Dead Upon Arrival by Kat Bellemore

Author:Kat Bellemore [Bellemore, Kat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: KB Press

12

“Flash will never forgive us. You know that, right?” I took note of the dancing cow I’d been promised, prancing proudly with its udders on full display on top of the restaurant. It looked more like a weird exotic dance club than a steak restaurant.

Benji laughed. “He will if we get a few boxes to go. You did try to invite him and Lilly, and they turned you down. That’s not your fault.”

That wasn’t exactly true. I’d knocked. And Lilly had answered, but when I’d opened my mouth to invite them out to dinner, I’d realized I’d need to invite my mom too. And frankly, I needed this time. Time that was my own. Because ever since quitting my university position and moving down to Amor, it seemed everyone owned my time except me. Everyone wanted a piece of it.

“I may have told them that you and I were going sightseeing, but that I’d take care of dinner when I got back.” An outright lie. Unless driving to see an exotic cow counted as sightseeing. It was certainly a sight, but maybe not one worth seeing. I’d been promised that the steak would be better than the decor.

Benji threw a glance my way, a questioning eyebrow raised. “Any reason you didn’t want them to come along?”

“I don’t know—I guess I just needed an hour where I could hear my own thoughts rather than someone talking over them.” I slipped my hand through Benji’s arm as we walked toward the front doors, and I gave it a reassuring squeeze. Except, those biceps were rock hard, and squeezing them was nearly impossible.

Wow.

It took a second for me to find my train of thought.

“If I would have invited them to dinner, the kids would have jumped into the back seat, and you would have ended up back there with them because my mom would need the front seat. And then she would have caught a glimpse of Arnold as we left and told him he should come along, or she’d have taken it one step further and knocked on his door and demanded he and both his sons follow us, because the more the merrier—I couldn’t handle that right now. I don’t even know what I’m still doing here, rather than in Amor where I belong. I guess I just needed…quiet.”

Benji gave a thoughtful nod, but he seemed almost disappointed by my response. What had he expected, that I loved being a single mom? That I loved having to be everything to everyone, every moment of the day? I felt guilty thinking otherwise, but the truth was that I was exhausted. And the hand I’d been dealt in life was beginning to wear on me.

I loved my family. And I wanted to be my best for them.

That was why I hadn’t told them where I was going.

So that I could continue to be what they needed.

But I didn’t tell Benji all of this. I didn’t need to weigh him down with all my feelings of inadequacy.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.