Gavin hangs his head at that, mainly because she’s right.
“You can’t blame him for that, Mom. He thought he was doing the right thing. Which he obviously was, since that’s where I was attacked.”
Mom turns her icy eyes back on me. “Honestly, have you no shame? No pride? No sense of self-worth? Letting people like this tell you what to do, get you into trouble? Whoring around with men like this?”
“That’s enough!” Cash booms from behind her. “She may be your daughter, but that doesn’t give you the right to talk to her like that.”
“Oh yes it does. The only person out of line here is you. I assume you’re the one she’s shacked up with? You’re the one defiling my daughter on a regular basis? Not enough respect for her to marry her. You just use her like some cheap dime-store floozy.”
“I’m not using her. And I—”
My mother waves her hand imperiously and cuts Cash off. “I’m not interested in your excuses. I’m here to collect my daughter and get her out of your life. I’ll ask that you kindly stay out of ours.” She turns back to me and commands, “Now get dressed. You’re coming home with me.”
“No, I’m not Mom. I’m staying here. I’m a grown woman. You can’t keep treating me this way.”
“As long as you keep acting this way, I’ll keep treating you this way.”
“Acting what way? So I’ve made some mistakes, made some bad judgments. Is that so terrible? Is that so abnormal? You made mistakes and look at you. Do you think I’d make the same decisions you’ve made if it meant I’d turn out cold and miserable and alone?”
“I’m none of those things, Olivia.”
“You are, you just don’t know it. You picked the perfect man who gave you the perfect house and the perfect car and the perfect life, but you’re miserable. You loved Daddy, but you somehow got it in your head that he wasn’t good enough, that life on a farm wasn’t good enough. Well I’m not you, Mom. I’d rather have a life full of love and happiness than all the money in the world.”
“And that would be fine with me, but if you think someone like this,” she says, jacking her thumb back over her shoulder at Cash, “is the man who can give you anything but heartache, think again.”
“Mom, he risked his life to save me.”
“He’s the one who put you in danger.”
“No, I put myself in danger. I knew the risk, but I wanted to help.”
“What on earth could be so important that you’d do something so foolish, Olivia?”
“Someone’s life, mother.”
“Someone you don’t even know. Am I right?”
I pause. “Yes, but—”
“But nothing. That was yet another decision that shows you are incapable of taking care of yourself. That’s why I’m going to do it.”
“I did it for love, Mom. I did it for Cash. Because I love him. It was important to him, therefore it was important to me. Why can’t you understand that?”
“Oh, I understand that just fine. It simply means you’ve picked another doozey who will get you into a world of hurt and then leave you when you’re no longer a fun diversion. He’s worthless just like—”
“Mother, stop it!” I shout. She takes a step back as if I’d physically slapped her. “Not all guys that look a certain way or dress a certain way or act a certain way are the same. You’ve tried all my life to drive me toward the kind of guy you wanted me to be with. You made me feel as though there was something wrong with me for liking anyone who rode a motorcycle or drove a muscle car or played in a band. But there was never anything wrong with them, Mom. They just weren’t for me. I wouldn’t have wanted to end up with any of them. Not now. But you don’t see that. You don’t see that now and you didn’t see that then. You could never be like a normal mother, one who holds her daughter when she cries and tells her that one day she’ll find Mr. Right, that one day love will be worth it. That was just beyond you. You had to do your best, at every possible opportunity, to convince me that the only way I’d ever be happy would be with a guy like Lyle, one who is so focused on his job and his money that he doesn’t have time for love. But Mom, if falling in love means risking getting hurt, then I’m okay with that. Because finally, for once, I’ve found someone worth the risk. I wouldn’t have missed out on Cash for the world, Mom. Did it ever occur to you that it took all those heartbreaks, all those tears, all those failed attempts to be able to recognize something real when I found it? Can’t you just be happy for me and leave us in peace?”
Absolute silence falls across the room. My mother is watching me like I skinned her pet rabbit to wear as a hat. Marissa is frowning. Nash looks bored. Gavin is smiling. And Cash looks…like he’s walking toward me.
His eyes are locked on mine as he approaches. He steps right in front of my mother and stops. He watches me for a few seconds before his lips curve into a satisfied smile. It gets wider as he leans down to me. I think he might laugh, but he sobers as he reaches out to cup my face in his hands.
And then he kisses me. Not just a small kiss either. A good kiss. A really good kiss. A kiss that other people should not be witnessing, especially when I’m wearing a sheet and nothing else.
“I love it when you get fiery,” he says after he pulls his lips from mine. His eyes are sparkling chips of onyx as they search mine. Gently, he rubs his thumbs over my cheekbones and smiles again. It shines down onto my face like the sun, warm and healing. Slowly, deliberately, he reaches down to take my free hand and lace his fingers with mine, then he straightens and turns toward my mother. “She’s staying here, ma’am. You’re always welcome to visit her because you’re her mother, but right now, I think it’d be best if you left. I’ll take good care of her. You’ve got my word. That might not mean much to you, but it means a hell of a lot to me. And so does your daughter.”
Mom looks from Cash to me and back again before she turns and pins everyone in the room with her proud, cold stare. With a tight smile, she speaks to me as she backs toward the door. “Fine. If this is how you want it, Olivia, go right ahead and ruin your life. Just don’t come crying to me when it all falls apart.”