Anything but Minor - Kate Stewart Page 0,62

and his sudden withdrawal and thought better of it. Speculating about it would get me nowhere. I closed my eyes and thought of his smile, his powerful kiss, and about the time we spent together. I’d finally found my Jake Ryan, and suddenly all that mattered was the distance he’d put between us. In the two days I’d been back in Ohio, he’d only texted me once to make sure I arrived home safely. My mind refused to shrug it off as anything but a dismissal.

I was only a few months into my first adult relationship, and I’d blown it somehow. A piercing pain spread through my chest as I thought about what I could have possibly done.

“Alice, I called for you,” my mother scorned from my door.

“I’m not hungry, Mother. I’m sorry if you went to any trouble.”

“Did you come here to mope? You haven’t been pleasant a minute since you arrived.”

I blew out a breath of frustration. “Yeah, I haven’t,” I said through gritted teeth. “How inconsiderate of me.”

“What’s with the tone?” she said, taking a commanding step into the room.

“Oh, I don’t know, Mother. Maybe I hoped for a little different reception, myself,” I snapped as I grabbed my suitcase and began packing. “Like, I don’t know, Alice, you seem upset. What’s wrong, honey? But I guess that’s too much to ask.”

“You don’t speak to me like this,” she warned.

“No, I don’t out of respect. I respect you, but I can’t honestly say at the point I know how to do much else.”

“What in the world are you talking about?” she said as she adjusted a framed picture on the wall that could never have been crooked. My mother’s ship was leak proof.

“You!” I confronted. “And the way you act as if we’re in some partnership to get through our time together. As if I’m not your daughter but some sort of...obligation.”

“Alice, what has gotten into you?”

“I’m in love with a man! That tends to drive normal women crazy.”

My mother stood deathly still. “Your virtue—”

“Got taken away years ago, and don’t play so innocent. I found your vibrator when I was sixteen.” I lifted a brow. “Really went all out with those extra lithium batteries, didn’t you?”

My mother’s jaw dropped. Years of pent up frustration of a relationship we didn’t have leaked out in anger as I stared at her.

“You’re a woman whose husband left you. It happens to women daily. Please tell me why you decided to nun up and make my life miserable.”

My mother took a step back as she shook from head to toe, her hand on her heart. For a brief moment, I knew I was going too far, but couldn’t help my outburst.

“I chose to dedicate my life to God and live as sin free as possible. That happens every day, as well.”

“By taking all of the fun out of your life and mine? And you aren’t dedicated, you’re hiding behind him. I’m pretty sure the God I pray to doesn’t think smiles and good humor are an abomination. I’m pretty sure he made the stars in the sky for you to admire, not hide your face behind a book—his book of rules.”

“Alice!”

“It’s been twenty-five years but allow me to introduce myself. I’ve never been the prim and proper, normal girl you’ve so desperately tried to turn me in to. Grade school really sucked for me, like it does most nerdy girls, and high school was equally a nightmare. I didn’t change to please anyone except you.” I shook my head as I confronted her. “Not that you would notice because you were too busy pointing out all the crap I wasn’t doing. College sucked as well, Mom.” My voice shook with defeat. “I felt guilty for every smile, every sinful thought, every chance I didn’t have the courage to take. I was stunted because I let you cripple me into thinking I wouldn’t be the woman you raised if I lived for even a second outside of character.” I shrugged. “But that’s just it. I was playing a role.” I pushed the rest of my fear aside as I gave her the truth. “That girl doesn’t exist. I’m loud, and opinionated to the point of being obnoxious. I take chances now and live like there’s no tomorrow. I drink beer and sometimes” —I widened my eyes— “I overindulge. I go to the beach and watch baseball games. I laugh often, I joke, and I smile.” I threw my clothes into my