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CHAPTER 24
The door to Reese’s room has been left ajar, and through the crack I can see that the light’s still on.
“Kid.” I poke my head in. “Are you still awake?”
She’s completely asleep, with her legs hanging off the side of the bed, and a notebook on her chest. After lifting her legs back onto the bed and placing her notepad on the nightstand, I plug her phone in and turn out the light. She doesn’t stir once, instead she snores away softly like she always has.
Bending down over her, I pull the purple comforter up to her shoulder and kiss her soft cheek. I go to leave, but look back when I reach the doorway. My heart shreds at the thought of losing her. Of going days without hearing her voice. Weeks or worse, months, may pass without seeing her beautiful face. She’s been my everything since the moment I found out she existed.
My sweet kid is laying there on the bed. Though I know she’s a grown woman now, the light from the hallway spills over her face in a way that accentuates the baby fat still on her cheeks. Suddenly, she is five years old, with wild ringlets around her sleep warmed face. A tiny nose, round little chin.
I’d stare at her for hours as she slept, feel her breath on my face. Her features were perfectly mapped in my head, so that if I closed my eyes, I could see her still. Forever I’d see her.
She’s just a baby. A baby that’s about to be torn from her mother and thrown into a brutal world to fend for herself. Who will fight for her, kiss her boo boos, sing her lullabies?
The front door opens, and I hear my name being called by the one who’s about to take my child away.
In a rage, I fly to the kitchen. Liz is rifling through a magazine on the counter, and when she hears me stomp in, she looks up with annoyance. “Well, I’m glad you’re alive. I’ve been calling all day. Thanks for leaving me in Key West by the way. It took me an hour to realize that…” She stops talking when she gets a good look at me. “You still look like shit. Did you go to the doctor?”
“You’re not taking her,” I growl.
“Taking who?”
“Reese. There’s no fucking way you’re taking my kid.”
Liz blinks rapidly, taken aback. “I’m not taking…”
Standing my full height, I step up to her until we’re almost nose to nose. “I will be rotting in hell the day anyone takes her from me. Do you understand? And that fucking car! I don’t want it, Liz. I don’t need it. Why does everyone think I’m some child who can’t do things for myself? You, Reese, Dean… I’m a fucking grown ass woman!” I scream the words, bawling, completely belying my words.
Arms wrap around me, and I hear Liz crying with me. “I’m sorry, kitten, so sorry. I had no idea the car would upset you like this. I never thought you couldn’t do it yourself.”
My knees buckle and she comes down to the floor with me. “Maybe you’re right. I’m a fraud. All I am is a big fake. My life is falling apart. You and Reese are leaving, I practically handed Dean the keys… oh my god, Dean! It was his birthday yesterday and I didn’t even mention it!” I cry harder, barely able to breathe.
Then another pair of arms are pulling me, and I hear Reese’s sweet voice comforting me. I cling to her, with my face in her neck, and let go.
I cry out of a sense of loss. Everything that I’ve worked so hard for has slipped away.
A long while passes until all I’m doing is whimpering. Reese has stayed with me the entire time, rubbing my shoulder, doing her best to let me know she’s there.
When I can finally bring myself to look at her, I see that her eyes are red and swollen, too. She looks so distressed and confused, and I hate myself more for making her feel that way.
“Where’s Liz?” I ask her.
“In your room. Momma, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll be staying. There are a few firms I can go with here, and they are really great.”
“But not as good as the Steele Media,” I say, sniffling.
She smiles softly at me, and pushes my hair behind my ear. “Better, because I’ll be close to you.”
To hear that she’d be willing to give up her dream is like a slap to the face. It wakes me the fuck up to reality, opening my eyes to what I really have. Reese is not a baby who’s being torn from her mother’s womb. She’s a full-grown woman, who loves me enough to stay.
“I did good with you, kid. Didn’t I?”
“You did good, Momma.”
Taking a deep breath, I cup her cheek and do my best to smile. “You need to go, Reese. I didn’t raise you to give up your dream that easily. Besides, I know you’ll always be with me, even if you are a thousand miles away.”
“Do you really mean it?”
