Until Her (Sequel)

chapter six

"You're really going to help them move in?"

"They're my parents, Chloe. They've got no one else besides me." Carter exclaimed, although he wasn't happy about it. He shoveled eggs and sausage on two plates, sitting them on our breakfast bar.

"Then I'm coming with you." He looked unsure as I sat next to him. The bird chirped outside the penthouse, cueing up a perfect morning.

"No," he sighed. "I won't make you do that."

"I want to." I cooed, picking at my eggs before putting my fork back down on the glass plate. I hadn't told Carter that I woke up in the middle of the night with an upset stomach, spending an hour with my head in the toilet. Carter shoveled his breakfast into his mouth, wiped off his lips with a napkin, and rose his eyebrows at me.

"You haven't been eating much lately. Are you okay?"

Mom always said I had an "emotional stomach." It was sensitive towards what I was feeling. If I was sad, worried, anxious... so was my middle. But now, it was on overdrive.

I patted my lips dry after taking a sip of orange juice, placing my hand in his lap. I had been feeling off lately, but it was due to the fact that I was extremely busy with my own book, while helping Graham get things together for Cole Baker, and on top of that, I was worried about my in-laws moving to a large and showy home just outside the city.

It was typical Adam fashion, to get the nicest house in the nicest area of town, and even more like him to alert the media when he did. Adam was old-fashioned, refusing to hire movers and recruiting helpers instead. When we showed up at the house, rolling up in Carter's truck, his father wasn't doing any of the work. Figures.

I mainly assisted Sophia in wrapping up glass decorations, kitchen dishes, and old knick-knacks, avoiding the elephant in the room.

"Are you excited to move?" I pried, wrapping a wine glass in newspaper.

She sighed. "Yes. I think it's what we need."

I pulled my lip to one side, looking her in the eye. "You can be honest with me, you know. I was nervous about moving to Atlanta, too."

Her eyes pulled for some excuse, but came up empty. Her shoulders sagged, her eyes drooping. "I'm doing this to get my family back together. I will do anything to keep us together."

I rubbed her shoulders, watching her eyes fill with tears. It was gloomy, to think about what Sophia had gone through. I'm sure the man she fell in love with was nothing like the Adam James she was married to now, and that she never imagined it would ruin the relationship with her only son. I wanted to urge her to leave, convince her to move in with Carter and I and get a divorce, but I knew she wouldn't hear any of it. Something magnificently horrible would have to happen to make her do that. She was tough, although her obedience to Adam made her seem weak. I could see it in her, though; she was relentless and fierce in her desire to fix her family.

"I know you will. Just know you have me. You have us." I let my shoulders rise, hoping my comment would be enough. When Sophia hugged me tightly, I guessed that I was.

"So, dear, I heard that, um..." she cleared her throat. "I heard that boy... from years ago... is up for parole. What are you going to do?"

My eyes shot up, and I cut myself on a glass decoration on the counter. "Ah—" I yelped, holding my palm that was gushing blood. Sophia rushed to grab me a towel, pressing it onto my hand.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She exasperated, holding pressure to my hand.

"Um, it's... um, it's fine. I just didn't know that you knew." I found myself to be a little pissed, wondering when Carter found the time to tell his mom about Warren, especially when it wasn't his story to tell. But then I remembered that Sophia was trying to connect with her family, and Carter was probably worried about me, telling his mom something he probably couldn't express to me. Then I felt a swarm of jealousy, anger, and sadness. Tears stung my eyes.