FORTY-FOUR
REX
MIRRORS - JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
It took me four days to get Wynter to open up to me after the incident with Jeremy.
I walked her from work to school or picked her up and took her home. We ate together, and she even did some of her homework in front of me at the coffee shop where we staked a place for ourselves, but she didn’t talk.
I didn’t like that she was cowed.
I hated that she was scared of Kinnock.
Much as Rachel had told me in one of our email conversations, I was a fixer. For those I loved, I wanted to make everything as copacetic as was physically possible.
It killed something inside me not to make this better, to make it right, but I couldn’t do anything if she wouldn’t let me in.
I’d asked her what had happened afterward, I’d asked her to talk to me, but one of the waitresses who worked with her had called in sick with a stomach bug and Wynter had picked up those extra shifts, so it wasn’t as easy to find time to talk with her about important things.
The same couldn’t be said for her mother.
Rachel didn’t avoid me, which came as a surprise. Especially as I knew she was pissed at me for beating Kinnock up. But something had changed between us and I was glad for it.
“I’d like to talk to Rachel today.”
I shot Wynter a glance. “You would? You talking again?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I didn’t stop talking.”
“You did. You froze me out.” My gaze was candid. I could handle her freezing me out—I’d had plenty of practice over the years with Rachel—I just couldn’t deal with her lying about it.
She grimaced. “I-I was processing.”
“Did he hurt you once you were on your own?”
“No. He doesn’t hurt me,” she said uncomfortably.
“But he hurts your mom?”
Her gaze darted away.
I had my answer.
“Why did you pick them?”
“For your adoptive parents?”
She nodded.
“You won’t like my answer,” I warned.
“I’d still like to know.”
“I never liked your father,” I said easily. “He was the school quarterback, and he was a jackass. But he wasn’t a bully. The linebacker and his cronies were, but your dad always hung around Ally and she tempered the douche in him. Or, I guess, I thought she did.
“I had no inkling that he was a wife beater because if I had, there was no way in hell I’d have approached them about adopting you.”
The more I spoke, the rounder her eyes grew, but she blurted out, “He wasn’t always like this.”
“What changed?”
“Tenure.”
“Tenure?”
“He didn’t get it. There was a spot that opened up in his department, and it went to a guy ten years younger than him.”
“So? That doesn’t excuse what he did.”
“Not saying it does, but that was the trigger.”
“Vain prick. That was always his flaw.” I grunted. “Anyway, Ally was kind. She always was. I liked her. I’d have probably dated her if your mom didn’t have her hooks dug into me.”
Something peeped into her eyes. “When did you know you loved her?”
“When I was thirteen.” I shot her a grin. “I didn’t realize that was what it was back then, of course. She came to the clubhouse and she was so fucking small, and I just wanted to protect her.” My nose crinkled. “Irony being your mom doesn’t want to be protected.”
“Doesn’t everyone want to be protected?”
“No. Not always. Some people like to fight their own battles.” I cleared my throat before I pointedly asked, “Remind you of someone?”
She flushed. “I’m not—”
“Aren’t you? I’m here, I’ll gladly pay for better accommodation, and whatever your dad does or says, I’ll sort it out for you. But for four days, you’ve been drifting around like a ghost.”
Wynter gnawed on her lip. “Dad said something to me. I don’t think he meant to. But… is it true you pay maintenance?”
“Of course.”
“Of course?” Her brow puckered. “I don’t understand. That’s not how adoption works.”
“It’s how adoption works for me. I wanted you to have the best, and I was well aware that life as a professor and a homemaker doesn’t always permit those luxuries.”
“You pay for my school?”
“I do.” Annoyed, I demanded, “What did he tell you that for?”
“You didn’t want me to know?”
“I didn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s irrelevant.”
“It isn’t. It’s… you cared. You didn’t stop caring. It matters.” She fiddled with the handle on her mug. “Does Rachel know?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’d imagine she doesn’t need to know to be aware that I’m a control freak where the people I love are concerned.”
“Meaning?”
“She’d have expected me to be financially involved in your life. If I asked her, she’d be surprised. But if she thought about it for a minute, she wouldn’t be.”
“You do things your own way, don’t you?”
I nodded. “Always have. Your mom, I mean, Rachel, she’s the same. It just manifests differently.”
“You’re leaving for New Jersey soon, aren’t you?”
The change of topic was abrupt. “Yes. But I’m coming back. I’ll fly out, then return. For however long you’d like me to hang out.”
“What if I said forever?”
I heard her rebellious tone and understood it.
“Then we might have to make some adjustments.”
She studied me. “You have to ride your bike back home, don’t you?”
“I do. I also have to arrange my father’s funeral.”
“Your life is on the East Coast.”
“Yours is on the West.”
“Do you think Rachel would come visit? Maybe she’d fly back with you?”
“I could ask her,” I said carefully, not wanting to get her hopes up.
It wasn’t that I didn’t think Rachel would come, but I liked to manage expectations.
“Would you ask her now?”
Again with the spurt of defiance.
I shrugged. “Can I give her a warning again?”
“Yes.”
Quickly, I sent Rachel a message.
Rex: Wynter wants to talk.
Rachel: Just a minute. On the phone. I’ll call after I’m done.
Rex: Fine.
I tipped the screen to her so she could see the exchange, well aware what her game was—she wanted Rachel’s raw reaction to the request.
To be frank, I understood. I was curious too.
With a satisfied nod, she murmured, “Thank you.”
“Testing Rachel won’t work out well for you,” I told her calmly.
“Why not?”