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It’s for the best that my short-lived crush on hot cop Bronson didn’t pan out. I’m just getting used to living by my own rules. Who knows if I’ll be able to become accustomed to someone else’s?
Maybe I’m blowing this whole situation out of proportion. I’d like to say I’m not a dramatic person, but that would be a lie.
I used to be a girl who thrived off of losing control.
As a teenager, I got into so much trouble that I’m sure my parents were thankful they only had one kid. Then, I met Tyler, and my fifteen-year-old heart exploded and landed around him. I spent every moment following him around Newbury. To his football games, the pizzeria on Central Avenue, the last row of the movie theater … the backseat of his car parked in a small wooded area on the outskirts of town, where no one could see us.
Tyler went to a state college, and I stayed close to home. We saw each other every weekend, and he proposed at his graduation party. We married young, and were pregnant right away.
To say our families weren’t constantly chasing us with shouts of, “Slow down. You have your whole life ahead of you,” is an understatement.
There were so many arguments back then, but we didn’t care. We went with the motions, and soon, we were the couple who people looked up to. By the time Hunter was born, no one could imagine life not happening just as it did.
Then mom got sick.
I grab a can of tuna fish off the shelf. The Best By date is five years from now. This is why it’s a good buy. You don’t have to use it right away. It’s an item you can place on the shelf and come back to next year and eat it. Hell, I can open this when Izzy’s in high school and serve her a sandwich. Good, dependable tuna fish. That is, until you go for it on year six and realize time past by when you thought you had more time. So much more.
I put the can of tuna fish back on the shelf.
I’ve never liked it anyway.
I grab a bunch of bananas. These babies warn you when their time is about to be up.
I like them more.
Somewhere along the line, I went from the girl who thrives off losing control to the one who craves it more than anything.
I drive home and pull into my parents’ driveway. I’ve been living here for six months and still call it my parents’ house. While Tyler and I figured out our divorce agreement, I lived in our old home, and he stayed with Maisie. When the papers were signed, I moved out of the house, and he moved back in.
Years ago, as I set out to take over the world with Tyler in our dream town of Greenwood Village, I never thought I’d be back in Newbury, let alone sleeping in my old bedroom.
Taking my grocery bags out of the trunk, I walk over to the back door that leads to the kitchen. The handle is unlocked, so I turn the knob and walk inside.
“Oh my God!”
Those words are spoken by me. Shouted really as I drop the bags in my hands and use one hand to cover my eyes while I back up and knock into the door as it careens with the wall.
Dad and Anna are making out in the kitchen up against the center island, where I serve my children breakfast. If I’m correct, his hand was on her boob.
“Would you stop acting so theatrical?” Dad says, but I don’t see him because my hand is covering my face.
I move my fingers to take a peek through them and spy Dad and Anna standing, fully clothed. Anna is running a hand down her short brown hair to make sure it’s in place, while Dad is glaring at me with his lips pressed into a white slash.
“Put a tie on the doorknob next time,” I grumble.
Anna looks bashful. “It was nice seeing you, Melissa. Gavin, I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Thankfully, she grabs her purse from the counter and leaves without a good-bye kiss.
With her gone, I move to collect the dropped bags from the floor. Dad has already started to gather the items that rolled across the beige tiles. It’s an attractive tile. One my mother picked out when they redid the kitchen ten years ago. It matches the countertop. The one her husband was just groping the neighborhood cat lady against.
With everything now on the counter, Dad places his hands on his hips and looks down. Eye contact in these situations is not his strong suit.
“Didn’t realize you’d be home this early.”
“Tyler is dropping the kids off soon. He and Maisie have a lovers’ getaway planned.”
“He told you that?”
