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She had a carton of eggs in her hands, and she dropped it as soon as she saw me. “Oops.” She picked it up and pushed it to the back of the fridge with a guilty smile. “Um, probably the same as you.”
“Do you live near here?”
“Not too far.” She grabbed another box of eggs and hastily stuck it in her cart. “My parents were running low on a few things, so I offered to pick them up. I wasn’t doing anything.”
“You live with your parents?”
Her cheeks colored. “Yeah. We get along well, and they charge me such a low rent, it wouldn’t make sense to move anywhere else.”
Great, I’d made her feel bad. I’d really just been curious. The idea of having a loving family was completely foreign to me.
“I wasn’t judging you. That’s awesome. If my parents were in the picture, maybe I’d live with them, too.”
“Where are they?”
“My mom passed away when I was six. There was a car accident.” My voice grew thick. Even though I’d realized I didn’t mind telling Chelsea this, it was still a little hard. My memories of my mom were so perfect and beautiful. When I thought about the way she’d been ripped away from me, it still hurt.
This was a lot to dump on Chelsea in the middle of the grocery store. To her credit, she didn’t look shocked or horrified. Sympathy, and nothing else, was written on her face. “And your dad?” she asked.
“He was never in the picture.”
It seemed like my mom knew who he was, but he wasn’t in my life or paying child support. I was too little at the time to understand much. From what I’d pieced together, he did know about me, and he wanted nothing to do with me. When my mom passed, that didn’t change. She didn’t have any relatives who could take care of me, and if he did, he wasn’t saying anything about it.
“So… how did you… Who took care of you?”
“Foster care,” I said simply.
Those two words couldn’t begin to describe the nightmare my childhood and teen years had been. They’d give her an idea, though, and I didn’t want to talk about it.
Chelsea nodded slowly. She didn’t say she was sorry or anything like that, for which I was grateful. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“No, it’s fine. And it ended up being okay.” I surprised myself by continuing to talk without being asked. Chelsea wasn’t treating me with kid gloves, which made me feel safe talking to her. “There were rough parts, of course, and my life hasn’t been as easy as it would’ve been if I had a loving family. But I made it to adulthood. I finished high school. I’m employed, not on drugs, and I’m relatively happy. I could’ve turned out a lot worse.”
“That’s amazing, Tara.”
I fidgeted, unsure of what to say next. “I’ll leave you to it, then.” I started to move away.
“Wait,” she said. “Do you live nearby?”
“Pretty close.”
“Did you walk? I could give you a ride.”
I started to say no. My place was less than ten minutes away by foot, and my bags wouldn’t be too heavy.
“I drove my work truck.” She shone with pride. “It’s pretty cool.”
“Well, that makes all the difference.” I finished up and paid, then waited for her to join me.
Although she had twice as many bags as I did, she slipped them over her wrists and carried them to her truck without a stumble. I had to admit she was right about the truck being cool. Even if the sides were painted with the NorthCorp logo, it was a thrill to look up into the cab. She hopped in as if it wasn’t several feet off the ground, while I tried and failed to step up.
She laughed, a pretty peal of amusement. “Pass me your groceries.”
I did, then grabbed both sides of the doorframe. “I didn’t know I needed to warm up for this.”
“You can do it. And, one. And, two. And, up!”
With a strain, I brought myself into the cab. I carefully seated myself in one of the huge seats. “It feels like a whole different world up here.”
