I turned around and walked in the opposite direction from where Raven had parked. I felt like a ticking time bomb and didn’t know where this person inside came from. She was no longer rational, no longer understanding, she was just angry and bitter. I ignored my name being called out and I continued to walk before I began to jog. I needed to get as far away from it all as possible.
***
Where are you?
Call me now, I’m worried.
Answer your phone!
Those were just a few of the unanswered messages that had come through my phone. Raven, April, and even Rhett. I sat in a booth in the back of a small diner I’d been to a few times with friends. A nice, middle-aged woman had checked on me more times than I could count, refilling my Coke and offering to get me something to eat. But the idea of eating anything made me feel nauseated.
Each time my phone vibrated it only inflicted even more confusion within me. I wanted to let it go, I wanted to forget about the feelings I felt, but I just couldn’t.
“AJ?” I looked up to find Kori, Rhett’s mother, staring down at me with concern in her eyes. “Sweetheart, are you okay?”
I realized I must’ve looked a mess. Halfway through my walk to the diner, it had begun to rain, and my once styled hair lay loose and stringy around my face.
“I’m okay.” I tried to appear convincing, but much like her son, she saw right through me.
Kori slid into the booth opposite me and rested her elbows on the table. “I’ve seen okay, and I’ve seen troubled, so why don’t we try this again?” She stared back at me, giving off that motherly vibe I’d missed from my own mother. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
Before I knew what I was doing, I was telling Rhett’s mother everything. I was talking about the fighting my parents used to do, all hours of the day and the night. I told her about the divorce and how she disappeared. I then moved into all the years without my mother being around and how I missed her. I told her of all the times I wished for her to be here so that I could talk to her and seek her guidance.
I cried through it all as I told her how my mom was now back, yet I couldn’t find the strength I needed to forgive her. I fell apart in front of Rhett’s mother, and no matter how hard I tried to hold myself together, it was impossible. She held my hand and offered me something my own mom couldn’t.
“You are a beautiful, bright, and kind woman, AJ.” She placed her hands over mine and gave me a reassuring squeeze. “I’m not defending her actions, or chastising you for yours, but just for a moment let’s understand that we all make wrong choices. Sometimes we can recover quickly, but other times those decisions spiral out of control in the blink of an eye, and we become lost. I’d like to believe that maybe that’s what happened with your mother, she just got lost. I’m not saying forget about everything that took place and move on, but give yourself time to heal. Give the both of you time to learn how to start over. Maybe one day, you can have that relationship again that you once had. Because I can see that you still love her, and after what she’s done, it did take an extreme amount of courage for her to come back and face everything she did wrong.”
“Thanks for listening.” I felt better, not great, but better.
“You’re very welcome.” Kori smiled back at me as she reached for her purse and began to slide from the booth.
“Can I ask a favor?” I had a newfound respect for this woman who took the time to console me when she honestly didn’t have to.
“Anything.”
“Can you give me a ride back to your house? Rhett’s been messaging me, and I think I’ve made him worry about me.” I suddenly felt horrible for that fact.
“He worries because he loves you.” I looked at her, surprised by her words. “Believe me, a mother knows when her son is head over heels, and I’ll tell you right now, he adores you.” My heart felt like it literally skipped a beat or two. “Let’s go ease his mind.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rhett
“Still no answer?” I looked up just as the man I’d always looked up to, stepped out of the door and onto the porch. He held out a beer toward me and I took it willingly.
“No,” I said, placing my phone onto the table beside me and twisting the cap off the bottle. “I talked to her sister, and she hasn’t heard from her either.”
Just then, the sound of tires popping against the gravel drive caught our attention. We both looked up to see my mother’s Tahoe coming up the lane. The sun was starting to set, which cast a glow across the windshield as it approached.
I knew my mother would do her best to offer some comfort, but honestly, the only thing that would soothe me would be AJ herself. I wanted to know she was okay; I needed to hear her voice or see her sweet face.
“Well, would you like at that,” my dad said in a low murmur, and again I found myself looking in the direction of the driveway. Immediately my ass was up off my chair and I was moving toward the one person I needed
