “What?”
“You and Geoff are getting close,” I tease. She blushes, and I point to her face. “You are!” Now I know where my inability to hide emotions comes from.
She looks away, then returns her gaze to me. “We’ve been on a couple of dates, but I was worried...”
I tilt my head. “Why?”
“I didn’t want you to think I was rushing into anything. You’re my top priority.”
I stare at her with furrowed brows. “I want you to be happy. If Geoff makes you happy, I’m fine with it.”
She’s changed so much—from being the woman who would drink herself into oblivion to the woman getting help and rebuilding relationships.
“I’m proud of you,” I tell her.
She breaks into a bright smile, and I can’t remember ever seeing her this happy.
“There is still an unanswered question I’ve been meaning to ask.”
She sits up in her seat. “Go ahead.”
“Nana said you had money. Why didn’t you use it?” I think back to how much easier my life would have been. “We could have lived comfortably, and I would have been able to do better at school.”
Her shoulders drop, but I need answers.
“The guilt crushed me. If I was paying more attention to the road, I could have stopped the accident. I blamed myself for my father’s death and hurting you, so I thought I didn’t deserve his money. The drinking stopped me from thinking about the accident and how everything was my fault. It also stopped me from making the right decisions for you. I hurt you the most, and I’m sorry.” Her voice is full of pain, and it breaks at the end.
I move over and pull her into a hug. I understand her pain and have the answers I need. “I forgive you.” I know both of us need to hear it.
She pulls back, her lips quivering, her eyes searching mine.
“I think it’s time you forgive yourself so you can move on as well.”
She grips me tighter. Her upper body shaking from her silent tears. No matter what happened in the past, I’m ready to moveforward and make new memories. I’ve reached the point where I’m happy with my life and who I’ve become.