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Chapter Thirteen
Alice
I sleep in, waking with a yawn and a stretch, and the night before slaps into my thoughts. I’m so confused, and I don’t know where to go from here. But there is one person I can always count on to give it to me straight, and I think maybe my mistake is not asking her in the first place. I roll over, grabbing my phone and swiping until I find her name.
Mom.
My safe place.
She answers on the first ring, and I smile.
“How’s my Alley Cat?” she says.
I laugh. I’ve missed her voice.
“I’m good, Mom,” I say, my voice breaking a little.
I can hear the mood change from her end. “Oh, baby, tell me what’s wrong.”
And that does it—the floodgates open, and I’m sobbing.
“I don’t know,” I say when my tears finally subside enough to let me talk. She waits patiently as I work through my thoughts. “I didn’t think things would be this hard.”
“Have I ever told you the whole story of when your father and I met?” she asks, and I wipe a finger under both of my eyes as I sniffle.
“I’ve heard the story a million times, Mom,” I say, but it puts a smile back on my face.
My parents’ relationship is what I’ve always wanted. What I’ve strived for in my own relationships. But nothing has ever measured up. My dad and mom truly love each other—that deep-down, soul-consuming love.
“I don’t think I ever told you the entire story. It was love at first sight, like it sounds when we recount the good parts. But I made your father work for it. I had been in several bad relationships. I had been burned, and I couldn’t imagine that a good thing could happen to me. So, I pushed him away. I thought that what I was feeling and what he was feeling would pass, and then I would be brokenhearted again.”
“You pushed him away?” I furrow my brow, trying to think back to the many times I asked them to tell me how they’d met, growing up.
“I did. Of course, I finally came to my senses, but the fact is, your father didn’t give up on me. He had seen a spark between us, something I couldn’t see, and he decided to let it simmer and grow without fanfare. He won me over, simply by never giving up. That’s our true love story. The fantastic dates we always talk about were the result of your father proving that there was good in the world. Not all relationships are created equal. I’m sorry that I never explained that to you; it was always more fun to watch your face light up when we talked about our fairy-tale love.”
“I … I didn’t know.” I’m stunned, floored.
I feel like I’m seeing a new side to my parents, and it’s strange to think that what I always thought to be true had only been tweaked for my benefit.
“There are many roads to the top of the mountain, Alley Cat. Yours doesn’t have to look like mine to be right.”
“I know.”
“Just because it’s not love at first sight doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Sometimes, you have to fight for what you want. Just like your father fought for me. Do you think this Simon is worth your fight?”
“I don’t know.” My gut tells me yes, but I am starting to think that I would be the glue keeping us together. I don’t see Simon fighting for us.
“That’s something that you have to figure out. Your father and I had many ups and downs—all relationships and marriages do.”
“We aren’t really in a relationship.”
“Aren’t you?”
“He hired me to be his daughter’s nanny, Mom. This whole show is a joke to him.”
“He found a reason to keep you around—that doesn’t seem like he’s joking.”
“I think he was forced into it.”
