Kristina Knight - Breakup In A Small Town

“No, Owen, don’t tell her where I went. It’s just an errand that I couldn’t put off.” Nancy Buchanan’s voice went quiet, and Adam wheeled himself from the laundry room into the hallway leading to the kitchen.

He waved, but Nancy motioned for him to keep quiet while she spoke to his father on the phone. He felt like he was back in elementary school, with his mom shooing at him like this.

Maybe he wasn’t far off. How many twenty-eight-year-old men didn’t know how to do a load of laundry without ruining all the whites?

His mother began speaking again. “I’ll be back before Jenny has to leave to get the kids. Until then, you keep her busy. And don’t let her come home early.” Nancy snapped her phone closed—she refused to get a new smartphone, instead choosing to use the older flip model he and Jenny had bought her several Christmases ago. “Hey, honey.” She ran a smooth hand over his face, the way she’d done countless times in his life. “How are you today?”

Adam didn’t answer, just rolled the chair into the laundry room. Nancy followed, chattering on about the meeting at work. She didn’t ask about the doctor appointment, so he assumed Jenny had told her there was no real change to his condition. Before he could explain what he’d done, Nancy picked the pink-streaked clothing from the hamper and clucked her tongue. She muttered something about separating whites and colors.

“This would have been a lot simpler if you hadn’t already dried the clothes. Didn’t you notice the bleeds when you transferred everything to the dryer?”

Adam started to answer, but Nancy just kept talking. “It’s not impossible like this, though,” she said, holding the items up to the light. “I’ll need some distilled vinegar and more detergent.”

Adam had no idea if Jenny kept vinegar in the laundry, but dutifully began looking in the cabinets.

“It’ll be in the kitchen, probably,” his mother said, but before Adam could wheel past her, she was out in the hall and headed there. She returned a few minutes later with a bottle of something that smelled awful and a measuring cup.

Nancy fiddled with the machine, put the vinegar into the bin along with more detergent, and then tossed the pink-streaked clothing in, too. She waved a box at him, and then tossed what looked like a dryer sheet in with the wash. “Next time, whether you think the colors are going to bleed or not, stick one of these sheets in. It will capture the running colors before they stain the clothes.” She looked at him expectantly.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“It’s nothing, honey. I can’t believe Jenny left you with the housework. Did you already fold?”

Adam nodded, and she continued talking. “Then we’ll have a little snack while we wait for this load to finish up. Is that the only hamper you have? Your laundry would be much more organized if you had separate bins for colors and whites, towels, and jeans. You’d have fewer snafus like this one.” She started down the hallway, and Adam followed.

“It isn’t like Jen asked me to paint the house. Laundry is low impact, as far as housework goes.”

In the kitchen, Nancy pulled glasses from the cabinet and poured them each a glass of tea. “Yes, but you need your rest. After all that’s happened, surely she understands that. How about a sandwich?” The same lunch she’d made him all through school.

Adam wasn’t hungry, but when Nancy was in mothering mode, there was no stopping her, so he just sat at the table and sipped the tea while she made a bologna sandwich. She brought it to the table, along with a bag of chips.

“About the laundry room situation. I can have the boys at Buchanan’s fix up a temporary system, and I’ll order something more permanent when I get home this evening.” She eyed Adam until he took a bite of the sandwich. It had tomatoes. He hated tomatoes, but he ate, anyway. “Or I could have our cleaning lady come in once a week and do it for you.”

“Jenny doesn’t like the idea of hiring help, but thanks. And we really don’t need someone to do the laundry.”

“Because she’s going to keep putting that off on you, no doubt.”

“It isn’t like that, Mom.” Adam pushed away the food.

Nancy rolled her eyes. “You know, we should get a contractor in here to take care of that step into the family room.”

“Mom—”

“And I know you use the back door most of the time, but there really should be a ramp for the front, too.”

Adam clenched his jaw. He didn’t need a damned handicapped ramp in his front yard. “Mom—”

Nancy kept chattering on. “And you and Jenny should really think about turning the guest room into a main floor master suite. You could take some space from that hall closet you don’t use—”

“Mother.” Adam raised his voice and Nancy turned to him, eyes rounded in shock.

“You don’t have to yell. I’m right here beside you.”

“I don’t want the guys at work to rig some kind of hamper system.” Calling his mother had been a mistake. Just like staying here when he wasn’t a whole man was a mistake. Just one more mistake added to the long list of mistakes he’d made since the tornado. “And I don’t want a maid in my house every day or once a week or once a year. And I don’t need a goddamned wheelchair ramp at the front door or to turn the guest room into a suite.” He gentled his voice. “Thank you for the help with the laundry, but I don’t need—”

“Adam, of course you need. Anyone in your circumstances would need, and your wife should be providing for those needs.” His mom squeezed his hand, and he knew it was supposed to be comforting, but only made him feel worse.

“No, that isn’t her job. Jenny is doing enough.” It was he who wasn’t doing what needed doing. While he was sitting here in this chair, she was out there. Doing her job and his, caring for the kids. Caring for him. She was the one who needed, and the first time she expressed that, what had he done? Run to his mother. Just like he’d been running from any kind of responsibility since the tornado. God, he was a jerk. Jenny deserved better than him. So did the kids.

“Go back to work, Mom, and thanks for coming by.” He wheeled himself into the hall, and for the first time that he could remember, Nancy followed him. She watched him closely for a long moment.

“It isn’t a crime to need other people, Adam.”

He knew that. A little piece of him did, anyway. The crime was in pushing against the people who wanted to help him. He’d been pushing Jenny and the kids and his parents away for the past three months. “I know. The crime is in punishing them when they try to help.”

Nancy stood at the back door for a long moment, just watching him. “Adam,” she began, but he shook his head. He didn’t need mothering, not right now. What he needed was to either walk away, the way he’d been telling himself to do ever since the hospital released him, or show Jenny and the kids that he appreciated them.

Unfortunately, he had no idea how to start on either option.

* * *

JENNY QUIETLY CLOSED the door to the boys’ room as the last rays of sunlight were sinking into the horizon. It wasn’t quite eight o’clock, but the kids were still getting used to the school schedule, and both had nearly fallen asleep over their spaghetti at dinner.

“Momma?”

She barely heard Frankie’s whispered word through the closed door. Jenny pushed it open and poked her head around the corner. “Yeah, baby?”

“I’m glad you picked us up today. I don’t like the bus.”

“I know, Frankie.”

“And Garrett really doesn’t like the bus.”

“You were both very clear on that the other day.” She slipped inside, ran a hand over Garrett’s baby-fine hair. Her younger son was out cold. She sat on the edge of Frankie’s bed. “I won’t always be able to pick you up, though. You know that.”