Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Her look was grateful, but she shook her head. “This will be better. Dinner will be ready really quickly. I just have to put it all together and warm it up.” She squeezed her eyes shut and put up her hand. “Supper, I mean.”
“What should I do, Mom?” Jimmy asked me, having followed us out.
“Go to the kitchen or go hang out with Mr. Tom for a bit. Or go to your room. Let’s just keep it civil to help your dad’s mood, okay? You know the drill.”
He nodded, heading for the stairs and his room. Doing as one was told was the fastest way to bring Matt out of his funk. Or, in this case, the fastest way to get dinner over with.
No Matt currently in sight, I took a seat next to Austin, feeling his arm stretch around my shoulders. If poor Camila married my ex, she would get steamrolled. She was a docile sort of person. A people pleaser. She’d try her best, but she’d always fail.
“I always failed,” I said softly.
Aurora’s conversation came to the forefront of my mind, followed by a memory of how Matt had spun me around earlier. He’d built on his lie until I wasn’t sure if I was remembering correctly and then jumped to an accusation before I could get my bearings. The minimizing. The interrupting. Calling me hysterical. Emotional. Unreasonable. A liar.
“I always failed,” I said. “I never got the timing of these things right, even if it seemed like I had. But he told her the opposite, the same way he was always telling me that his mom was so accomplished. They’re head games. His way of making us feel crappy about ourselves so that we try and try. We try to please, as is our nature, but our confidence stays low because we always fail. Sometimes in big ways, sometimes in small ways, but we always fail.”
I took a shuddering breath, wanting to go back to my youth and take that girl by the shoulders and tell her to raise hell. To fight back. To run.
“Let’s go.” I pushed to standing, then hesitated. “Wait, is that rude to Camila?”
I sat back down. I didn’t want to leave Camila to my fate if at all possible. I wanted to help her, but I had precious little time to convince her to see what she could have: a guy like Austin. Like Ulric or Jasper. Like Tristan, even with all his secrets. Broken Sue wasn’t ready, but even with all his pain he’d still treat a woman with respect. There were better men out there, ones who didn’t need coddling. Ones who didn’t twist up their partner’s mind so they could always stay in control. Ones who didn’t abuse.
“I’m not sure what’s happening,” Austin said.
Neither was I. The two of us were still by ourselves, sitting on our own in someone else’s house. My son was sequestered to his room like a child. A woman was unhappily cooking for us in the kitchen. And the orchestrator of it all was twiddling his thumbs and stewing in the misery he’d created.
“We should leave, but I don’t want to do that to Camila,” I said, chewing my lip. “This isn’t her fault. I half don’t want to leave him alone with her, to be honest.”
“Then let’s stay and make this as easy as we can for her. We’ve endured worse, remember? The wine’s not bad, at least.”
I turned so that I could kiss him. “You’re a good man.”
“That’s why you put up with me.”
I laughed as footsteps sounded on the stairs.
“The circus felt empty,” I murmured. “But here comes the clown.”
Matt descended slowly. Ice tinkled within his glass, swimming in his scotch.
“He’s regrouped,” I whispered, turning to Austin so that Matt wouldn’t see my lips moving. “This will be his last stand. He’ll be at his absolute worst right now, trying to regain control. Just play nice. Hopefully we can turn his mood, and Camila’s night might just be a little bit better.”
“I see your cooking forays are over,” he said, crossing to take a seat. He quirked an eyebrow at Austin. “And you’ve lost your frilly apron.”
I dropped my hand to Austin’s knee. “How are you, Matt? I didn’t get a chance to ask.”
“Yes. Too busy arguing,” he said with a condescending smile. Like a dog on a bone, this guy.
I didn’t take the bait, just waited for him to either tell me or try to stonewall me. It was a favorite tactic of his, I remembered.
“I’m doing well,” he finally said, crossing an ankle over a knee like he was once again the master of this dinner party. “Very well, actually. The company is five percent above last year, our investors are appreciative of the job my team is doing, I have this beautiful new home and a beautiful, young, soon-to-be wife. I couldn’t ask for more. My life is finally perfect.” He looked at me with a gleam in his eyes. “And how about you, Jacinta? You’ve lost weight, I see. Did one of your crash diets finally work longer than a couple of weeks?”