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Chapter Sixteen
EMILY
Emily
It is just past midnight when I leave, my feet feeling so cold they could just as well be blocks of ice fit for an igloo.
What was I thinking?
Alissa is confused about Andrew, and I go to Michigan to clear things up and end up in his bed?
My mind and body relive those moments, and I ache for him. My eyes swell with tears, but I blink them away.
As I’m driving through dark roads, I can’t help but feel angry at myself.
My whole life all I wanted to hear Andrew asking me to be his girlfriend, and now that he has, I pull the runaway bride?
I am overcome with emotions right now, but my head ended up winning over my heart tonight.
I left for a reason, and that reason is 3’5”, weighs 38 pounds, has brown hair and blue eyes, and a love for hockey I just started to deem unhealthy for her own good.
My daughter always comes first, and a father whose life is on the road can’t do a child any good. I am terrified to disrupt her life and entrust Andrew to be there for her. What if he lets her down?
He seems like he means what he says, but how can I trust him?
When I arrive home, I don’t even dare open the garage door and wake up everybody, so I leave the car in the driveway and sneak inside like a thief in the night.
The living room is dark and empty, but as I walk further, I notice lights on in the kitchen. I pray that it’s empty and hope that someone forgot to turn them off.
No such luck.
Mom’s voice calls out, “Emily, is that you?” I clench my jaw, resisting the urge to unleash a string of curses.
“Hi, mom,” I respond in a loud whisper, heading to the kitchen to face her.
Six years ago on prom night, the exact same thing happened, and I told her I had sex with Andrew.
Will I tell her the truth again now?
“Where were you?” she asks when I face her, a glass of gin in her hand.
“Drinking on a Monday morning, huh?” I sit in a chair right beside her.
“I haven’t slept yet, so it’s still Sunday night,” she shrugs and takes a sip. “But tell me where you were. I’m curious.”
I smile. Mom doesn’t have a lot of friends, and she’s not really a gossiper, but she soaks up every piece of news I share with her and she’s usually pretty good about getting it out of me.
“I went after Andrew,” I admit, immediately piquing her interest further.
I sigh and sit down next to her. “Someone said something about her father at school when he was there and it confused Alissa, so I wanted to talk to him about it.”
“Did you tell him?” She places her free hand on top of mine.
“No, mom,” I say, sighing again. “I don’t think Andrew can handle the size of that news. He thinks he knows what he wants, but I am not ready to trust him with Alissa’s future.”
Mom slams her fist down on the counter, then chugs the rest of her drink in one gulp.
“You’ve handled it on your own for six years, dear. He needs to take responsibility for her too.”
