“No, Thomas. Not this girl. She wasn’t the one. You’d know it if she was. When you find the girl that grabs ahold of your heart and holds on so tight that it makes you feel weak yet stronger at the same time … a girl that captivates your every thought, your heart and your soul, to the point that you feel like you can’t breathe without her … when you actually ache for this woman, then you are in love, Thomas. And when you find a love like that, you don’t walk away from it. You fight for it. No matter what it takes, you fight for that love and you hold on to it with everything you’ve got.”
I banged on Charlie’s door for the second time and shouted, “Let’s go! Move it or lose it. We’re gonna be late!”
“I know! I’m coming!” he grumbled.
I scurried down the hall while tugging my hair into a ponytail and called out to Hadley, “You’ve got three minutes, squirt! We need to get rolling.”
I looked over at the clock, and it seemed to be mocking me as I rushed around gathering the kids’ backpacks and lunches. No matter how hard I tried, our mornings were always hectic. Mainly because I was always anxious and pushed them to hurry up knowing that if we were late in the morning, even by just a few minutes, we would be scrambling for the rest of the day. It didn’t matter how hard I tried to get us caught back up; something always kept dragging us back down.
“Can’t we just take the bus today?” Hadley whined. “I’ve still got some math homework to finish.”
“You know the answer to that. Now, grab your stuff and let’s go. Louise will be leaving in five minutes.” I grabbed my purse and headed for the diner. Before I closed the door, I yelled, “I’ll meet you downstairs. I’ve got to go clock in!”
When I walked into the small diner, I wasn’t surprised to see that every seat had already been taken and there was a line out the door. The breakfast rush started early and didn’t let up until late in the afternoon. It had taken some time, but I was finally getting used to the nonstop stream of customers that came to eat at Daisy Mae’s. It was located in the middle of downtown Memphis and known for having the best lunches in town, so it was always packed. I was constantly on the move from the minute I clocked in until just before closing every night.
At first it was hard to manage all my hours at work. I needed the hours, so I managed to convince Louise to let me work more than one shift several days during the week, but that meant I had even less time with the kids. When they weren’t in school, they were either stuck waiting for me in the hotel room or sitting in one of the back booths doing their homework. They were miserable, and honestly, I was worse off than they were. I hated not being with them, especially after all we’d been through, but I finally lucked out when the cook Cyrus told me about an apartment above the diner that was for rent. Apparently, he was friends with the owner, and after putting a good word in for me, he was able to get me a good deal on it. When I first saw it, I was surprised by how small it was, but I couldn’t complain; it was something I could actually afford, and it was even furnished. Well, partly furnished. After paying the first two month’s rent upfront, we were still doing okay, so I splurged a bit and bought the kids some new mattresses and some bedding, along with a few odds and ends to make it feel more like home.
I was adjusting my apron when Cyrus stuck his head out of the small serving window and shouted, “Louise is waiting in the car out back.”
“Shit,” I mumbled under my breath.
Louise took her grandkids to school each morning and I was thrilled the day she’d actually volunteered to take Charlie and Hadley along with them. There was just one catch: she wasn’t one to wait around. If we were late, the kids would miss their safest way to school. She had her positives, but overall, she was a real piece of work. I wasn’t sure