Miles

Chapter 9

"Ella, I told you this would happen," her mother said as she sat in the darkened room, licking her wounds from the dinner party. She had thought it over and over and everything just boiled her anger. Her mother's words didn't help heal her and it only added to her pain. She turned to find her mother sitting before her with a glare that made her want to run far away.

"Mom, if you were trying to help me feel better, you failed," Ella said. Her mother's face darkened and she continued. "At this moment, if you have nothing to say, stay quiet."

"Why are you mad at me?"

"I'm mad at you because you're the only person who can still love me after you see me pissed off." Ella's voice broke. "Don't you get it? I know! I know this was what I had to deal with and it's hurting me but I love the man, something you've said to yourself plenty of times as you went from one man to another."

Her mother reached over and took her hand. "Don't make this about me."

"I am not! But I will if you don't stop making me feel guilty." She shoved the heels of her hands to her eyes. "Miles has been more than kind to me and I know that tonight really hurt him, more so than me. He had hoped so much with his mother but it turned out to be so ugly."

"Why do you love him so much?"

Ella turned to glare at her mother. "Why did you love my dad?"

She shrugged and smiled. "He was the world to me at one point."

"Exactly," Ella replied. "Miles is the world to me, only thing is, he will always remain that way. I love him, I do, and the years we spent apart broke me. You saw what I belittled myself to be." The door opened and Miles walked in with a tray of coffee cups. Her mother stood up and walked to him as he handed her a cup. She took it and then turned to look back at her before returning her gaze to him.

"I'm going to head home, but Miles, you take care of this. I don't care how you do it," she said. Then she turned toward Ella. "Call me if you need me." When her mother left out the door, Miles came to her and offered her the coffee.

"I'm sorry," he replied. "That was a new low for my mother. She just keeps getting better and better at wanting to make me hate her."

Ella took the tray and set it down. Then she took his hands. "Miles, I love you, I do. But I hate to think this is going to be our life moving forward. Every single holiday having to deal with her crazy schemes of wanting to break us apart. I grew up without good holiday memories because my parents weren't together. I want to have that with you but it seems your mother isn't going to cooperate."

"I will deal with her. I'm going to talk to her tomorrow and if she doesn't change, it will be the last conversation I will have with her."

Miles entered the foyer to find his mother going through the photo albums with his baby pictures. Great, he thought, out of all days, she chose today to do this. He walked in and stood a few feet away from her as he watched her flip through the pages of the colorful photos. Then she stopped at one and put her hand on it. He noticed it was the one where he wore a cowboy outfit holding two guns and a medal pinned to his flannel shirt.

"Do you remember this photo?" she asked.

"Yes. It was the county fair and I won for best costume."

She laughed and looked up at him. "You caught the eye of everyone, my darling boy."

"And I hated you for forcing me to attend the competition but I was a young boy and you threatened to take away my toys if I didn't listen to you. So I caved."