Page 78 of Robbin’ the Rich

I ran my hand through my hair before taking a drink of water. This is not how I saw this conversation going.

"What? You both keep acting like if nobody says the word, all the harm that place did disappears."

"It doesn't disappear," Mom said patiently.

"Then let's talk about it. What is this new and improved church doing to help heal some of the damage they caused?"

The patience on her face deepened into the expression mothers develop when they're trying very hard not to strangle their adult children. "I know you're upset."

"I'm not upset."

Mom raised an eyebrow. "You're right. Furious. My mistake."

I gave a small shrug of agreement.

"Robin, we've had this conversation."

"No, you've had this conversation. I mostly yell."

"Also true," Dad said with his mouth twitching into a small smile.

Mom did not smile. "I know what happened to Lila was terrible."

The words irritated me. My parents weren't bad people. They weren't hateful or cruel. They were actually pretty great, but that's what made this so frustrating.

"Then why are you going there?"

Mom exchanged a glance with Dad. It was one of those looks married people share that contained an entire conversation I wasn't invited to.

Finally she sighed. "Because I need something for myself. Can you please try to understand that? It is not how it used to be."

I scoffed… out loud. It wasn't my most mature moment.

"You mean because they added a coffee bar?"

Mom's lips twitched despite herself. "Robin."

"What? Did they add fairy lights too?"

"They did, actually," Dad said, not taking this seriously.

I dropped my fork. Mom tried to maintain her serious expression for approximately three seconds before giving up entirely.

"That's not the point," Mom said.

"It kind of is," I responded back.

"No."

"Mom."

"Robin."

I groaned and leaned back in my chair.

The thing was, they genuinely believed what they were saying. They weren't trying to dismiss what had happened to Lila. They weren't pretending the church hadn't caused harm. They simply believed it had changed enough to deserve another chance.

I didn't.