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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS

STACEY

If Mom had walked into this moment with a bomb in her hands, I’m not sure she could have done much more damage than she has. Owen stares at her, clearly shocked. I can hardly breathe as the world spins around me.

This can’t be happening. Not now. Not when Gram is fighting for her life and my world is already crumbling. When Owen turns his stunned gaze to me, I immediately scramble to do damage control.

“Owen, listen to me,” I quickly say, grabbing his arms. “I was going to tell you, I swear…”

He slowly shakes his head but doesn’t say anything. He turns his eyes away from me and stares off down the hall, as if he’s completely zoned out. Panic seizes me and I move in front of him, trying to meet his gaze. When he keeps looking away from me, my heart races until I’m breathless. No, no, no! I want to grab his face and force him to focus on me, but touching him likely isn’t the best idea right now. Still, his silence and refusal to look me in the eye is terrifying. I’d almost rather he shout at me and show me his anger and hurt instead of this zombielike expression.

“I need time,” he murmurs.

Mom scoffs and puts her hands on her hips. “Typical. Doesn’t want to deal with his mess. Are you going to run off again without a backward glance?”

“Mom!” I exclaim. “Shut up!”

“I tried to tell you…. I quickly say, looking back at Owen. “I was going to tell you tonight, but then the call about Gram came…” I try to reach for him, but he steps away from me and shakes his head. “Owen, please, let me explain,” I cry out, “… please look at me!”

“I need time,” he says again in a firmer tone. He doesn’t look at me as he turns and walks off, disappearing through the doors Mom just came through. I watch him go, my heart sinking. Part of me wants to chase after him and plead my case, but I can’t leave when Gram is still fighting for her life.

Frustration, anxiety, and fear overwhelm me…but there’s also fury. A burning, raging fury. And I know just where to direct my anger.

Whirling on my mom, I snap, “What the hell was that?”

She arches her eyebrow and shrugs. “What? I wasn’t expecting to see him here.”

“Why would you tell him that he’s Millie’s father?” I hiss, doing my best not to shout in the middle of the hospital. “That wasn’t any of your business!”

“How was I supposed to know he didn’t know? You had always said he did.” Mom asks defensively. “He was here, wasn’t he? Why would I assume otherwise seeing you two together?”

“Do you realize what you’ve done?” My voice is getting louder, but I don’t care anymore. It’s too much. Gram, Owen, Mom… I’m being crushed under the weight of it all, and I just can’t take it. “Why do you always have to ruin things? You come in here with your cold, shitty attitude and make sure everyone else is as miserable as you are. You had no right to talk to him like that!”

In the back of my mind, though, I know this is my fault. I should have told Owen. I shouldn’t have waited so long… but I can’t stop from directing my anger at Mom. After everything she put me through and all the issues that we have with each other, I can’t stop the rage from seeping into my voice as I blame her for everything.

Mom scoffs and narrows her eyes at me. “No right? After what that asshole did? He ruined you and then left to go live his golden boy life with his rich new family. I have every right to rip him apart if I want.”

“He didn’t ruin me!” I shout. “Stop saying shit like that. Do you know how awful that is? Things might not have turned out how I planned when I was younger, but I have a good life, and I have Millie! Stop fucking undermining that!”

“You could have had so much more! You had so much potential, and here you are, just like I was, working our asses off to clean up the messes the men in our lives have left behind.”

Shaking my head, I let out a bitter laugh. “Is that really all you care about? What were you expecting? I become a rich doctor and take care of you the rest of your life? Let you live however you want? Are you fucking kidding me?”

Damn it, if I’d been able to think straight, I’d have anticipated Mom showing up here. I knew she was in town, and her name is on the emergency contact list for Gram, right along with mine. And for all our issues, she’s not so coldhearted that she wouldn’t come running after hearing that her mother was in the hospital.

I should have been prepared. I should have told Owen everything. Now I have a colossal mess that I need to figure out what to do about. Thinking of Owen — stunned, confused, and no doubt hurt — my heart aches. Everyone kept telling me to talk to him. Gram told me to tell him the truth. God, I have screwed that up so badly.

What must he think of me right now? Does he hate me?

“What’s going on with your grandmother?” Mom asks sharply, yanking me from my spiraling thoughts.

I blink, focusing back on her. She’s gazing at me expectantly, appearing impatient. Is she seriously just going to ignore what I said to her? Goddamn it, she always does this! If she hears something she doesn’t like, she just avoids talking about it and closes herself off. Well, fuck that! I’m not letting her off the hook so easily. Not this time. Not when she’s so thoroughly fucked up my life.

“What do you care?” I hiss. “Since when do you give a shit about Gram at all?”

She clenches her jaw and glares at me. “She’s my mother. I have a right to know what’s going on with her.”

“You sure didn’t seem to care when she had her surgery last year.” All we got was a single phone call asking for an update while Gram was in recovery. She didn’t even bother to send Gram fucking flowers. “I guess Gram has to be knocking on death’s door for you to actually act like you give a damn.”

“Oh, it’s easy for you to act all high and mighty and pass judgement on me,” she snarls. “How often do you bother to visit me, huh? How much effort do you force me to go through just to get a single phone call with my grandchild? Criticizing me for my relationship with my mother is a bit hypocritical, don’t you think?”

I stare at her, stunned. Is she seriously blaming me for our crappy relationship? She cannot be serious!

“You’re the one who sent me away!” I yell, my voice choked with frustration and fury. “You dumped me onto Gram instead of actually taking care of me and helping me because you were so worried about what other people would think of you. I’m not the one who broke us, Mom! You are!”

“Oh, grow up,” she snaps back. “Take responsibility for yourself, for once, instead of blaming me for all your problems.”

My jaw drops and I stare at her, dumfounded. She really just doesn’t get it, does she? What’s worse, I don’t think she ever will.

“I can’t do this,” I murmur, taking a step back from her and shaking my head. “Not now.”

Before Mom can reply, I spot the doctor coming down the hall toward us again. I push past Mom to meet him, my heart hammering against my ribs.

“How is she?” I ask.

The doctor gives me a gentle smile. “She’s out of danger. We’re going to put a stent in her heart to help keep the vessel open that’s causing the problems. It’s a straightforward surgery and she should be in and out in a couple of hours.”

“Okay,” I murmur. “Thank you.”

Nodding, the doctor turns and walks away again. Releasing a long breath, I turn back to face Mom.

“If you want to see Gram, fine. It’s the least you can do, but I don’t want to talk to you right now. I just want to focus on Gram.”I turn back to the waiting area to take a seat.

“Fine,” Mom snaps. “But you still need to tell me when I can see Millie.”

I pause for a moment, but don’t look back at her. Again, it’s all about her. All about what she wants. She doesn’t give a fuck about anyone but herself. Gritting my teeth, I drop into a chair in the far corner, fold my arms, and keep my gaze firmly away from her. I don’t need to put up with her bullshit. Not today of all days.

When I finally get home, it’s nearly three in the morning, and I’m so exhausted I could collapse. Thankfully, Gram’s surgery went well and she’s officially out of danger. It was only when the doctor told me that she was okay that I allowed myself to head home. I step through the front door, Grace is there, still awake despite how late it is. She looks as frazzled as I feel, wearing an old pair of sweatpants and a dark hoodie, her hair in a messy bun at the back of her head. She rushes to give me a hug.

“Grace,” I say. “You’re… still awake?”

“Oh, Stace. I couldn’t sleep,” she says softly. “Don’t worry, Millie’s in bed and sleeping peacefully. How did it go? Are you okay?”

In the warmth of Grace’s embrace, something inside me cracks. I’ve barely been holding myself together, and I just lose it. I cling to Grace as I burst into tears.

“No,” I sob. “I’m not okay.”

“Is your grandma…?”

She doesn’t finish the question, but I know what she’s asking. I whimper, “She’s going to be okay, thank God. They’re keeping her in the hospital and running more tests.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?” Grace leans back so she can look into my tear-drenched face.

“Maybe,” I shrug. “That’s not all that happened, though. My mom showed up and… and she told Owen he was Millie’s father… and he didn’t really respond. I think he was too stunned, and he just left. I was right, this whole time. He had no idea.”

Her lips part. Her eyes widen in shock. For a moment she’s almost as dead silent as Owen was in the hospital. Finally, though, she grips tightly onto my hand. “Wait, what? Are you serious? Your Mom just burst in and blurted that out?”

I nod, holding back a sob.

“Oh, Stace.” Grace sighs and shakes her head. “I know you wanted to tell him yourself. I know you were planning to do it. I’m so sorry it happened this way.”

“Yeah… you should’ve seen him, Grace. He was so shocked.”

She doesn’t respond for several moments. She looks down, clearly processing something beyond just this conversation.

“All this time…” she murmurs, more to herself than to me. “All this time, I thought… and I was so stubborn… Jensen’s never going to let me live this down…”

“Um, Grace?” I ask. “Are you okay?”

She blinks, seeming to snap out of a daze, and looks at me. “What did Owen do when he found out? How did he react?”

“He just left. This happened in the worst way. I was going to tell him tonight, until that call came in, and … God, Grace. I’ve messed up so bad.”

I can still see him walking away from me, disappearing through those doors.

“He left?”

I nod. “I… I have no idea where he went or how he’s taking it now. I’m terrified that he hates me now. That he’ll never trust me again.”

I can’t even bring myself to think about what this could mean for Millie. Owen isn’t vindictive and wouldn’t take her from me out of spite. But if he tells his family about her, and tells them that I didn’t tell him the truth…

It’s all the ammunition they’d need if they decided they wanted to bring the next generation of the Weston family home.

“You have to talk to him!” Grace exclaims, pulling my attention back to her. “You have to clear the air between you two and explain everything. This has all been one awful misunderstanding, and you two have got to fix it! Do what you have to do to convince him!”

I’m a little stunned by her total 180 here, going from all those years of despising Owen to suddenly being his passionate cheerleader. Still, I get it. We’ve spent so many years thinking one way about him, and to find out we were wrong…

I gulp and nod. She’s right. I know she’s right. Glancing out the window by the door, it hits me just how late it is. The sky is pitch black. It’s a cloudy, moonless night. No stars in sight. That bleak darkness seems rather appropriate given all that’s happened.

“I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” I whisper, turning back to Grace. “First thing, I’ll call him. I just hope he answers.”

“If he doesn’t, you need to hunt him down,” she states. “You can’t let this sit for too long.”

“I know. You’re absolutely right.”

I could try texting him tonight but that doesn’t seem good enough. This needs to be an actual conversation, and face-to-face would definitely be best. I just pray he doesn’t try to shut me out before I have a chance to explain things. When I think about the possibility of losing him again, I feel sick. Physically ill.

“Is your mom coming here to stay when she leaves the hospital?” Grace asks.

I roll my eyes and shake my head. “No, she’ll go back to wherever she’s been staying. She’s never been one to spend an entire day and night with Millie and me, and after her dropping the bomb on Owen, I’m not all that interested in spending time with her right now either.”

Grace nods. “Yeah, I don’t blame you. Do you want me to stay with you tonight? I’m more than happy to, and then I can watch Millie in the morning while you talk with Owen.”

Her offer makes me want to cry all over again. How could I get so lucky to have a friend like her in my life?

“Thank you, but it’s all right. I’ll call Lilah to watch Millie. I really appreciate you stepping in tonight, though.”

“Of course! I’m always here for you, okay? If you end up needing me to come back at all tomorrow, just call. I will be here.”

Fighting back more tears, I give her another tight hug.

“You’re the best,” I whisper. “I owe you.”

“No, you don’t.” She pulls back and gives me a peck on the cheek. “I’ll check in tomorrow and see how you’re doing, all right?”

“All right.”

We say our goodbyes and Grace leaves. I’m left alone with all my worries. I can’t stop them as they swirl through my head. I make my way upstairs to check on Millie, and am relieved to find her still fast asleep. She looks so peaceful… and so much like Owen. Her straight nose, distinct chin, full lips… and, of course, those bright blue eyes. Really, if she didn’t have my hair, her resemblance to him would be impossible to ignore. Sighing, I carefully shut her door and continue down the hall to my room. Sinking down on the edge of my bed, the look of shock on Owen’s face as he left the hospital won’t leave my thoughts.

Dropping my head into my hands, I let the tears start to flow again, terrified that I’ve finally been reunited with the love of my life… only to lose him all over again.