![]() Letting Go
-- SNEAK PEEK: Izzy The shock of finding Renée on the doorstep is fading, taken over by the sheer hypocrisy of her arrival. Why now? It’s a little late if she wants to make amends. Not a word for two stinking years and she shows up thinking I’m going to be grateful she’s here? Not in this lifetime. The warm sincerity of her embrace, though… it tries to weaken the resentment I’ve fostered since she walked out on her family, leaving me to pick up the pieces. “I don’t want you here,” I snarl, unable to hide my bitterness. I’d rather act as though I don’t care. Renée eyes me warily, rubbing a reddened palm. I feel a childish delight to have caused her even a minuscule amount of the pain she’s caused me. “I’m aware,” she says calmly, bending to pick up a bulging overnight bag. “But I’m here now, so let’s make the best of it—for Mom.” Red hot rage rises from the pit of my stomach to spit and steam from my ears. “Do. Not. Use Mom against me. You lost that right a long time ago.” Months of caregiving flicker behind my eyes. My father’s suicide did something to Mom. She shouldered the blame and wore it like a hairshirt, ripping the blinders away from their relationship to show the fractures in the foundation. She shut down. Stopped eating, washing, and caring. It was left to me to get Benjamin off to school, clothes washed, and a semblance of normalcy when everything was insane. “You should have called.” Renée’s empathetic gaze gets on my last nerve. I whirl away before I plant my fist in her face. “Your room is the way you left it. You can stay the weekend, then I want you to leave. Ben doesn’t need to get his hopes up.” And neither do I. ![]()
Giveaway!
2 Comments
10/24/2022 06:15:23 pm
Thanks for sharing my new release with your readers!
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Sue G.
10/26/2022 09:01:30 pm
This sounds emotional!
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