Midnight Ballerina (40 page)

“I wish I could tell you exactly what to do, but only time will tell, I guess.”

ABBY HAD BEEN here for two weeks now, and I was annoyed as hell, wanting nothing more than for her to just up and go. I would be here for Miller after she did that, as best as I could, but it didn’t seem like she was going anywhere anytime soon. I felt guilty for wanting the woman to leave, but I could already see the changes in him. She was taking care of him just like he was a little boy and he was eating it right up.

“Monroe.” Her face turned sour whenever she said my name. “You really don’t know how to cook?” she asked as she stood at the stove, stirring a pot of chili as I grabbed some bowls out of the cupboard. The kitchen smelled amazing with the chili cooking, along with the cornbread that was in the oven. I shook my head as I set the bowls out on the kitchen island. “Well, how do you expect to take care of my son then?”

I bit down on my tongue, hard, so hard I’m pretty sure I tasted blood. How did
I
expect to take care of her son? That was a pretty loaded question coming from the woman that had abandoned him, not taking care of him like a mother was supposed to. “It’s not really an issue between us, Miller doesn’t care.”

“Oh, he will care, just you wait. He needs himself a girl who can cook.”

Miller chose that exact moment to walk into the kitchen from outside where he had been mowing the lawn. His shirt was off exposing his tan chest covered with a sheen of sweat, causing me to get all hot and bothered, and I wished his mom wasn’t there, so I could have my way with him right on the kitchen floor.

Gah, it had been way too long.

Abby probably didn’t know it, but she was also putting a cramp in our sex life. Not only did we have to worry about someone else being in the house all the time, but Miller would actually have to come to bed at a decent time for anything to happen. Most of the time, he ended up staying out in the living room with Abby until the middle of the night, talking about life, I guess, and I was asleep by the time he finally came to bed.

“Monroe’s just fine,” he said as he kissed my nose and a little bit of the anger rolled off my chest by that simple touch.

Abby sniffed slightly and I could tell that she was annoyed that she wasn’t getting all of Miller’s attention like she was used to. “All right, if you say so. I need to talk to you about something later, Miller.”

He sat down at the island and she grabbed his bowl for him, filling it up with chili and setting a piece of warm cornbread next to it. It did smell amazing, but I had a hard time wanting to eat it given Abby made it.
Quit being such a bitch, Monroe.

“Whatever it is, you can say it in front of Monroe.” I tried not to but I grinned triumphantly when Abby rolled her eyes, huffing as she moved to stand in front of the island.

“I really hate to ask you this, but I’ve gotten myself into a bit of trouble.” Her eyes dropped down to stare at the counter. I knew what was coming and it pissed me off beyond belief, but I had a feeling Miller would tell her to get the hell out of his house, and I couldn’t wait for that moment. I was beyond ready.

“What kind of trouble, Ma?” He took a bite of his chili, groaning slightly as he savored the taste. Abby shuffled in place, looking at me sideways before flicking her eyes to Miller.

“Well, when Bruce left I was in sort of a pickle, so I got involved in some stuff I shouldn’t have, but it was the only way I knew how to survive.”

“What kind of stuff did you get involved with?” I remained silent as Miller sat his spoon down, focusing solely on his mom.

“Well, drugs,” she admitted quietly, at least looking a little ashamed, and it made me feel a tiny bit sorry for her.

“Drugs?” he repeated. “Hard stuff, I’m guessing?”

“Yes.”

“So what do you need?”

“Um….” Abby paused, her mouth opening and closing several times before she shook her head. “Nothing, I just thought you should know that I’ve gotten myself cleaned up.”

I snorted loudly, knowing exactly what she had been meaning to ask for, the main reason why she had shown up in the first place. Money. How did Miller not see that? She’d been hinting about how she’d been scraping by on her own ever since she got here. I couldn’t keep my mouth shut any longer, if I did, I felt like I was going to explode.

“Is that what you were really going to say Abby? Why don’t you just come right out and ask, get it over with?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Abby replied snidely, crossing her arms over her chest. Miller’s eyes were bouncing back and forth between us but his lips remain closed.

“She’s looking for money, Miller. How can you not see that? And what has she done to deserve even a penny from you? Absolutely nothing but mess up your head every time she showed up, getting your hopes up and then just leaving again and again.” I turned toward Abby, who was glaring at me. “Do you know he can’t even tell me that he loves me because of
you
? Don’t get me wrong, he shows me in plenty of ways, but he can’t actually say those words out loud and I know it’s because of you. How could you just leave your kid? What kind of mom does that?”

Abby opened her mouth to say something, but Miller held up a hand, standing to his feet. “Monroe, stop. That’s all in the past and it doesn’t need to get brought up, so just leave it alone.”

I took a deep breath, wanting to listen to Miller, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. “I can’t, Miller. I’m sorry, you mean too much to me to just sit back and watch this woman walk all over you and you can’t even see what she’s doing. How long do you think she’s going to stick around after she finally asks you for money? I know it’s coming. You probably won’t see her again for another five years or when she needs money the next time.” My voice broke, not only because I was upset, but for the fact that Miller ended up with this woman as his mom. He deserved better.

“Well, sorry that I can’t be just like you, Miss Perfect,” Abby piped in.

“Miss Perfect? I’m far from that.”

“Monroe.” This time Miller’s tone was harsher and I could tell he was getting pissed, but I guess he would just have to get mad at me because I had to get this off my chest.

“And then you bring up the fact that Bruce, Miller’s so-called dad, is an asshole because he stole some money from you. Really?” I screamed the last part and now both of them were looking at me like I was a crazy woman but I didn’t care. “What about the times that he was beating your son and you just stood by watching? What about those times? Don’t you think he was an asshole then, and that you should’ve just gotten Miller the hell out of there the first time, so it couldn’t happen again? But no, you kept letting it happen and when you couldn’t take care of him any longer, you left him. Thank goodness Maggie took care of him and turned him into the man he is today, but you certainly had no helping hand in that.”

“Monroe!” Miller shouted my name, trying to stop me but I refused.

My whole body was shaking and I couldn’t ever remember getting so worked up by something before. “Then you come back in and out of his life for years, don’t you think that had an effect on him? Don’t you think your empty promises hurt him? And now that he’s made something for himself, all on his own, you show up with your hand held out, like he owes
you
? You know what you
owe
him?” I didn’t wait for her response because I didn’t really care to hear the nonsense that she was going to ramble. “You owe him enough to get the hell out of his life and never come back again.”

I released a breath, knowing my rant was finally over and it felt good to get off my chest. That is, until I glanced at Miller, who looked royally pissed off. I was surprised that there wasn’t steam coming out of his ears. His lips were pursed and his eyes were stony, his jaw working tightly until he finally opened his mouth, but I never expected to hear the words that came out.

“Get the hell out of my house, Monroe,” he bit out and I took a step backward like he had slapped me in the face. He might as well because it certainly stung that much.

“What?”

“Get. Out. Now.” He pointed toward the front door and I saw Abby smirk at me from behind Miller.

“Miller, can’t we talk about this? I know what I said was harsh, but—”

“Just stop,” he yelled and I jumped in place, never hearing that harsh tone directed at me before, and it scared the hell out of me. I grabbed my purse off the back counter as I walked past it and headed straight out the front door, needing to get the hell away from here now. I didn’t know what to do. Miller and I never fought, he never got angry with me.

“Fine, I’m leaving, but when I come back, we need to talk about this.”

“Don’t come back tonight, Monroe. I need some time to cool down.”

“What are you talking about?” I pressed a shaking hand to my chest, my heart doing something strange in there at his words.

“I mean, we need some time apart right now,” he said, his tone void of any emotions as he stared over my head, looking everywhere but into my eyes.

“Are you kidding me?” I shrieked. “Because of your mom? You do remember how she’s treated you all of these years, right? And now you’re just going to welcome her back with open arms? She’s using you Miller, just like she always had. She’ll ask for money, trust me. And you’re going to feel like an asshole when she does.” Miller winced slightly but shook his head.

“You need to leave. Now.” It cut me to the core to hear him talk to me like that.

“Fine. I’m going.” My voice broke and I could feel my throat closing up, the tears right on the verge of spilling out, and I was doing everything in me not to break down in front of him. I was a strong girl.

And then he went back into the house without another word, slamming the door in my face and wrecking my whole heart. I couldn’t keep the sobs in any longer as I collapsed to my knees on his front porch, trying to comprehend what just happened, but it was impossible.

THE FIRST NIGHT that I left Miller’s was a little rough to deal with, he tried to call me the next morning but by then I had time to think. How he had treated me hurt beyond belief, especially since I was just trying to protect him, so I wasn’t quite ready to talk to him yet.

But it had been a week and I still hadn’t talked to him. He didn’t try to call again, and I stubbornly refused to call him.

“Sweetie, Tanner’s here.” Amelia poked her head in the door and I sat up quickly.

“What? Why is Tanner here?”

“Um…he has some of your stuff.” Amelia stood there gauging my reaction and I jumped off the bed, having to see it with my own eyes. I couldn’t believe that Miller would just send my stuff over, without a word, effectively ending our relationship. My insides were a mess as I rounded the corner of the hallway, the thought of us being over just like that. I couldn’t handle it. It was our first fight, and while I know Miller was beyond pissed, it seemed like dumping my stuff at Amelia’s was a little bit of an overreaction.

And very final.

My feet came to a stop as soon as I entered the living room to find Tanner standing there with five garbage bags sitting by his feet. “Hey, Monroe. How’s it—”