His Love, My Choice (Book 2) [Completed] - book 1 on Inkitt dot com

Chapter 14 - Laera and Liam

She didn't even apologize.

Never mind the fact that I was sitting here in this place with the woman who'd abandoned me attempting to normalize our interaction by serving me tea.

That was her approach when I'd refused her hand and descended from the Sprinter van.

I didn't want to stay.

There was very little in me that wanted anything more than to be elsewhere and away from this forced reunion.

But I needed to use the facilities and I wasn't going to let go of the contents of my bladder standing on the muddy ground before her.

So, I followed my need for relief and entered through the door to the house she'd just walked into.

I didn't want the first words I said to her to be 'I have to use your bathroom', yet that was increasingly the predicament that I'd found myself in as the pressure grew within me.

As if sensing that my discomfort could be attributable to something other than the awkwardness of our impending talk, she showed me to a door just off the front entryway as soon as we crossed the threshold.

How did she know? I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of using her 'motherly' intuition.

She wasn't hard to spot once I'd returned to the front hallway area, as there was a sitting room within view, and she was standing just to the side as she waved me towards her.

"I didn't know what you might like, so I opted for an assortment of things. You must be very hungry after your travels," she said.

I looked at the spread on the table before me.

Charcuterie? I guess there was a more nonsensical topic of discussion.

"The first words out of your mouth should be an apology and an explanation don't you think?" I started as she took a seat and began pouring hot water out of an ornate teapot.

Suddenly those dainty shoulders seemed as if they carried the weight of the world on them and I watched as they sagged while she emitted a long sigh.

She looked much older than I'd remembered but still had those fine lines at the corner of her eyes that I used to love watching when she laughed.

It didn't look as if she'd laughed in a long time. Those lines no longer seemed to be attributable to mirth.

"Laeranena..."

"Don't, don't you dare call me that," I couldn't let her finish. I was getting tired of standing and I hadn't meant to raise my voice but the shock of her addressing me in such a familiar manner as if we could just fall back into a place that had already been burnt to the ground was jarring.

This whole encounter was cataclysmic.

That name, 'Laeranena' had been her nickname for me. Now, not many people would end up with a nickname that was longer than their original name, but it was a play on the word 'niña' in Spanish which meant girl or child.

She'd meant it as a term of endearment, but it felt like a dagger used to hack away at my already mangled heart.

"I'm sorry,"

I could only offer her a look that showed my skepticism. There was so much impregnated in those few words, and it didn't seem like enough now that I'd heard them.

"And my father?" I asked, finally taking a seat across from her.

My mother lowered her head slightly and went to reach for the teacup she'd prepared for herself prior to my entering the room. Taking a sip, she held it with both hands wrapped around the fine China as if she were seeking its warmth.