“Or you could stay,” she says quietly.
“You know I can’t, Mom,” I sigh. “I have a job to get back to, and I’m doing really well in Asheville. I have friends and I’m starting school in the fall.”
“Why can’t you have all that here?”
“Because all the “friends” I had here were horrible to me. It’s a fresh start for me there, and I’ve gotten really close with some of the girls.”
“Okay,” she relents. “I’ll stop bugging you about staying. But you don’t have to pack upeverythingwhile you’re here. It’s not like you’re never coming back.”
She has a point. “I’ll get through what I can, and at least get everything put up where it goes until I can come get more.”
Nodding, she stands, and starts for the sink to wash dishes. Knocking, and Tonya’s voice, stop her in her tracks. “Is that your cousin?”
I jump up, and race for the door, fork still in my hand. Throwing the door open, I see Tonya smiling broadly at me. Reaf is right next to her, and behind them is Randall. What the hell is he doing here? With them?
“I brought you a present, prima,” she glances back at Randall. “And an extra car.”
“How do you know if I need a car or not?” If she’s going to be a Mrs. Know It All, I’m not going to let her in. Not yet, at least.
“Well, do you?” She raises one eyebrow. She must be practicing that in the mirror because she’s never been able to do it before.
“Yes,” I groan. “I need another car. You were right.”
“I knew it,” she shrieks. “One day you’ll listen to me.”
“I seriously doubt that,” I mutter under my breath. “Come in. Y’all must be dying out there in this heat.”
“We,” she points between Reaf and herself, “are going to start loading up boxes. You,” she puts her finger in my face. “You going to take your happy little butt out there and talk to him.”
I don’t need her to point out who she’s talking about. It’s apparent by the terrified look he has on his face. “Fine. The boxes that are going with me are stacked against the wall.”
“Yes, ma’am. We’ll get those loaded in both of our cars.” She grabs Reaf by the hand and pulls him inside.
However, I’m left standing at the door, looking anywhere but athim. “Why are you here?”
“To apologize,” he takes a step closer. “I also brought you these.”
He whips out a bouquet of daisies from behind his back. They are fresh so they must have stopped somewhere in town. “Thank you,” I whisper. “And you don’t need to apologize, I know where you stand when it comes to us. You made it perfectly clear at the party.”
“If I did that,” he laughs, “would I have come all this way to talk to you?” He doesn’t give me a chance to answer his question. He barrels ahead, “No, I wouldn’t. They are here because of me. My car wouldn’t make the drive, and Tonya offered to drive with me in her car.”
Well if that isn’t a complete one eighty, I don’t know what is. When I first got involved with Randall, she warned me away from him. Now she’s helping him? Traitor. “Come in, we can talk in the living room.”
“Thanks.” He steps around me, but close enough that his arm brushes mine and tingles replace the area he just touched.
Motioning for him to follow me into the living room, I take a deep breath. Maybe I was wrong. It’s happened before, except this may be a good kind of wrong. Even though I’ve been angry with him, I’ve also missed him. Missed our daily texts and phone calls. Being wrapped up in his arms. Every single thing we did together has been on a constant loop in my mind.
He doesn’t take a seat when we walk into the living room. He turns abruptly, and takes my hands in his own. “I’m so sorry. I was a moron for not speaking up when I had the chance. I love you, and I have for a while now. I was just too afraid to tell you in case you left. I let all the crap my dad said get to me. Please give me another chance to prove to you how great we are together.”
Pulling away from him, I take a seat on the sofa. “And what about when he says it again, or pulls some drunken stunt? Are you going to let that get to your head, too?”
“He’s not my problem anymore. I moved out.”
“You, you did?” That must have been a huge step for him, leaving his dad, and dealing with his guilt.
“Yeah,” he nods. “I couldn’t justify staying there. Or being the parent any longer. Not when it cost me the most amazing person I know. I refuse to let it happen again.”
I want nothing more than to be with Randall. He makes me want to do so much more with my life. After seeing everything he’s had to handle since he was little, it gave me the courage to do what makes me happy. He’s the only person, save Tonya, that I feel comfortable being myself around. Fear of being hurt again winds its way through my veins.