Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“His mom still lives in Montana?” Teddy asked. “I was wondering. You guys don’t really mention her.”
“Kaylee is a pain in my ass,” I explained. “Or was. She’s married now, and Dyl can’t stand the guy. He moved in with me when they got married.”
“Ouch.”
“I felt for her at first,” I replied softly. “But it’s hard to feel too bad for her. I’d never say this shit to Dylan, but Kaylee started over, and that was that. They were together a year before they moved in together and tied the knot, and she knew Dyl didn’t get along with her man pretty early into that. Instead of tryin’ to make shit better, she ignored it. By the wedding, Dyl was with me most of the time just to get away from the asshole, and she didn’t put up any kind of fight when he moved in with me full time. Think it was easier for her without the two of them buttin’ heads.”
Teddy made a sound of disgust in her throat.
“Don’t agree with kids makin’ the decisions,” I clarified. “But that shit was toxic and constant. She knew long before things got serious that the guy was a prick to my kid, and she didn’t do anythin’ about it because she was determined to lock him down anyway. They’ve got a couple of little kids now.”
“Poor Dylan.”
“No shit. He loves his mom, and I know he misses her.” I shook my head. “Kaylee didn’t say a word when I told her we were movin’ to Oregon. Just said we’d work out a time for Dylan to go back for a visit.”
“I can’t imagine being away from my kids,” Teddy said softly. “I don’t think we’ve been apart more than a day or two since I got Jesse when they were a year old.”
My head jerked back in surprise, and Teddy must’ve clocked it because she smiled.
“What? Did you think I had them when I was seventeen?”
“Didn’t do the math,” I admitted.
“Jesse’s biological parents are my brother, Royce, and a woman named Larissa.” She pulled the blankets up to her chin, tucking a fold under her cheek. “Liss wasn’t cut out to be a mom. She was young, she was immature, and I’ve never really understood why she went through with the pregnancy, except I know she loved my brother like crazy. When my brother went down the first time, she couldn’t cope. She was leaving Jess with me for days at a time, sometimes weeks. It came to the point that she was fucking with Jesse’s head, you know? Coming in and out like that. She agreed to give me custody, and when Jess was three, I adopted them and made it official. Liss was there at the hearing. She was relieved, I think. About a year after that, she took off for good.”
“Fuck. You were young.”
“My pop and I saw the writing on the wall. He was already sick, so he couldn’t do shit. But we knew Jess would end up in the system if I didn’t step in. Things haven’t always been easy, but it’s never been a hardship. I’ve loved them since the day they were born.”
“What’s Royce in for?”
“Where should I start?” Teddy replied with a huff. “Assault. Possession with intent to sell. Felony theft. His court-appointed attorney did his best, but the guy was fresh out of law school and suddenly playing with the big boys. My brother didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell.”
“Sucks.”
“It is what it is.” She shrugged. “He was being stupid and fucked himself. He’d be the first one to tell you that. He was out for a while after I adopted Jess, but ended up right back in there less than two years later.”
“That’s rough.”
“I think he was rudderless,” Teddy murmured. “We lost Mom, and then we lost our little brother, and it all just fucked up Royce really bad. Pop wasn’t equipped to deal with it, couldn’t control him, and Royce went off the rails. It happens.”
“Didn’t happen to you,” I pointed out.
“Of course not,” she replied ruefully. “Who would take care of everyone else if I lost my shit?”
“Fair enough.”
“Though, to be fair, I wasn’t exactly the poster child for smart decisions,” she said, her voice lowering. “I hooked up with Mike.”
I grimaced but didn’t reply. I’d done plenty of shit I wasn’t proud of or regretted in hindsight.
“I got Finn out of that, though,” she said with a small smile. “Worth it in the end.”
“And now you’re out from under that shit.”
“Hopefully,” she said with a yawn. “I haven’t turned my phone on since I got here. I’ve been using Jesse’s to make calls.”
“Seriously?”
“I know it’s stupid. I’ll turn it on Monday when I start applying for jobs and deal with it then.”
“Not a good strategy.”
“I wanted to get the kids settled first,” she replied, no defensiveness in her tone. “Plus, we’re doing whatever this is, and I wasn’t sure how that was going to play out.”