Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Chapter Fourteen
Bryn
Tory had already been fired from her new job within the first week. She wasn’t going out and searching for a new one. Instead, she was going out and not coming home for days at a time. It had been a couple years since she had done this. The last time, I had threatened to get custody of Cullen, and she had straightened up.
This time, I wasn’t sure I was going to threaten her anymore. The older he got and the more he was exposed to, the more he would remember. The more he would be affected by her choices. Marley had thankfully understood my family issues and given me two weeks off work while I worked on getting things handled at home.
It had been Tory and me most of my life. Saving her from her own mistakes was all I knew. It was what I did. But was it fair to Cullen for me to keep doing it? I couldn’t even leave him at home anymore at night with her, for fear he would be left alone. The trauma that caused him would never truly go away. It would leave a mark on him.
Last night, I had called Tory’s cell over and over but gotten no answer. It was getting closer to ten, and she still hadn’t called or come home. I sat on the sofa with Cullen curled up beside me while we watched his favorite superhero cartoon. Times like this, I could convince myself he was stable and he would be fine. But I knew his little mind was working.
His mother wasn’t here. She wasn’t here when he went to bed. She wasn’t here when he woke up. He knew she didn’t have a job. All of this was there in his head, and I never wanted him to feel as if his mother didn’t love him. I wanted him to feel loved, but was my love enough?
“Aunt Bryn?” His voice broke into my thoughts, and I looked down at his upturned face.
“Yeah, buddy?” I asked.
“Is Mama okay?”
That was it. What I knew was in his head. He was doing all the things normal little boys did, but he had fears no little boy should have. Such as the fact that he was worried about his mother. I honestly had no idea if she was okay. When I got my hands on her sorry ass, she might not be okay.
“Yes,” I replied, hoping it wasn’t a lie.
He frowned. “Why didn’t she come home again?”
When he had been little and she stayed out like this, he hadn’t known what was happening. Now, he was old enough for it to worry him. She was going to have to make a choice. Tory’s behavior had to stop now. Today.
“She’ll be home soon,” I told him because I was about to make some calls and get her home.
I had a good idea where she was. She had been over there the past few times I had gone searching for her.
Patting his leg, I stood up. “Want some more eggs?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Can I have more bacon?”
I had two slices left from what I had cooked earlier. Walking over to the counter, I took his small plastic red plate that had Superman on it and put the last two slices of bacon on it. Taking the plate back to him, I checked to make sure he had enough milk in his cup before going back to my bedroom to make another call to my sister.
When her phone rang three times without an answer, I thought it would go to voice mail again, but the sound of someone breathing met my ear.
“Whaaat? It’s fucking too early for this shit,” Tory groaned into the phone.
Anger pounded in my veins, and my grip on the phone tightened. “It’s almost ten. Your son is asking for you. Get your sorry ass home, Tory. I’m done with you acting like you have no responsibilities.”
The doorbell rang, and I ignored it. Whoever it was could wait.
“You’re home with him. He’s fucking fine. Stop being so damn self-righteous. Jesus.” Tory’s words were running together and slurred, as if whatever she had taken wasn’t out of her system yet.
“If I am going to raise Cullen, then I will do it legally. Do you understand what I am saying to you? Last time was a threat in hopes of waking you up. This is a warning. I will do it. I’m not protecting you anymore. He is too important.”
She laughed then. A dark, wicked laugh that reminded me of our aunt. “Sure you will. You won’t take him from his mama.”
I opened my mouth to say more when the other end went dead. Jerking the phone from my ear, I checked to be sure the call had ended. It had. She’d hung up on me. Tossing the phone to the bed, I let out an angry scream as quietly as I could, so Cullen didn’t hear me. Then, I took a minute to calm myself.