Free The Comeback Girl by Debra Salonen Page B

the door, turned off the lights and slowly trudged toward her room. A crack of light visible beneath Zach’s door snapped off as she approached. The snub hurt, but she had never let her son go to bed without a kiss and she wasn’t about to start.
    She opened the door and squinted into the gloom. A thumping—Sarge’s tail against the floor—was her only greeting. The hallway light helped her navigate to the bed. Her son was under his covers, his back to her.
    Kris stopped to pet Sarge then leaned over and brushed back a lock of hair to kiss Zach’s cheek. He smelled of toothpaste, and soap.
    “I love you, Zachie.” She whispered the nickname she’d called him when he was a toddler. He was supposed to answer, “I love you, too, Mama.”
    He didn’t say a word.
    Kristin’s eyes filled with tears. Maybe she was completely wrong to be considering Donnie’s proposal. Her only allegiance was to her son. Not to an old friend she’d once loved. Maybe she didn’t even know what love was—except when it came to her son. And if her actions were going to affect Zach’s feelings for her, perhaps she should rethink everything.
    Zach moved suddenly, flipping to his back. “Doyou promise you’ll at least talk to my father before you do this…thing?”
    Kristin nodded. She’d been waiting for Tyler to approach her, but now she was going to have to make the first move. “I don’t know exactly where Ty is, but I know someone who should be able to tell us—your grandmother.”
    Zach’s mouth dropped open. “Who?”
    “Your father’s mother lives in town. I told you that. I haven’t contacted her because…well, to be honest, I’m nervous of her. She’s disliked me and my sisters for a long time, and I’m not a very brave person, Zach. You know that. A brave person doesn’t run away and hide. A brave person deals with her mistakes and takes responsibility for them.”
    She saw him flinch. “Not you, love. You were a gift, not a mistake. My mistake was not being honest from the start. One little lie compounded into this huge deception, and now I have to pay for that. My only regret is that you’re suffering, too.”
    He didn’t say anything.
    She stroked his hair. “Tomorrow, I’m taking you to meet your grandmother. Perhaps she can tell us how to contact your father. If not, I’ll go through my attorney. But I promise I will talk to him, face-to-face, if possible, before I make any decision about marrying Donnie.” She tilted his chin upward and waited until his gaze met hers. “Okay?”
    He nodded then pulled back and turned over.
    It wasn’t “I love you, too, Mama,” but it was a start.
     
    D ONNIE TOOK A SIP of coffee. His stomach was a mess thanks to a sleepless night. After leaving Kris, he’d returned to an empty house. His mother was at a going-away party with her Gold Creek Garden Club friends; Lucas had spent the night with Sandy.
    Donnie had used the silence of the empty house to reflect on the wisdom of his proposal. He’d asked himself whether or not he was being incredibly selfish.
    He thought about Lucas. The boy hadn’t been happy for months. Donnie blamed himself for a lot of that. He’d been so busy at work and with his own dreams and plans that he hadn’t given Lucas the attention the child craved. And now he was actually considering leaving Lucas with Kristin and taking off. So the answer to the question about whether or not he was being selfish had to be yes. Now the question was, what was he going to do about it?
    His mother’s suitcases were sitting by the door awaiting Sandy’s arrival. His ex had volunteered to give Maureen a lift to the Sacramento airport since it was on her way to Redding.
    “All packed?” he asked when his mother dashed into the room—the fifth time in five minutes. “Are you sure you don’t need my help?”
    She looked a little scattered but excited, too. Donnie detected a glow in her eyes that had beenmissing for a long time. “No, I’m fine.