Richard shook his head.
“Linda, our son getting married didn’t mean we lost him.”
I finally understood why she’d targeted my gifts.
But understanding didn’t excuse it.
Jordan held out his hand.
“Mom, you still haven’t admitted taking her things. Until you can respect my wife and our home, I need our spare key back. And there won’t be any more weekend visits.”
Linda hesitated, then placed the key on the table.
Richard touched her shoulder.
“Come on, Linda. We need to talk.”
After they left, Jordan stood beside me.
“I should’ve defended you yesterday.”
“Yes. You should have.”
“No more running to Mom whenever we’re upset. And no more leaving you alone to handle her.”
I carried my perfume upstairs.
Jordan followed but stopped at our bedroom door.
“Can we fix this?”
“I want to. But I need you to show me, not just tell me.”
He nodded.
“Then the next time we have a problem, I’ll talk to you about it. Not my mother.”
I put the perfume back on my dresser.
Getting it back had been easy.
Learning to trust that Jordan would stand beside me, even when I wasn’t in the room, would take longer.
Enjoyed the read? Here is another story you will love: I thought replacing Grandma’s stolen pumpkins would be easy. The harder part was making sure the four teenagers who took them understood what they’d destroyed.
