Anything but Minor - Kate Stewart Page 0,63
suitcase before I looked back at her to give her a sly grin. “And every chance I get; I praise Rafe Hembrey’s penis!”
“ALICE BOYD!”
“I’m living!” I yelled as I snapped my suitcase shut. “And it’s wonderful. You hide behind this demeanor of yours but you can’t stand some of your friends. I can see it sometimes. And do you know why you can’t stand them? It’s because they’re totally boring!”
“Maybe you should go. I did not raise you to speak to me or act like this.”
“No, you raised me to believe that fun was a sin, and I’m calling bullshit!”
The air thick with tension, she watched me closely. I shrugged my shoulders and held her gaze. When silence lingered, I decided to make my exit. I wanted to be back in Charleston with my movies and my misery. At least life there had seemed promising at one point.
“Wait,” she said under her breath as I passed her in the doorway. Ignoring her, I made my way toward the stairs. I was losing it.
“Alice, wait!”
I stepped into the foyer and shouldered my purse.
“You’re right.”
Those two words stopped me. “What?” I looked over to see her at the foot of the stairs.
“You’re right. I was too strict. I’ve been dealing with that guilt for some time now, and I know that’s why you don’t visit often. I’m sorry, Alice.”
“Not good enough,” I huffed as I looked at her in accusation.
“You’re all I have.”
“That’s not my fault. There’s a whole world out there, Mother. Go enjoy it.”
“It’s too late,” she said as she took a step forward, reaching out to touch the lining of my suitcase. “But I’m glad you’ve found your fun.”
“I want to have fun with you, Mother. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. It’s not too late for you to do anything...everything.”
“You’re so full of life, like your father.” I froze as she spoke of him.
“I don’t want to know anything about him. I want to know you. His absence didn’t bother me, but yours did.”
I saw a tear fall down her face, followed by another as I went on. “I remember the way you smiled and laughed at him and that’s all. I know he was the one who took it away when he left. I have no desire to know him. But that was twenty years ago. You have got to let go and try life again. And I can’t be scared—”
Realization hit me like a ton of bricks. “Oh, crap.” Right before Rafe had become distant, he’d seemed to want reassurance from me. He’d fought hard for my attention, for me, and I’d all but told him I didn’t believe in his feelings for me with that statement about another man touching me. He wanted to know if it was safe to trust me, and I’d been ambiguous about the whole thing...because I was scared.
My mother cried silently as I put my suitcase down. We’d never really done the hug thing, and it was one of the reasons I was not good at the woman thing, but I pulled her to me, anyway. “I totally get it now. I’m in love with Rafe, and if he hurt me like Dad hurt you, I know it would change me. But enough is enough, Mom.”
She held me to her as she cried.
“You can’t possibly still be in love with him after all this time.”
“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” She pulled away, her brown eyes the color of mine. Her frailty in that moment silenced me. I’d never seen her so vulnerable.
“Well, it’s time to get back on the horse,” I ordered. “Now,” I said as I pulled my suitcase back into the living room and unlocked it. I pulled a sundress out that would fit her perfectly and thrust it toward her. “Get dressed. We’re going to do this together.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“No one changes overnight, but one night can change everything. We’re about twenty years overdue for a night of fun.”
“Oookay,” she said with a hopeful lift.
“And, Mom?”
“Yes,” she said as she eyed the dress with a small amount of fear.
“No spandex.”
“So you’re in love?” she whispered as she eyed me, curious.
“Totally, and he’s unworthy at the moment. One issue at a time, and tonight is about me and you.”
Two hours later, the nerdy girl and her warden mother drank copious amounts of alcohol and danced like no one was watching. My mother looked like a beautiful corpse on the dance floor. She had years of pent up stiffness