The Heart Breaker Association

Chapter 37 - The Mother

“No,” I agreed with a defeated sigh. I knew it sounded too good to be true. “I understand.”

“He wouldn’t even explain why he needed the money so badly. His father strictly refused to simply give him so much without an explanation. He still refused to talk to us about everything. His father told him that he had to earn the money himself if he wanted it. My son, as you can imagine, was not pleased to hear this. You must understand that he was asking for an almost ridiculous amount and so urgently too. There was no way for him to earn it. My son even offered to work it off from his father if he would just give it to him in advance. Still, my husband refused. Preston left our home shortly after being refused.”

There was nothing for me to do other than to feel completely broken for Preston. It sounded like he wanted to pay off the debts that I owed. That’s what it sounded like. I didn’t want to keep my hopes up though.

“I hope you’re still talking to him.”

“Oh, of course.” Savannah gasped. “We are still his parents. We would never stop talking to him when he’s clearly distressed.”

I raised my eyebrows in wonder. It must have been nice to have parents like that.

Savannah continued on, “We didn’t see him for the rest of that day, but he came home the next day and tried to ask again.”

“For the money?” I asked. The real question on my mind came out next. “Why did he need it so badly?”

“I’m not sure of his reason,” she replied. “But he didn’t ask for money the second time. He asked for us to buy him a bike.”

“A bike?”

“Apparently, he found a way to earn some of the money himself.”

She let that settle for a few minutes. Finally, it clicked.

“He sold his car?!”

Savannah nodded. “But he still wasn’t happy with the price he got. He admitted to his father that he would still need more.”

I bit my lip. “What did he do?”

Savannah shrugged this time. “I have no idea but somehow he made things work out. His father did dedicate a chunk to his cause. His father found him an old bicycle from our garage that he’s now using. He seems… happier almost but he’s still not the same as he once was. It was just before all the news came out that he would truly laugh and smile with all of us. Now, he’s happy but distracted.”

Most of her words hadn’t quite sunk in yet.

“What did he spend the money on?” I asked eagerly. It couldn’t possibly be what I wanted it to be. It couldn’t be. It wouldn’t be. There was no way.

Savannah grimaced. “He wouldn’t tell me. He kept it a secret with my husband. I didn’t force my son to tell me if he didn’t willing to on his own. I was just happy to see him smile again.”

I gave her a small smile at the mention of him being somewhat happy again.

“Thank you for telling me,” I whispered keeping my eyes down. What exactly was I supposed to do with this information now?

Savannah grinned. “I thought you would be interested to know.”

“Why?” I wondered before she could turn back and leave.

Savannah’s grin widened. “Because I like you,” she said simply. There was no reason for her to like me. I had made her son angry enough to punch his car and possibly stupid enough to sell it.

“You shouldn’t,” I replied.

“But I do,” she insisted. “You might be a bit misguided but you have a good heart. I can see that and I know others will too after all of this mess blows over. I’m not saying I support what your club did, but my son has changed and I firmly believe that it is for the better.”

I met her eyes and words suddenly spilled out of my mouth. “Tomorrow I have to give up my flower shop where everything happened.”

Preston’s mother raised her eyebrows in curious interest.

“I’ll be there all day,” I explained. “Cleaning up and sorting through all things before they come for the key in the afternoon.”

“That’s nice,” she enthused. “Why inform me of that?”

I shrugged unsure of what I was hoping to achieve from that. “I guess… it’s just in case anyone wants to stop by. You’ll know where I’ll be.”

Savannah nodded in understanding and smiled knowingly. “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.”

“Well,” I began. “I better get back to shopping.”

Preston’s mother agreed with a nod. “I hope to see you at more holiday dinners, Maggie.”

My smile dropped at her mention of my ‘cousin’. She waved politely and then went on her way. I stared after her completely baffled at had what just happened.

Preston had sold his car…

Could he really have been the anonymous person I owed everything to? All signs seemed to point to it. The real question on my mind was: why?

______________________________________________________

So of course it was Preston! We all knew that because we saw his point of view. I’m pretty sure Ollie knew that too! But Preston sold his car for her, how sweet is he?!

If you refer back to my Tuesday update, you’ll see I was choosing to upload over doing homework. I’m still doing that same homework but the good news is I just finished it. It was an eight page essay and it’s not due until like…nine hours from now. Yeah, life for a college kid.

Alright, so… only one actual chapter left! Preston will be back of course. It’s where everything comes together but then of course, we’ll have an epilogue. Tuesday will be our last actual chapter and Friday will be our last update together! I’m going to miss all of you so much! You’re all awesome fans! I’ll hug each and every one of you! Stop on by my dorm and we’ll just hug! Yep!

Haha! I’m just being crazy! Sorry guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Happy HBA Friday!

Preston’s mom is such a sweetie and her son isn’t half bad either! ;)

See you all Tuesday!

~GermanSam