Free Laura's Light by Donna Gallagher Page A

before she managed to get herself back under control.
    “Mum, it’s okay. I’m not burnt, the tray was just a bit hot. Don’t cry.” Mitchell’s voice was full of concern as he stood looking down at her. Mitchell had grown taller than Laura at the age of thirteen. Her son, her beautiful boy. Her life. And she had just done something so stupid… She was an old fool.
    “Mum, look at me. What is wrong? You’re scaring me, Mum. Have I done something, have I upset you? Something has been wrong from the minute I got home. Tell me, Mum. Maybe I can help or fix whatever it is I’ve done to cause this.”
    “Oh, baby, you have done nothing wrong, sweetheart. It’s me—I’m the one. I’ve been such a silly old woman. Shameful. I should never have let Trevor Hughes… Anyway, it’s over now. Trevor has gone. Hopefully the gossip will fade. I’m sorry for embarrassing you, Mitchell. I didn’t think. It wasn’t my intention. I’ve been alone for so long…haven’t dated for so long… I just didn’t understand.”
    It was reprehensible that she stood crying in her son’s arms, but she couldn’t stop. What sort of mother was she, leaning on her own son this way? But she couldn’t stop.
    “Oh, Ma! I’m so sorry, Ma. I don’t give a fuck about gossip, Mum. And neither should you. Fuck Trevor Hughes—he wasn’t good enough for you anyway. Scumbag. You’re not alone, Mum. I’m here, always will be. The Dynamic Duo, you and me.”
    “Watch your language, young man. I may be a snivelling mess but I’m still your mother and you will not use those words in my home.” Laura gave the admonishment lightly—she even managed an awkward smile as she let her son console her, let him hold her as she had held him so many times through his childhood. “You’re a good boy, Mitchell. I love you, son. Please don’t hold any animosity towards Trevor.” Just saying his name made Laura’s voice quiver. “He made me no promises. It was what it was—a one-night stand. It was me who misunderstood. I’m being silly and dramatic. Your mother had sex.”
    “Too much information, Mother.”
    “Well, you can rest assured that I’m unlikely to ever bother again, if that helps?” Laura’s sad chuckle was muffled against the warmth of her son’s chest. And with the realisation that it was a warm and rather pungent chest, Laura found that her distress was fading. She felt calmer. Soothed.
    “So you didn’t shower at the gym, then, Mitchell?” she said as she pulled herself from her son’s embrace. Stood on her own two feet. Regained her composure. “You stink, son. Go shower and I will redo these toasties. This time I’ll try not to burn them.” She spun him towards the kitchen doorway and playfully swatted her six-foot-tall, muscular son’s backside. “Just make it a quick shower, or your food will get cold and soggy.”
    “Mum. I love you. You’re the best mother anyone could have. Don’t for a second think I don’t understand what you have sacrificed for me, given up for me. I know, I do.”
    “Mitchell, stop. Otherwise I’ll be crying again and honestly, I’m all cried out. Darling, I gave nothing up because of you. What I did or didn’t do was my own choice. You are the best thing in my life, my greatest achievement. There was never anything more important to me than you. Never will be. No matter who may or may not come into my life, you will always be my priority, always be my baby. So scoot—you are stinking up my kitchen.”
    Laura watched, full of emotion, as her son left the room. She could still feel the warmth lingering from the kiss he delivered to her cheek. He was her sunshine. Her life was good. She would be fine. And much to her surprise, she found herself humming as she set to work making something more edible than the blackened tray of food she left sitting in her sink.
     

Chapter Twelve
     
     
     
    “Well, boys, gotta say that this is a sorry sight. Once the scourge of opposition