Scarred (Scarred #1)(7)
Author: J.S. Cooper

Luke had suggested that he could pay the whole rent, but I had not been comfortable with that. Money was the quickest way to ruin a friendship is what Grandpa Webb had always said to me when I was young. And I didn’t want to lose Luke. Not now and not ever.

So here I was, at twenty-two, still stuck living with my mom. My crazy, erratic and heartbroken mom. I put the last glass in the cupboard and felt my shoulders tense as I heard my mom’s clunker pull into the drive.

“Lexi?” she called out, softly, as she walked through the front door.

“Hi Mom,” I called out from the kitchen. My mom panicked if she didn’t hear an immediate response from me.

“Lexi, where are you?” She walked through the living room quickly and then into the kitchen. Her blonde, wispy hair was hanging around her shoulders and she came up to me with a big hug. “Oh, I wasn’t sure if you were home yet.”

“My car’s in the driveway, mom,” I sighed and hugged her back.

“I know, but something seemed off when I walked through the door.” She sighed and looked at me with big, wide blue eyes. “I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, mom.” I tried to stop from rolling my eyes. I knew how important I was to my mom, after everything that had happened.

“You know, Lexi, I would die if anything ever happened to you.”

“Nothing is going to happen to me, mom.”

“There’s so much crime. Even here in Jonesville, Lexi. You have to be careful.”

“Mom, Jonesville is one of the safest cities in the whole United States.”

“We still have crime, Lexi.” She looked at me, sorrowfully. “Don’t you watch the news?”

“I’m always careful, mom.”

“I know.” She looked around the kitchen and smiled. “It’s such a nice day today. Look at the light coming through the windows. It’s still bright out. I love it. Shall we have a picnic tonight?”

“A picnic?”

“Yes,” she laughed and opened the fridge. “Let’s go for a picnic. We could invite that nice young man of yours as well.”

“What nice young man of mine?” I sighed.

“That Luke boy.”

“Mom, he’s not my boyfriend,” I groaned, for the millionth time. “You know that.”

“Well, why isn’t he your boyfriend, Lexi? You’re not getting any younger.”

“Mom, Luke is one of my best friends. We don’t feel that way about each other.”

“You could do a lot worse than Luke.”

“Mom!” I sighed. My mom had been on at me since we graduated high school about Luke. But it had really picked up when he had made all that money from his software invention. She seemed to think that Luke was my Prince Charming.

“Well, he loves you, Lexi.” She looked at me with pained eyes. “I see the way he looks at you.”

“Mom, he loves me as a friend. We are friends.” This time I didn’t stop my eyes from rolling. “I am interested in someone else.”

“Who, Lexi?” She looked at me with a frown and I tried not to groan. I didn’t want her to know who my crush was on. She would never approve and it would only cause her pain.

“It doesn’t matter,” I sighed.

“You don’t want me to know?” Unshed tears brimmed in her eyes and I felt upset and guilty. Why couldn’t I have a normal mother? One who didn’t go in for emotional blackmail over every single thing I did?

“That’s not it, mom.”

“I’m sure Anna would tell me if I was her mom.” Cheap shot, I thought to myself.

Anna’s mom had died when we were in middle school and so she was jealous of anyone who had a mother who wanted to share in her life. I wanted to tell her that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, but I knew that wouldn’t go down very well. You could hardly say that to someone who no longer had a mom. I could hardly tell her I was jealous because she had a dad who loved and cared for her, while I didn’t. I didn’t even know who my dad was. I was the product of a one-night stand on Prom Night. The guy hadn’t wanted to be with my mom and Grandpa Webb had told my mom to leave him alone, and that he would help raise me. And he had. And he was a great grandpa. But he had died when I was ten and I’d been fatherless and grandfatherless ever since.

“So?” My mom’s peering eyes broke into my thoughts.

“Mom, let’s talk later. I can’t go on a picnic with you because I am having dinner at Luke’s tonight.” I lied. I would have to go over earlier than intended, but I knew that the Bryan’s wouldn’t mind. They loved me like a daughter and would be happy to have me join them.

“So I have to eat alone?” She frowned and I hardened my resolve.

“Yes, mom. You have to eat alone tonight.”

“But you’re my only daughter. My only family,” she cried out. “I just had a hard day at work. I wanted to relax with you.”

“Mom, I’m sorry.” I felt my resolve slipping. “Let’s have a picnic tomorrow night.”

“Fine.” She turned away from me and walked out the kitchen. I heard her mumble under her breath, “Sometimes I wonder if I didn’t give the wrong child away.”

I pretended not to hear and drank some water. I didn’t want to think about her words. I knew what she was talking about and I knew that it would devastate the whole town if they knew what had happened. I also felt ashamed of myself for feeling the way that I did. And guilty. I felt so incredibly guilty.

Chapter 4

“Bryce, there you are.” My dad frowned at me as I walked in the door. “Didn’t I tell you that I wanted to talk to you this afternoon?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So why weren’t you here when I got home?”

“I wanted to get some food, sir.”

“Won’t your mother cook for you?” My dad looked at me with disdain. “I don’t think you should be going out and wasting money while you have a mother here who is perfectly happy to cook for you.”

“Yes, sir.” I wanted to throttle his neck and ask him why he didn’t stick around for dinner. I wanted to tell him that my mother needed a husband who was around for her, who cared about her more than he cared about being Mayor.

“Well, come in the study with me, so we can chat before I have to go out.”

“Go out?” I looked at him in surprise. “Aren’t you done with work for the day?”