“I guess I did,” I admitted. “It was more fun than I thought.”
“Glad to hear it.” Jude reached over and gave me a quick hug. “I miss you around here! Now that you’ve come back, don’t be such a stranger.”
“Yeah, I don’t know.” I grimaced. “It was fine for this weekend, but I don’t expect to make a habit of coming here.”
“Well, you should.” Jude crossed her arms over her chest. “Matter of fact, I’m going to risk getting on your bad side again and say you shouldn’t leave today until you’ve driven over to Elson to see your mom.”
“Oh, Jude—” I began, but she quelled me with a look.
“Peyton, you don’t know how much time you have with her. If you don’t at least try to talk with your mother, you’ll regret it. I promise you.”
“Maybe the next time—” I stared to say, but again, Jude interrupted.
“No, there might not be a next time.” She stood up. “C’mon, cousin. I’ll go with you. I’ll drive you over to the assisted living facility, and I’ll stay while you talk.”
I rose to my feet, too, although considerably slower. “You mean, you’ll stay until she kicks me out?”
“She’s not going to do that, Peyton. She’s . . . she’s softened. She has regrets, too.”
I blinked rapidly, my head clouded as I tried to decide what to do.
“Just go see her. Five minutes,” coaxed Jude. “Then you can go, and I won’t bother you about it again.”
“All right,” I relented. “Five minutes. But I’m driving myself—I’ll follow you over there. I want to leave right from there.”
“Fine.” Jude hugged me. “You’re doing the right thing, Peyton. I’m proud of you.”
I tried to muster a smile as I followed her out the door, but I couldn’t make it happen.
And as for doing the right thing? Yeah, I wasn’t so sure about that, either.
Chapter Ten
After The Reunion
Nash:I know I said I’d be cool about the texting. I said I wouldn’t reach out until we’d both been home for a little while, to give us a chance to get settled. But here I am at the rest stop on the Florida-Georgia border, drinking my free OJ, and I already miss you so much that I just couldn’t wait.
Peyton:When did you say all that about being cool and not reaching out? I know *I* didn’t tell you to do that. Also, drink some OJ for me. I’m not going to stop there this time.
Nash:Oh, I made all those promises to myself, not to you. I don’t want to push you into anything before you’re ready, but also . . . in case you didn’t get the message this weekend . . . I’m ready. I’m waiting for you whenever you say the word.
Nash:Also, are you on the road yet? I guess you’re pretty far behind me. I hope you’re not texting while you’re driving. I’m using a voice-to-text app, which I should probably warn you can sometimes get things wrong, so please excuse any grammar or punctuation mistakes.
Peyton:I’m not driving yet actually. I’m sitting in a parking lot in Elson. Just getting ready to leave. The girls (Emmy, Sheri, Delilah and me) lingered over the breakfast buffet. I think we didn’t want to say goodbye again. Esp with Sheri.
Nash:Awww I’m sorry. Sending you hugs until I can give you one in person.
Peyton:Thanks. And just in case I wasn’t emotional enough by then, I stopped to say goodbye to my cousin Jude, and she convinced me to go see my mom at the nursing home. She went with me—I guess she visits pretty often—so I wasn’t alone, which was good since I totally expected my mother to refuse to see me or to kick me out.
Nash:Wait, you went to see your mom??? This is too important for text. I’m calling you now.
I hit the button on my steering wheel that initiated a phone call and waited through several moments of ringing before Peyton picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Yeah, it’s me. Is it okay to call you?”
I heard her chuckle on the other end. “Well, you’re doing it, so I guess it is.”
