Loving Her (Mitchell Family #9)(53)

I covered my mouth with my hand and giggled. “Oh yeah, definitely.”

“I’ve gotta be honest with you, baby. If I was a woman, I’d totally dyke out with you.”

He jumped on the bed, and my phone began to ring. I climbed out of the bed, pulling half of the covers off as I went. The call was from my mother, and right away I felt worried.

“Hello?”

“It’s John, Miranda. Listen, your mom is havin’ a bit of a fit this mornin’ with Bella. I was hopin’ you could have a talk with her.”

“Sure, John. Put her on the phone.”

The call was silent and I could tell when he was getting closer to my mom and Bella. She was screaming, with no respect for her elders. I became so annoyed with her, so disappointed that she’d act that way toward my mother, of all people.

“Hello.”

“Bella, what’s goin’ on?”

“Nothin’!”

“It’s not nothin’ when I can hear you yellin’ through the phone, young lady. What is wrong with you? Why would you speak to an adult in that tone?”

“She wanted to talk about Tyler and I don’t want to.”

Since Ty was standing over my shoulder, I didn’t want to have to mention that she’d called him by his name and not her father. “Isabella, when you get home, you’re gettin’ it good. I don’t know what else to do with you. Since you can’t seem to settle yourself down, I guess we’ll have to come get you.”

“No! Please don’t come. I don’t want to come home. I want to live with Grandma, and that’s why she’s mad. She said I can’t.”

“You belong at home with me and your dad.”

The line got silent. “Bella, say somethin’?”

My mother got on the line. “Randa, it’s me. I’m sorry we had to call. She’s really acting out this morning. I’ve tried to sit and talk with her, but she’s adamant about fighting me. I don’t understand this change in her. Why would she want to come live with me and John?”

I rubbed the top of my nose, feeling a giant headache coming on. “I’ve got her seein’ a therapist, and she’s been punished since it all happened. I don’t know what else to do with her.”

“I told her she couldn’t live with us.”

“I’m so sorry, Mom. I figured she’d be fine with you.”

“She was fine until I brought up her father. The fact that she’s calling him Tyler is really disturbing me. This can’t go on much longer. If Tyler heard that, he would have been so upset.”

“I know, Mom. Do you want us to come get her?”

“No. That’s not necessary. We’re going to take them to see some caverns today. John’s sitting with her now and she seems calm. Maybe she just needed to hear that we really would call you.”

“If it happens again, please call me.”

“I will, honey. Tell Ty hello.”

I hung up the phone and looked at my husband. “So much for her being subtle.”

“She’s disrespecting your mom now?”

“Apparently.” I lifted my hands in the air, as if to give up hope of things changing.

“Do we need to leave?”

I shook my head and sat down beside him. “No. Mom says that they have it under control. She said she thinks that her calling us did the trick.”

Ty rubbed his face and kept his hands there. “I can’t believe it’s gotten so bad. She’s obviously acting out. I just hope it doesn’t persist. I mean, how much worse can it get?”

“Don’t say that. We don’t want to jinx ourselves.”

Ty stood up and cleared his throat. “Let’s go get something to eat. If your mom says she’s fine, there’s nothing we can do from here. When we get home, we need to get in touch with that doctor again. There’s got to be something we can do to fix this. If I need to stay at my mom and dad’s for a few nights to make her feel better, I’ll do it. I’ll do anything to make her happy again.”

“Leaving isn’t the answer, Ty.”

Although, after hearing my daughter, I was starting to wonder if that’s what she wanted this whole time. Was she acting this way to get me to choose between the two of them? I honestly didn’t know anymore, and I was worried more than ever before.





Chapter 29


Tyler


Miranda didn’t know I could hear Izzy calling me Tyler. As much as it broke my heart, I didn’t want her worrying about me when she already had so much on her mind.

She got ready to go to breakfast in silence, and I gave her some space to clear her head. Unfortunately, it only made things harder for me. There had to be a way to reach out to our daughter. I knew that deep down inside she still loved me. It was clouded by her feeling so betrayed, but it still had to be there.

We headed off to breakfast, neither one of us wanting to address the elephant in the room. Maybe it should have hurt me that she wasn’t telling me what our daughter had said about me, but I understood her predicament. She didn’t want me to have to suffer any more than I already was.

Knowing that she’d been able to sense my change in attitude, I knew I had to act like nothing was wrong. We were able to find a place that served the best breakfast, who was also open year round. Instead of waiting in a long line, like we had to do when we went to the beach, we were able to seat ourselves. A few other couples were enjoying their meals, but it was quiet and relaxing.