Page 151

Which he has.

But that’s not my fault, nor is it my responsibility.

“Faith doing okay?” I ask.

“About as well as can be expected, given her condition.”

“You know, you could help it by not smoking around her.”

He shrugs.

Right, I think. That’s just not in the cards for him. Why should he give up smoking when his wife is suffering from COPD? How could I even ask such a stupid question?

“How’re you?” he asks. “You gave us all a fright when you collapsed. You better now?”

“I’m much better, thanks.”

The waitress comes by, and he orders a coffee. “My daughter’s paying for it,” he says with a wink.

Of course I am. As soon as the waitress leaves, he says, “Willie got real nasty with me after you had your little event. Hell, even that boyfriend of yours blamed the whole thing on me.”

My heart stutters to a stop. “He did?” I whisper.

“Yep. Said it right to my face. I don’t know who that guy thinks he is—”

“He was right.”

Glen stares at me for a beat and narrows his eyes. “What’s that?”

I clear my throat, absorbing that Rhett was right. Even if he was melting down during my crisis, he knew why I’d reacted as I had.

He knew.

And he still let me go.

I swallow the hurt and take a moment to summon all the courage that lives inside me. “Rhett was right,” I repeat. “It was your fault.”

He scoffs. “Now, Kitty Ka—”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Okay,” he says slowly, like he’s trying to figure out what’s stuck up my butt. “Is everything okay?”

“No, not really, but I don’t want to go into it.”

“You can tell me anything.”

Is he kidding me right now? “I called you here because I have some things to say.”

“Great. I’m all ears.”

“I know my dad told you to never contact me again. I want to clarify that.”

Glen exhales. “Thank goodness. I knew something was wrong in all that. You wouldn’t want to cut me and your mama off, not after all we did for you.”

“All that you did?” The words are out before I can stop them. “You abandoned me.” I drop my voice. “You sold me because the two of y’all couldn’t take care of me. You didn’t even try.”

He looks around nervously. “Now, Kitty K—”