The Way to Game the Walk of Shame(49)

“Sorry, Mom.” I stooped down to help her. “I’ll pick up another carton later.”

“Yeah, you better.”

Not wanting to piss her off even more, I grabbed a towel from the oven handle and handed it to Mom so she could wipe up the battered eggs. I continued to pick up the rest of the stuff without another word. I even crawled beneath the kitchen table to retrieve some bruised peaches.

Finally, when there was nothing left to do, I shifted my weight side to side and cleared my throat to get her attention. “I’m sorry for … you know, before. I shouldn’t have grabbed him like that.” Or at least next time, I’d make sure I didn’t have an audience. Especially if he ever mentioned Taylor and Dad again.

“I don’t blame you. I heard what he said.” She arranged the canned foods in the pantry beside the stove. “He shouldn’t have talked about your dad like that.”

I blinked at her. Wow, another first. Mom was actually admitting that her saintly husband did something wrong. In defense of Dad. Sort of.

This was the first time she had ever brought Dad up in a conversation. I wanted to continue being pissed at her, but I couldn’t. I think a small part of me always realized that she knew where he was. After all, she knew everything else.

“He talks like that all the time,” I said with a shrug. “Why are you finally seeing how much of a jerk he is now?”

“He’s very good to me, Evan. To both of us,” she said with a sigh, as if that should absolve him of all his flaws. Maybe to her, it did.

“He’s good to you. He’s tolerable toward me.”

“Well, can you blame him? You push him every time you’re around each other.”

I scowled but didn’t say anything. It was true. I guess I did deliberately piss him off every chance I got. But it wasn’t like I was the only one. He did, too.

“I know you think that he’s the reason why I kept your dad away from you, but it was my decision.” She ran her hands up and down her legs as though the friction would give her more courage. “I love Brandon, Evan.”

“Okay…” I didn’t see where she was going with this.

Mom let out a deep breath. “But I also love your dad. Even now. And Brandon knows it. But he loves me so much that he doesn’t care as long as I stay with him. I wish he felt the same way about you, but you just remind him of your dad and that I don’t love him in the same way that he loves me.”

I gripped the countertop in both hands and leaned against it. There was no denying that Brandon was good to Mom. Really good. That was the only redeeming quality he had. And the only reason I couldn’t completely hate him. But now—after Mom’s explanation—I kind of felt sorry for the guy. “But how could you stay with him if you’re in love with Dad? Why didn’t you just stay with Dad?”

She lifted her eyes to stare at the ceiling. “You have to understand. Love is wonderful, but it’s not everything. And it’s not enough. Life with your dad was hard. I never knew where he was, what he was doing, or when he’d come home. And I was so tired of taking care of everything. Especially after my double shifts at the hospital.” Mom finally lowered her head to look at me. “I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Shit. I knew life had been hard for Mom, but I didn’t think it was that bad. “Sorry, Mom. I didn’t know.”

“But things are better now. Which is why I usually turn a blind eye whenever you two argue,” she continued. “But Brandon was wrong to talk about Taylor like that. Is that why you’re so pissed?”

“Don’t worry, I rarely listen to him,” I said, evading her comment about Taylor. Not wanting to even admit the truth to myself.

I thought I was immune to any stupid crap that Brandon said, but I couldn’t help snapping when he talked about Taylor. Especially when his words brought back images of Taylor and Brian together in his car. I knew that Brian had a thing for Taylor. It was impossible not to notice him glaring at us whenever we were together. Or how he was always by Taylor’s side, helping her, studying with her, talking to her. The only person who didn’t see it was Taylor.

So yeah, I knew. But I didn’t know how it would feel when she was actually in his arms. When it looked like she was going to leave me and go to him. I wasn’t ready for the anger and the wave of frustration that hit me at the sight of them. It was like nothing I had felt before. And it sucked ass.

Mom interrupted my thoughts. A bright smile crossed her face, like she hadn’t just been pouring out her heart to me seconds ago. “Taylor’s with you, though, isn’t she? She chose you. If she cared about all that other stuff, then she would have gone out with Brian Long instead of you.”

For a split second, I thought I had been talking out loud, and that’s how she knew about Brian and Taylor. “How do you know about Brian?” I realized by the way that she was avoiding my eyes that she may know more than she was saying. “Mom?”

She fidgeted with the wooden spoons hanging beside the stove. “I just heard … some things…”

This wasn’t leading anywhere good. “Mom…”

“Okay, okay. I … may have asked the other parents and teachers at your school. Got to know some people who are friends with his family. And … done some Internet stalking on the boy. Did you know that he won Ohio’s Scholastic Award for three years straight before he moved here? And that he already has college credits for English, calculus, and chemistry because of his AP classes?” She waved her hand in the air like it was no big deal, but I could tell that she was impressed. Who wouldn’t be, with those kind of stats?