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“With pleasure.”
Gracie didn’t want to stop kissing Leo, but it was cold, and when she began to shiver, they went inside. They discovered that most people had left, so once Gracie was warm again, Leo walked her to her car.
As they stood by the driver’s door, Leo embraced her and said, “I don’t want to let you go. Come home with me.”
“I’d like that, Leo, but—"
“It’s too soon for you.”
“No. It probably should be, but it’s not. It’s too late to call home, and my mother is expecting me.”
“Then I’ll say goodnight and miss you until tomorrow.” Leo kissed her goodbye before he left.
Gracie watched him walking away in her rearview mirror as she drove out of the parking lot. She couldn’t contain the huge grin on her face, and she began to hum “Jingle Bells.” It wasn’t until she got to the access road that she remembered she was supposed to bring milk home. But the small grocery store at the base of the mountain was already closed, and Gracie’s good mood was dampened when she imagined her mother’s wrath when she found out.
If she were lucky, Margo would be asleep. Unfortunately, after Gracie turned her key in the lock as quietly as she could to avoid waking her mother, she opened the door to discover Margo on the couch still watching TV.
Margo looked over at her and scanned her with a piercing gaze. “Where have you been? You better not have been drinking.”
Gracie tensed with her newfound resolve to stand up for herself. “Things ran later than I expected. I’m sorry.”
“So, whatever you were doing was more important than fulfilling your promise to me?”
Gracie sighed. “Mom, you could go to the store yourself to get milk.”
“What did you say to me?”
As much as she wanted to give a smart reply, Gracie didn’t want to push the woman too far. “I can get it for you on my way home tomorrow.”
“Like I can trust you to do that.” Margo stood up and glared at her daughter. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I’m not impressed.”
This was the point where Gracie would typically apologize more and perhaps say something self-deprecating, but she was done being meek little Gracie. She recalled a time she was assertive in her job with a man who had tried to weasel free lift tickets from her. It was time to be strong enough to do it at home too. “What has gotten into me is that I want to live my life. I’m moving out.”
Her mother scoffed. “You can’t do that.”
“Yes, Mom. I can.”
“Where does that leave me?” Margo threw up her hands. “How will I pay rent?”
Gracie shook her head and walked toward her bedroom. “I suggest you get a job.”
“Gracie!”
She turned to look at her mother. The woman had no trouble hopping in her car to go shopping at the mall for clothes, or take herself out to lunch on Gracie’s dime. The resentment that had been building for years spilled out. “I have paid the bills for ten years while you sit on the couch and watch TV. You never grocery shop, you barely do laundry, and I’m not sure you even know where the toilet bowl cleaner is. I’m done taking care of you, Mom.”
Her mother’s eyes narrowed as she clenched her jaw in anger. “You’ll never make it out there on your own. You can’t even get a boyfriend.”
“Actually, Mom, I have one. His name is Leo and he’s—" Gracie hugged herself as his face flashed in her mind. “He’s amazing.”
“I doubt that. But you go get your heart broken. Go ahead and leave.” Margo huffed and sat down on the couch. “Don’t you dare come crawling back to me with your tail between your legs when everything falls apart. Once you move out of here, you’re gone forever.”
Gracie nodded before turning on her heel, and she walked into her bedroom and shut the door. She held out her hands to see they were shaking, but all she could do was smile. The sadness and guilt she thought might come didn’t. Exhilaration filled her instead. She changed into pajamas with a clear conscience, certain she’d just done the right thing for herself. Once she climbed into bed, she tugged the comforter tightly around her body and let the memories of Leo’s kisses flood her mind as she fantasized about a life with him. Gracie fell asleep believing she was taking an important step toward a life more amazing than she could possibly imagine.
CHAPTER9
Gracie
Margo was notup the next morning when Gracie got ready for work, and she was happy to leave the house without speaking to her mother. When she stepped outside to leave, she was met by a clear blue sky. Sunlight made the frost on her windshield glisten like glitter before she scraped it off. Gracie glanced around her driveway at the evergreens with clumps of snow stuck on the boughs and bright red winterberry bushes in the field behind the house. She’d already cut a few branches to decorate the mantel at home, and it occurred to her she should cut a few more to bring to Tracy at work. The woman loved decorating her house for the seasons.
