Fire by Abby Brooks

Author:Abby Brooks [Brooks, Abby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little Bird Publishing, LLC
Published: 2023-01-05T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Micah

“Micah Anthony Hutton. Do you care to explain yourself?”

I pull the phone away from my ear and grimace. Even as an adult, Mom breaking out my middle name is enough to make my balls crawl into my stomach. Excusing myself, I push my chair away from the table where I’m eating breakfast with the rest of the crew at the fire station.

I give Carson a look that says I might be in trouble, then head for the bunk room to continue the conversation in private. “It’s good to hear your voice, Mom.”

“Don’t you play innocent with me. It doesn’t work when your father tries it, and it has never worked for you.”

I flick on the light and grin. “It sometimes works for me.”

“Well, it’s not working for you today. I am shocked. And hurt. And just…” She stumbles for words, huffing and stammering and wow, Mom’s genuinely upset. It’s been so long since she’s been disappointed with me that I assumed she was joking with the whole middle name thing.

I sit on the edge of one of the beds. “What’s wrong, Mom? What did I do?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong? I’ll tell you what’s wrong. You’re a father. And I’m a grandmother. And your dad? He’s a grandpa. And all of that is enough of a surprise, just out of the blue, but then I find out that Ivy and this little angel are living with you. And you didn’t think that was something your dad and I should know?”

Fuck. Of course I forgot to call my parents. And of course someone else decided to open their big mouth and tell them before I did.

I’m going to kill Nathan for blabbing. Or Angela. Or both for good measure.

“It all happened really fast, Mom. I didn’t intentionally keep this from you. I promise.”

“I should hope not! We’re not the kind of family who keeps secrets, Mi. At least I didn’t think we were.”

“We’re not. Like I said, it all happened super fast.” I fill her in on the last several days, shaking my head in disbelief even though I lived the story.

“Wow,” she says when I’m done. “Just…wow.”

“Nell’s really sweet. You’re gonna love her.”

“Nell.” Mom says the name with so much love, I regret not calling her sooner.

“Short for Penelope Michaela Cole.”

“Michaela!” Mom immediately catches the meaning. “Oh, Micah. It’s like a fairy tale. When true love knocks, it keeps knocking until you answer the door.”

“I don’t know, Mom. Ivy’s been through a lot. I’m still adjusting to being a dad. I’m not sure love has anything to do with us anymore. A lot’s changed since we were together.”

For example, we’re just friends now even though I’ve been in love with her for years.

And we agree to one-time things that will forever haunt my fantasies.

“Sure, sure.” Mom says, hearing me and brushing me off in the same breath. “Time is funny, Mi. Sometimes days feel like years and years feel like days. You and Ivy will get to know each other again and I bet it’ll feel like no time has passed for you two.

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.