“I know you’re with Drew. Let me talk to him,” I demanded as soon as she answered.
“Actually, I’m not with Drew. He had an appointment with Deidra this morning.”
“He did?” That surprised me. He was still seeing Deidra?
“Yes, he goes twice a week.”
“He does?”
“Yes, how are you?”
“I’m miserable. How is Drew?”
“Miserable. I don’t know what he’s thinking. You two belong together.”
“Have you tried telling him that? I could use some help.”
“I have. He won’t listen. He truly believes he is doing the right thing.”
“He’s not.”
“It’s not for me to say, Morgan. I just work for the man.”
“You’re a friend. You do more than just work for him.”
“He’s not going to listen to me.”
“I know.” I admitted. She was right. Drew would tell her to mind her own business. Nothing was going to get him to call.
Wait a second….
“Hey, I’ll talk to you later. I need to get Nicholas out of the flowerpot again.”
“Okay, call me anytime.”
“I will. Thanks.”
Nicholas really was in the flowerpot again. I opened his fist, dropping the hand full of dirt, and tossed him in the air. “You stay out of there, little man,” I sang.
Placing him on the floor in our new little library I gave him some toys and opened up the airline booking site for Drew’s plane. It worked. I proudly smiled ten minutes later when I saw Drew’s number.
“What the hell are you doing, Morgan?”
“Drew, how are you?” I nonchalantly asked.
“Morgan, you are not going to Maine.”
“I’m not?” I coyly asked.
“No, you’re not. You have no reason to go to Maine.”
“I’m not sure that’s for you to decide. You threw us away, remember, Drew? You haven’t talked to me in almost two months. You can’t just call me and demand that I not do something you don’t want me to do.”
“Morgan, don’t do this.”
“Fine, come and get us. Take us home.”
“Morgan, you’re doing fine there. You’re better there. Please don’t go to Maine.”
“Yeah, okay. Well, if you only called to tell me that I wasn’t allowed to fly to Maine, I guess we’re finished here.”
“I’m not kidding, Morgan. Don’t you dare take my son across the country.”
“You mean the son that you haven’t even called to check on for almost two months?”
“I talk to your mother every day.” Now that pissed me off.
I hung up, furious with him and my mother for not telling me. I was going to Maine. Seeing Starlight was just what I needed. . Maybe I should call her first. We were going to need a place to stay.
My mother and I had words that evening at supper about her talking to Drew daily and not telling me. I had been moping around for weeks, and she had been talking to him.
“Morgan, I’m trying to do what’s best for both you. I don’t know how to help you without helping Drew.”
“What does that mean? You think Nicky and I are better off without him?”
“I do. I’m scared something is going to happen and Nicholas is going to lose both of you.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“You can’t control Drew’s temper any more than he can right now. I don’t know anything about Drew’s past, but I do know he has issues.”
“I know his past, and he has good reason to be the way he is. He’s not going to hurt me.”
“Morgan, he did hurt you. He’s hurt you a lot.”
“That doesn’t really hurt me. You don’t know him. The good that Drew does outweighs the bad by tons.”
“And what if the next bad is the last one? You could have died, Morgan.”
“If Drew hadn’t lost his temper and hit me, I would have died. Drew sped things along by that. If he hadn’t hit me, I probably would have went to sleep and never woken up.”
“Morgan, you’ve got to stop making excuses for him. Think about that baby boy. What would he do without either of you? You want his grandmother raising him?”
“You wouldn’t raise him, Celeste and Alicia would.” Shit. I shouldn’t have said that. I was being a bitch, and it wasn’t my mother’s fault. She rightly was trying to help me. My mother patted me on the knee with a warm smile.
“I will talk to you after bit, okay?”
“Mom, I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you. I’m just confused.”
“I know, sweetie. Why don’t you lie down and rest awhile. I’ll take Nicky for a bit.”