Page 149 of Nobody's Girl

“Then why are you doing this?” her mother mumbled as her face was buried in the mattress.

“Because we’ve all found love, Mom. Why else?” Kel kissed her mother on top of the head. “I’ve never felt happier. Doesn’t that count for something?”

She rolled over to face her daughter as she asked, “Don’t you recall what happened the last time you put your faith in a man, Kel? It ended with devastation. Live at home, let the man get himself a place, and you two can date and see what happens. What will people say to two of my daughters living in sin? One here and one so far away?”

“I waited before, and I lost my man, Mom. I don’t want to lose Ethan, and I don’t want to wait to start our life together,” Kel told her.

“Then tell him to marry you,” her mother snapped. “Let him know that you’re not a piece of trash. Make him marry you if he wants the goods. Why buy the cow …”

“When you can get the milk for free,” Kel finished the term her mother used often. “You see, Mom, times have changed. I don’t want to make Ethan marry me. If we decide to marry down the road, then that’s our decision to make. I don’t want to marry a man just because you think society dictates that.”

“So I am to hang my head in shame when I see anyone?” her mother asked. “Is that what you want me to do?”

“I can’t not live my life the way I want to just so you feel like you can hold your head up. That’s your thing to work out, not ours. Not many see living together as shameful anymore, Mom. For a lot of years now, it’s been considered something that was okay to do. Even smart, for some couples.”

Her mother sat up, suddenly and took both of her hands. “Promise me that you’ll get married before you have children. I think I can accept this if you promise me that!”

Kel stood there staring at her mother. And it hit her just how much she and her sisters had done as their mother had said to. All three of them had wanted to live in the dorms when they started college. All were told they couldn’t. It was dangerous.

Kel recalled a time when Cait had wanted to take a job close to her college in an upscale restaurant that used cutting-edge equipment and products to make their meals. Being as that was Cait’s passion, she had wanted to get some insight into what people would eat and not eat. But she was told that would take away from their restaurant, and it would be selfish to do such a thing.

So Kel looked into her mother’s eyes and, for the first time ever, she let her know she was done following her orders as she said, “Mom, I love you. I really do. And I know you mean the best for us with the things you say and want from us. But we’re not without brains. We’re not without morals. And we are not going to be told what to do with our lives any longer.”

“So you won’t promise me this one thing?” her mother whined. “One little thing! Get married before you have kids!” Her voice grew louder. “One little thing!”

Kel wasn’t going to be bullied into another thing by her mother. “I will not make you a promise that I don’t intend to keep. I have no idea how things will work between Ethan and I. I can promise you that we will make the best decisions we know how to. Now, can we put this drama to rest and go eat dinner as a family? Or will you pout in your room like a spoiled child?”

“I am no spoiled child!” her mother said as she found herself incensed.

“Then prove it,” Kel said as she stepped back and began walking to the door. “Tell your daughters that you’re proud of them and that they’re still your children, no matter what. And try telling our men thank you for all they’re doing for you and Dad. I’ll see you at the table if you decide to take hold of your temper.” Kel left the room and her mother staring after her.

Chapter 41

Jess and Cait had set the table and placed the steaming pot roast and potatoes in the middle. Kel grabbed a bottle of wine off the counter as she came through the kitchen, noticing her father had changed into pants and a button-down. “I see you decided to get dressed, Dad.” She filled a glass with red wine and handed it to him. “This isn’t a bad thing, you know.”

He nodded and took the glass from her hand. “I do. But your mother will be …”

“What will I be?” Mrs. Flannigan asked as she came into the room. Her head was held high and her shoulders were squared.

“Um, nothing, my sweet,” he cleverly remarked. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, I am. Much better.” She held out her arms to her oldest child. Kel moved into them, giving her mother a hug. “Thanks to a little lecture from my oldest and most respected child, I am doing much better.” She let Kel go, but held her hand. “You’re right about me acting like a spoiled brat. I suppose I thought I’d get to keep you all here with me forever. That was a foolish thought. And most of you will be around town. I should be thankful.”

“And you can go up to see, Jess,” Kel told her. “It’ll be like a vacation.”

Her mother huffed as she tried hard to accept the fact that her baby girl would be leaving them for extended periods of time to live in the wilderness. That’s how she thought of Montana: wild territory with wolves and bears, and she had no idea why anyone would even want to live there.

But she was trying hard to put that out of her mind. She took her husband’s hand and whispered as they followed Kel into the dining room, “Soon it’ll just be us. Our son will be grown up and gone before we know it.”

“That’s a little scary, huh?” he asked, then reached around to pinch her on the bottom.

She yelped and smacked him on his arm as she blushed and thought that being alone with her husband after all those years might not be so bad after all.

Mrs. Flannigan ran her hand over each man’s back as she walked around the round table. “I’m sorry for my outburst. The news took me by surprise. That said,” she said as she took the seat her husband had pulled out for her, “I expect you three to do right by my girls. They’re good girls, with level heads, and all three of them are smarter than your average woman.”

Griff gave Jess’s hand a squeeze as he whispered, “That you are.”