“You astound me sometimes, Abby,” I said.
I felt her gaze flicker over at me and she held my profile in her eyes. She had moments that rubbed me the wrong way and emotions I still couldn’t understand. There were times when she swept me underneath her perfect storm and didn’t allow me to come up for air until I’d begged for mercy. But then there were moments like this. Moments when her clarity of mind and intelligence shone through. There were moments like this where I caught a glimpse of the ironclad woman inside that attempted to carry her broken world on her shoulders and still keep a smile on her face for the hopeful children at her feet.
Had I been an artistic person, I couldn’t have drawn a more adaptable woman.
“Well, I’m glad things are beginning to look up for you,” I said.
“I’ve got you to thank for that, despite this fun little reprise of our past,” Abby said.
“Oh, the trip hasn’t been that bad. We’re not dead,” I said.
“Not for lack of trying, however,” she said, grinning. “By the way, how’s your mother doing?”
“My mother?”
“Yeah. You know, the woman who brought you into the world. The woman who your father wronged. The woman who—”
“Sorry. It’s just that no one ever asks about my mother,” I said. “She’s doing well. Stays busy with her volunteer work and her at-home business.”
“Ah, so the business-building gene comes from her.”
“It does,” I said, smiling. “She’s a craftsperson. Makes a lot of things by hand.”
“Like what?”
“She crochets blankets and makes quilts. She woodworks a bit and builds things like small end tables and such. She’s wonderful at decorating and making centerpieces for things like children’s birthdays and weddings. She’s sort of a do-it-all woman in the crafts world. She has this great ability to write calligraphy, too.”
“That’s all the rage now with D.I.Y. businesses,” she said. “My mother falls all over that kind of stuff. She’s not a creative person at all.”
“Did she work, or was she a stay at home mom?” I asked.
“She worked on and off when she could. For a little bit there, she was a tax specialist.”
“Sounds absolutely horrendous.”
“It was the pits. Or at least I thought so. The idea of specializing in taxes makes me want to chug arsenic.”
“Mix it in with your coffee and it’ll go down smoother,” I said.
“Remind me never to piss you off.”
“You’ve done that many times. So, consider yourself safe.”
She giggled at me before she turned her head back out to the highway. We cruised for the majority of drive to Wichita in silence, but the conversation we did have was lighthearted and very much welcomed. I got to know a little more about her and how her mind worked. I got to delve a bit more into her parents and the type of people they were. I found that Abby got her lackluster morning attitude from her mother, and her holiday spirit from her father. I found that Abby got her love of media from her father as well, but she got her love of people from her mother. I learned she was an only child and that her mother wasn’t supposed to be able to have children, which just made her a bigger miracle in her parent’s eyes.
I could’ve driven us all the way to the tip of Mexico if it meant listening to her talk more about her life.
Ultimately, we pulled into Wichita two hours before the conference was supposed to start. Ted was probably frantic trying to find me, and I dreaded coming into contact with him. I looked over at Abby, who was now scrolling through her phone, and I took her in one last time before I asked the pertinent question.
“Which hotel are you staying at? I’ll drop you off.”
“Oh, that’s fine. Just drop me anywhere and I’ll catch a cab. The first conference isn’t for another two hours,” she said.
“Just let me take you there. It would make me feel better, especially after what I put you through yesterday.”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that sounded like an apology,” she said, smirking.
“Take it or leave it,” I said.
“Wow. So demanding,” she said, winking. “I’m actually in a really nice location. I’m at the Holiday Inn Express right across from the main conference building.”
“The one off Rightland Road?” I asked.
“That’s the one. You know it?”
“Know it? That’s where I'm staying as well.”
“Well,” she said breathlessly. “How convenient.”
Quickly driving to the hotel, I got us parked before we checked into our respective rooms. There was a big part of me that was disappointed that I wasn’t sharing a room with Abby. She was two floors below me in one of the individual hotel rooms while I was up near the top with a suite all to myself. I had half a mind to go down to the desk and upgrade her, but I didn’t know if the hotel had any rooms left to upgrade her to. I guessed I could’ve asked her to come stay in the suite with me, but I didn’t know how she would react to that.
I knew I needed to tell her how I felt. How she took up space in my mind and how my heart thundered in my ears whenever I was around her. That I craved her voice and longed to know even more about her. How I wanted to help her in any way possible because I wanted to see her succeed. I knew she deserved to know
