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“Nothing rhymed in that.”
I hold up my hands between them, cutting off Ben from saying something we never get a chance to hear. “Okay, no need to call our daughter-in-law names.”
Rachel quickly adds, “They’re going through an ending and?—”
“—I don’t want to go through an ending!”
Dax snaps, “You’re clearly alone in that!”
Sylvia groans, “Oh my God.”
Rachel takes Shelby’s hand, guides her to the door. “This isn’t the place. Outside. All four of us.” She shares a look with me and Ben, and we follow as Shelby releases curse words that would have made Grams blush. As soon as we’re on the porch we’re joined by Michelle and Marco, both wrapped in their own towels, followed by Willow in a wet robe. I note that her towel must’ve been taken upstairs, earlier, and hope that Shelby doesn’t put two-and-two together. She does.
“Where’s your towel?!”
“I forgot to bring one.” Willow says, adding, “Why, did you want to borrow it?”
I hold back a smile.
“You folks go inside. Sweet dreams,” My wife says to her guests, adding, “We’ll see you in the morning. Oh, and Sylvia is inside if you'd like some tea to bring up to your rooms."
Willow smiles, “Tea sounds nice, thank you,” and follows the other two guests in. We wait until the four of us are alone, and Ben is the first to speak as soon as the door gently shuts. "Shelby, what do you think you're doing?”
“Me? You left our son at home alone!"
"We're out in the middle of nowhere, and I left him a note to call me if he needed anything. I just came back to return Dad’s tools.”
She glares at him. "Is that why I didn't see you? You were in the shed? "
"Yeah I guess so! And I didn't check in with you. Because it never occurred to me that I would have to. Or that you would be here. I already told you that they refunded everyone’s money because of what happened between us. Why did you come back here? Do you have no regard for their business? For everything they've built?”
My wife takes over, “Shelby, Ben, go home.”
“Good idea!” Shelby says.
“I mean to your mom’s, Ben to his house. Our son has made it very clear it’s over and your antics, while seemingly designed to keep him, are having the opposite effect.”
“What do you know about it?”
I answer, “She has eyes.”
Shelby stares from me to Rachel. “You hate me. Why do you hate me? You’re the reason he wants a divorce!”
Ben growls, “You’re the only reason!”
I step in, literally walking up to her, lowering my volume and the depth of my voice to authoritative don’t-mess-with-me. “You can spin this in your own mind any way you want but for years you have kept our son and our grandson from us and the entire Cocker family and if you can’t hear it’s over from him, hear it from me. It’s over. Your free ride is done. You have nothing left here.”
Rachel grabs my arm, and corrects me, “If you keep this up, Shelby! If you keep this up, you’ll have nothing left! Is that what you want? You want to be completely ostracized? These tactics are blowing up in your face so you can either change them or keep blowing up our connection to you with every action you take until there’s nothing left for holidays, for Jonny’s graduations, wedding, everything that will come! Be reasonable. See someone if you have to.”
“See someone? My attorney?”
“A therapist,” Rachel gently offers.
“I don’t need a therapist!”
“When enough people think you might, might you not consider it?”
“Fuck you!”
