Page 88 of After Care

Ivy exhaled a quiet, “Thank God,” before adding, “You know I don’t believe what Gage said. I don’t think you’re trying to replace my mother.”

“I know,” I replied, a weak smile on my lips. I believed Ivy, and a moment of silence passed as we both thought of her mother’s plight.

“It’s a risk, Edie. The move and everything. I explained all this to Tommy. You would be giving up way more than you were getting from this arrangement, and I was the selfish one to ask.” She paused to add, “We’d find you the best doctor out here, by the way.”

“Aw, honey, you should have been a lawyer. You’re setting up a good argument, but I’m still going to decline. I can’t explain it, but I don’t think I can be around your family knowing how they feel about me.”

“Tommy loves you, Edie. I know this for a fact. He still loves you, he’s just…he’s just Tommy.”

Despite a failed marriage, I knew enough about love to know this was not it. Distrust on this level, the lack of defense from me, this wasn’t love. But my heart lied to me, reminding me I still loved him.

+ + +

“Mom?” I didn’t have time to ponder my lacking love life in great depth as Masie called my name. It was prom night, and my daughter was attending alone. To my surprise, she wasn’t asked, but she didn’t want to miss this tradition. She was actually relieved not to have the pressure of attending with someone on a friends-only basis.

“I don’t want it to be weird,” she’d said, insinuating that even a male friend might have expectations for prom night hook-ups, another rite of passage for some. I shuddered at the thought of my baby girl giving herself to someone only because of a date for a high school dance.

As I entered her room, I stared at my beautiful daughter on the verge of womanhood. In every way, her body was already there, but my heart couldn’t reconcile that my little girl was nearly an adult. Through my cancer diagnosis, chemotherapy treatments, and doctor appointments, she’d grown up, but then again, she’d always been on the responsible side.

Her hands smoothed down her yellow dress, which wasn’t a color I would have guessed her selecting, and yet, she looked like a modern-day Belle from Beauty and the Beast in the slim-fit dress, with her acorn-colored hair piled on her head. A sixty-second thought included if only she had a date to share the festivities, but then pride filled me in her decision to brave the ritual alone. She’d be surrounded by people who adored her, even if one in particular wasn’t her companion for the evening. She had a strong head on her shoulders, despite occasional shenanigans like getting drunk on New Year’s Eve. She was a confident girl blossoming into a driven woman. She knew what she wanted, and she planned to go for it.

As she spun to examine the back of the dress in her full-length mirror, I couldn’t remember ever being that confident, that headstrong, that ready to take on the world, but if I ever was…one day I suddenly wasn’t. I don’t know when it happened, when I decided to take life so seriously, became too safe. Possibly it was the responsibility I received in having children. Maybe it was the commitment to my lackluster marriage. It had never been my job. A job was financial security, but for me, it wasn’t personal fulfillment. It was simply something I did. The thought brought me full circle to Ivy’s offer. Working with her would include doing something—something for a greater good—and that might make all the difference for me.

The doorbell rang and Masie looked up at me. “Did Caleb change his mind?”

We both knew Masie wanted him to see her off tonight, but it just wasn’t possible, as baseball season had officially opened. David was scheduled to arrive an hour ago, and Masie had given up hope. The calling of my name initially meant she was ready to head to Daphne’s for pictures. I swear, prom photography was worse than wedding photos.

Descending the stairs before Masie, the doorbell rang again. It couldn’t be Caleb, unless he’d forgotten his key. A dark head of hair was the only outline I could make out through the opaque glass of the front door. Opening it, my eyes widened and my mouth hung, his name about to fly out when a finger slipped over his lips to silence me. I stepped back to allow him entrance as the click of Masie’s heels on the hardwood staircase warned us of her descent.

“Quick,” I whisper-hushed. “In here,” I offered, motioning toward the living room to the left of the staircase. He’d be momentarily hidden until Masie reached the bottom step.

“Who was it?” she asked, patting at her head, tucking a wayward curl behind her ear and then returning it to hang by her cheek. The smile on my face couldn’t be contained, and I motioned with my eyes toward the living room.

“Wh…” Masie froze, staring at the handsome young man dressed in a classic cut black tuxedo that made him look older than his years.

“Masie.” His voice sounded rough, and he cleared it with a fist to his lips before speaking again. “Masie, I wondered if you’d go to prom with me?”

She hadn’t replied, but the quiver of her lip worried me. “Don’t cry, baby, answer him,” I said, feeling guilty at witnessing his proposal, yet I couldn’t pull myself away. This was a grand gesture. My eyes drifted to the open door, desperately hopeless in my search for another presence, someone to witness this. A royal blue Mustang was the only thing parked before our town home.

“I’d love to go to prom with you,” Masie said, swiping at a tear threatening to trail down her cheek. Stepping forward, he presented Masie with a wrist corsage of yellow roses, and she looked up at him in additional surprise. “I don’t have anything for you.”

“I only want you to be my date, Masie. That’s all I need.” My heart clenched at his declaration.

“I’ll get my camera,” I lied, slipping into the dining room, hidden from their view, allowing them a moment alone. Their conversation continued.

“I can’t believe you’re here.” Masie paused. “What are you doing here?”

“I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t know if I could pull it off until the last minute, or I would have warned you.”

“I’d never need a warning to see you.”

“I was worried someone else might ask you last minute.” His voice lowered and the dress sole on hardwood told me he stepped forward.

“No one else asked me,” Masie murmured. The snap of plastic signaled the opening of the corsage from its container. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”

“I didn’t want you to go alone. I hope you don’t mind me crashing?”

“You can crash me anytime you want, West,” my daughter replied, and my hand covered my heart. Weston Reid crushed it in the romance department.