Page 4 of Make Me Trust Again (Bluebonnet Creek #3)

CHAPTER THREE

ROSE

“Why do I have to hear from the town gossip that my daughter was in a car accident?” Mom asks as she bursts into the kitchen, her blue eyes blazing fire at me.

I place the plate with scrambled eggs in front of Kyle. He must have noticed her marching into the room because he lifts his gaze, a beaming smile popping on his face at the sight of my mother. Morning, Nana.

She gives him a smile and signs: “Good morning, my beautiful boy.”

One thing about my mother is that she loves her grandson almost as fiercely as I do. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do for him. She was there with me when he was born, holding my hand through the whole ordeal, and the first one to jump to learn sign language from the get-go.

“Eat,” I encourage. “We’ll be late for school.”

Those hawk-like eyes turn to me. Harriet Hathaway might be in her fifties, but you’d never have guessed it.

As the mayor’s wife, she was always dressed to impress.

Even though it’s only seven in the morning, and I know that she just came from her Pilates class, every hair on top of her blonde head is smoothed in place, and her makeup is impeccable.

She’s dressed in a peach summer dress, with high heels to match, a string of pearls—my grandmother’s—hanging around her neck.

Although she never had an actual job, marrying my dad straight out of high school, she always insisted that she made it her life’s mission to make him be successful for both of them.

And she did. Dad’s been the mayor of Bluebonnet Creek for years now, and she dedicated her life to raising me and participating in as many town activities as she could.

School boards? Check. Town council meetings?

Check. Helping the homeless? Check. Organizing the charity events?

Hosting my father’s business associates?

Putting together the town fair? Check. Check.

Check. There wasn’t a thing this woman didn’t do—still does.

Her family, this town, they’re her life’s mission.

“Car accident, Rose? Seriously?”

I roll my eyes. “It wasn’t a car accident.”

Mom raises her perfectly shaped brow. “So you did not, in fact, call Darrow’s yesterday to have your truck towed? Eva Donovan was boasting about it this morning when I came to my Pilates class, and I had to pretend to know what the hell she was saying because my daughter doesn’t tell me anything.”

Freaking small-town gossip. Can nothing in this town stay private, for God’s sake?

“Well, Mrs. Donovan was wrong. It wasn’t a car accident. More like a car malfunction. My tire busted when I was coming home from the job interview, that’s all.”

Mom’s face twists in displeasure at the mention of my interview.

“Mom…” I sigh in warning. “Don’t start this again.”

“I’m not starting anything.” She scoffs as she makes her way to the coffee machine.

As if.

If you ask her, any respectable woman should be home, taking care of her family. And I get it; it worked well for her. Dad cherished the ground she walked on, and it made her happy. I wish I could do the same, but I can’t.

“Why did you call Darrow’s? You could have called your father.” She grabs her mug and gives me a pointed look. “Or John.”

I’d rather crawl back home.

There was no way in hell I’d call John for help.

He already had power over me, and I refuse to let him have more, which is why I’m adamant not to have any demands in this settlement.

And yesterday just shows how right I am in doing so.

Just thinking about it has me grinding my teeth.

I still can’t believe he refused to pay child support, the only thing I asked for, not for me, but for our son .

And then he had the audacity to ask for shared custody after all but shunning Kyle for the last six years?

Over my dead body. I wouldn’t be opposed to it if I knew that he was doing it because he wanted to make an effort and get to know his son, but the only reason he was doing it was to spite me.

From the corner of my eye, I can see Kyle place his fork on the plate.

“Finished?”

Kyle nods, his eyes darting between the two of us, uncertainty written all over his face. I curse inwardly. Some days it’s hard to remember that he isn’t a baby anymore, and he understands more than I want him to.

I give him a reassuring smile. “Go and brush your teeth. We’ll be leaving soon.

” I wait for him to leave the room before turning my attention back to my mother.

“Dad said he was busy with meetings. You know he’s been talking about the construction of the new park.

” Mom starts to open her mouth, but I stop her.

“Don’t even go there. John and I aren’t together any longer, Mom. ”

“Just because you don’t want to give him a chance. I’m sure?—”

“I gave him seven years’ worth of chances, Mom,” I snap before she can even go there. “The last one was a couple of months ago.”

Back in November, after that day, I left him and came to my parents’ house.

I needed time to figure things out and regroup.

To say my parents were surprised would be an understatement.

Then again, how could they not be? I never told them how bad things were, and John made sure to keep up his image when we were with them out in public.

Not that we did much of either because he was always busy.

However, the moment John figured out what happened, he came knocking on our door, demanding that we come back. He made such a spectacle that all of Bluebonnet knew what happened within hours, and we were the talk of the town.

Rose Hathaway left her poor husband after he was dropped by his agent.

He lost his family and his dream in the span of a few hours.

How could she do such a thing?

All she ever cared about was his career, being an NFL wag, the popularity and money, and now that it was gone, she was cutting her losses.

I’ve heard all the stories. In all of them, I was the villain. People were giving me nasty looks wherever I went, but nobody asked me once why I left. However, everybody made sure to tell me I should give him another chance.

Including my parents.

I managed to stand my ground for a while, but after weeks of listening to how amazing he was, and how much he was trying and how much he wanted to work on our marriage, I gave in.

A stupid mistake on my part.

I knew better.

Mom’s sigh breaks me out of my thoughts. “Marriage is hard, Rose.”

As if I didn’t know that. Didn’t live through it. My whole marriage has been hard. Since day one. Yes, we had some good days. We were happy there, for a while, at least. However, sooner rather than later, something would always come up.

John was on the football team, and he was quite popular.

I hated the attention he got from other girls, the way I’d catch him checking them out.

He said I was paranoid, but I wasn’t blind.

I know he loved being in the spotlight, and having my attention wasn’t cutting it.

That was our main problem, and eventually it turned out I was right.

Then I got pregnant, and we got married, and things were good. John was excited to be a dad, especially when he found out we were having a boy. But then Kyle was born, and everything changed once again.

Would we have even gotten married if I hadn’t gotten pregnant? I wondered sometimes.

Mom places her hand over mine, snapping me out of my thoughts. “And Kyle needs his family together. He needs his dad.”

My son is a freaking retard that can’t speak… It would have been better if we had gotten rid of him when we had the chance. Then I wouldn’t be stuck with the two of you.

John’s hateful words flash in my mind, and that familiar anger is back in full force.

“John had a chance to be a dad for the last six years, and he blew it every single time. I won’t watch my son’s heart break over and over again when his dad ignores him or says he’ll show up only to break his promise.” I shake my head, taking a step back. “Having no dad is better than that.”

“Is that why you refused to share custody? I know he’s been a little… absent”—she says diplomatically—“but that was because he was focused on football, but now that he knows that’s not in the cards, I’m sure he will be more present in his life. In your life. John is really trying, Rose.”

My fingers clench into a fist by my side, and it takes everything in me to hold back a snort. I don’t know how she already knew what happened yesterday. I didn’t tell anybody, so John must have. Did it even matter? It’s just one more thing to add to the gossip mill surrounding my failed marriage.

“Yes. I’ll be more than happy to let John into Kyle’s life once he shows me that he’s serious about being a good father, but we’re not getting back together.” I push back from the counter and place the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have to take my son to school.”

After dropping off Kyle at school, I go to Darrow’s so they can exchange my spare tire and give my truck a look while they’re at it. While I wait, I decide to stop at the Reading Nook and grab a coffee.

Should I be spending money on a coffee I can make at home? Not really. But I needed a little pick-me-up while I checked out any new job listings.

The sun is up in the sky, and although it’s officially still spring, the heat is making my dress cling to my skin as I take the short walk.

Just as I’m entering the café, my phone chimes. I pull it out, noticing a new email from one of the companies I applied to a couple of weeks ago. I hold my breath as I open it, praying for some good news, but any hope I had dies as I read over their response.

Not a good fit.

“What’s with the frown?”

Startled, I look up to find Rebecca Williams—well, I guess it’s now Fernandez—watching me from across the counter.

“Just my bad luck,” I mutter as I close the email, hoping I might have missed some kind of response from any other company, but no such luck.