Loving Her (Mitchell Family #9)(64)

“How did you get through it?” I wanted her advice. If I was that bad then maybe she had great advice to give.

“I prayed. I prayed every single day and sometimes more than once.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Miranda, all parents go through something like you are, regardless what the issue is. Bella is changing physically and emotionally. As her hormones continue to take over, she’s going to be difficult. It is perfectly natural for her to be over-emotional, hard to deal with, and downright nasty at times. Honey, you need to learn to suck it up and move on. You both do.”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “That is easier said than done.”

“You’re a drama virgin when it comes to Bella. Honey, this is the beginning of many more disagreements. It’s the beginning of her knowing everything, even when she really doesn’t have a clue. It’s the beginning of her lying out of her teeth, so she can sneak and spend the night with boys. The list goes on and on.”

“Mother! I didn’t call you for this.”

“Sure you did.” She laughed. “You called me because you needed to hear it. I’m telling you the truth.”

As much as I didn’t want to believe what she was saying, I knew she wouldn’t lie about it. I took a deep breath. “So, you’re sayin’ that she’s goin’ to be fine? You really think it will be okay?”

“I think that a parent never stops learning. There is no right or wrong when you find something that works for you. Every single child is different, and you need to learn to adapt to that individual.”

“I know you’re right.”

“Miranda, be patient. Everything will work out, for all of you including Ty.”

I thanked my mom for the advice and hung up with her. As much as I wanted to fix things, I had to face the fact that sometimes you can’t rush things. I needed to calm down and let this run its course. We could try this one last thing, and if she still came home the same way we’d have to deal with it accordingly.

The night before Bella had to leave, I still got myself in a tizzy. Ty retreated out to the barn, and I knew it was because he was hiding from me. It wasn’t like I was going to skin him or anything. I think he didn’t like seeing me so broken up.

Another thing he was freaking out about was being in the car with Bella for such a long time. She’d refused to communicate with him, and that was a very long ride to have nothing to say.

I waited until I put the kids to bed to go out looking for him. He was shooting balls around the pool table with music playing from his phone. He looked up when I walked in, but didn’t say anything.

I grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and took a sip. “Are you hidin’ from me?”

“No!” He shot another ball and didn’t look at me.

“Really?” I walked to the other side of the pool table and leaned over. “I’m not so sure about that.”

He shook his head and turned off his music. “Everything is fine, Miranda. I just wanted some time to think. I’m not mad at anyone and I’m not purposely trying to avoid you. Sometimes it’s okay for people to want alone time, you know.”

That only proved that he wasn’t okay. “The kids are all in bed. I was wonderin’ if you wanted to take a bath with me.”

He sighed and shook his head before sitting down on the couch next to me. “Don’t be offended, but I don’t feel like it tonight. I’ve got a long drive tomorrow, and it isn’t exactly going to be fun for me.”

I hurt for him, but didn’t know what to do without making him angry. I hated going to bed feeling like that, but this was hard for all of us. “Okay, I just thought I’d ask. I thought you might want to unwind before you need to make that drive. I get that you want to be alone.”

I started to walk outside, and I heard him coming up behind me. He smacked my ass and I turned around promptly. “On second thought, I think a bath would be great.”

We held hands as we walked back to the house, but when we got inside and Ty saw Bella standing at the fridge, he literally froze. We’d come into the house laughing, when we were both supposed to be sad. I felt horrible for her seeing us so happy. “Bella, what are you doin’ up?”

She seemed cross as she looked up at us. “I can’t sleep. I wanted some milk.”

Ty always made her warm milk when she couldn’t sleep, but mostly I think she’d always done it for his attention. He rushed into the kitchen without thinking about the consequences. “I’ll get it for you, Iz.”

She backed away from him and he froze in front of her. “I can get it myself.”

Ty’s face changed from hopeful to hurt and he walked out of the kitchen without saying anything else to her. I grabbed the cup out of her hand and looked right at her. “He was tryin’ to be nice to you. Is it that necessary to treat him so bad? When has he ever done that to you?”

She shrugged. “I guess you won’t have to worry about it anymore, since you’re sendin’ me away.” She went running back to her bedroom without the drink. I was so frustrated and knew that Ty was probably feeling the same. Suddenly I realized that the bath was probably the worst idea ever. I sat down on the couch and covered my face with my hands. I felt like the world’s worst mother, and I didn’t know how things were ever going to get any better.