Loving Her (Mitchell Family #9)(53)
Author: Jennifer Foor

The child refused to admit that he was nothing more than the man I was married to.

An entire month of having his daughter disown him had caused Ty to break. You could tell when Bella was around, because he’d clam up or go into another room. It was as if just seeing her broke his heart, over and over.

One good thing was having the boys. They kept Ty going and loved him regardless with what was going on with anyone else. Ty seemed to even get closer to them. He’d always been great to all three of the kids, but now he was just doing special things for them, instead of having to include Bella. The funny thing was that even though he’d invite her, she’d still decline and then go cry in her room. The more I paid attention to her actions, the more I saw that she was broken in her own way.

I called my mom, crying to her the day before she was supposed to go. I knew that it was really a visit, but it was killing me to even have to pretend to be moving her out.

“Miranda, this was what you decided. You can’t go back on your word after going this far with it. Besides, you said yourself that you can see that it’s working. Let Ty take her to Kentucky. Let them be alone and have that time to talk. I bet that by the time they arrive, everything will be alright again. It’s not like you’re getting rid of her. For goodness sakes Miranda, she’s only staying with them for a few weeks. She’s done that every summer since she was five.”

“What if she doesn’t want to come home? This could be a terrible idea. I don’t want to lose her.”

“Do you hear yourself? Sweetie, you’ve all been through so much in the past couple of months. First the illness and now this big blow-up. I think you need a break. Bella needs to miss you. She needs time to understand that he’s her father, no matter what the doctors could ever prove. You have a family and she needs to respect him. That’s the rules, or she’s going to be punished for it. Stop feeling bad about this. If anything, it will give you all some time to breathe. If she comes home still acting like a brat then you’re both going to have to deal with it. Some girls are brats. You are still the worst one I’ve ever known.”

I rolled my eyes when she reminded me of how much of a snobby little brat I was. “I thought girls were supposed to be easier.”

“Your brother was way easier, even when he was at his worst. I don’t think you want to admit the things you used to do. Let’s not get into how sneaky you were. Your daughter gets it naturally, if you ask me.”

“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.”