AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Because it felt too amazing to ignore.
And now they were back to not talking because a couple of women thought they were a couple?
Put yourself in his shoes and how it might look. Especially if you do leave in less than three weeks.
Anna Beth knew her inner voice had a point, but she didn’t have to like it.
A few minutes went by and Mitten’s hopped onto the bed, cuddling into the crook of her arm. Anna Beth turned onto her side and snuggled with the kitten, the steady rumble of her purrs soothing her heartache.
She heard the front door open and close. Footfalls on the stairs told her someone was coming and she wiped at her face. Two soft raps on her door.
“Come in.”
She didn’t sit up when her aunt poked her head in.
“Hi. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just tired.”
To her surprise, Sarah came into her room and sat on the end of her bed. She placed a hand on her leg and squeezed her calf. “If you need me, I’m here to listen.”
Although they’d made leaps and bounds in their relationship the last few days, Anna Beth didn’t know how to talk to her aunt about men.
“Thank you. I’m fine,” Anna Beth said.
“If you’re sure…”
Sarah stood up, preparing to leave and loneliness ripped through Anna Beth, causing her to blurt out, “Ernie seems nice.”
Her aunt paused at the door and turned, her lips turning up softly. “He is. I enjoy his company.”
“That’s important. How did it happen?”
Sarah came back to the bed and sat. “I guess two years ago at the Sweetie Pie Dance. It’s the first one I ever went to that I entered a pie into the auction. Ernie won my pie and my company for the night. We’d been acquaintances all our lives, but that night changed something. He asked if he could take me to church on Sunday and after that, we spent all our free time together.”
“That’s really romantic.”
“I suppose it is.”
Silence stretched between them, until Anna Beth laughed. “I guess it’s strange for us to be talking about men.”
“Well, we’ve never done it before, but that’s my fault. I never had a lot of experience with boys and I didn’t make it easy for you to talk to me about anything.” Sarah stared at the floor, the vulnerable expression on her face, making her appear younger. “You looked so much like your mother. It made it hard to be around you at first. Then I’d done so much damage, I didn’t know how to repair it. Everything I tried you threw it back in my face.”
“I’m sorry, Sarah. I know I acted like a brat sometimes.”
Sarah dabbed at her eyes and this time; Anna Beth saw the tears rolling down her cheeks. “I never handled it right when you acted out. My parents weren’t the most attentive and when they were, it was usually after too much to drink. It never ended well for me or your mother.”
Anna Beth sat up, her hand rubbing her aunt’s back. “Mom never said anything.”
“Of course she didn’t. You were a child. She doted on you and did her best to be the opposite of our parents. I took the other road and chose not to have any children. Too afraid that I would end up losing control if I let my emotions get the best of me.”
Anna Beth moved next to Sarah and took her hand. “My mother yelled when she got mad or frustrated, but I never thought for one second that she didn’t love me because we had a prior relationship filled with warm, wonderful memories. You and I didn’t have that. I thought you hated me.”
Her aunt squeezed her hand. “I know that and I’m sorry. Ernie suggested I start seeing a counselor last year and talking through my emotions really helped. As happy as he makes me, I still have a habit of pushing him away when things get hard.”
“That’s good, though. At least you’re trying to change for the better.”
“I am just sorry I didn’t do it sooner.”
