Wicked Things We Crave

Chapter Twenty-Nine

When the doorbell rang, Jonah hopped up from the couch to answer it since Astrid upstairs making up piles of crap to get thrown out before the move. The closer the day came to leaving, the more sentimental Jonah found himself becoming over every little thing in that house. So he left it up to Astrid to decide what came with them, and what could be discarded. 

The woman standing on the other side of the threshold was just about the last person he'd expected to see, but Jonah kept his poker face on and leaned against the opening. "What do you want, Rachel?"

Rachel took a second glance at the house number beside the door before she stuck her head in to look behind him. "I asked Scott for Astrid's address."

Yet he apparently failed to mention the rest of the story behind it. "And you found it, so I repeat, what the hell do you want?"

Rachel straightened her stance and crossed her arms. "I want to speak to my daughter."

Jonah's first instinct was to shut the door in Rachel's face, but unfortunately it wasn't his call. "About what?"

Her lips twitched into a half-hearted smile. "That's really none of your concern, is it?"

"She's my concern," Jonah fired back. 

A silence passed between them for a few beats before all trace of smile was gone. "This isn't just Astrid's home, is it?"

Jonah was used to looks far worse than the one she was giving him  when it came to his relationship with Astrid, and Rachel's opinion on it was completely irrelevant, which was a nice change of pace. Yes, she was technically her mother, but she wasn't a mom or a parent. "You can be judgmental if you want to, but know that I'm going to throw it right back at you, and I won't be holding back."

The lips that formally held a trace of a smile pressed into a fine line before Rachel looked down at the cement beneath her shoes. "I'd like to speak to my daughter, please, if she's willing to listen."

There was nothing Jonah wouldn't do for Astrid, including chasing this woman three states away or giving up his life to protect her. But the little girl he grew up loving was now a woman he was deeply in love with, and who was old enough to fight her own battles.

As much as Jonah would love to play her knight in shining armor forever, Astrid was a stronger person than him, and she needed a partner more than she needed a savior. So Jonah stepped aside, and allowed Rachel to walk into the house. "I'll go get her."

He took his sweet ass time walking up the steps, sparing Rachel one last glance as she walked into the living room and began looking at the photos on the wall. He also took his sweet ass time walking down the hall, but it didn't take him long to find her stepping between two piles of crap in the guest bedroom. 

"How does a single guy accumulate so much junk?" She asked without looking up as she continued to navigate around the piles. But Astrid didn't wait for his reply. "Who was at the door?"

"Your mother," Jonah answered quickly. "She's downstairs waiting for you. Says she wants to talk."

Astrid's eyes shot over at him, going wide at the mention of Rachel. "I look like hell right now."

A laugh passed through his lips, but it was a sad thought that Astrid still wanted to impress a woman who'd barely given her a second thought. "Sweetheart, you couldn't look like hell if you tried," he assured her before extending out his hand for her to take. "If you don't want to talk to her, that's fine. If you do, I'll be right there with you every step of the way."

Astrid gnawed at her bottom lip, then wiped the dust off her t-shirt. "I'll talk to her, I'm just not sure how much more there's left to say."

More than either of them let on, Jonah guessed. Astrid hadn't spoken much at the restaurant, and Rachel hadn't said all that much either. They both said the bare minimum, and Jonah knew there was much more lurking in the background that at least Astrid would need to let out so she could finally move on.