“Hey ya bud,” I knelt, scratching behind his ears. He leaned into me, whining. “What are you doing out here all by yourself?”
He whined again.
“C’mon ya big baby.” I let him inside, but the moment I stepped through the door, I froze.
The plate of food I made earlier was on the floor—eggs smeared, bacon crushed. Forgotten.
Then I saw her. Michelle. Face down on the couch, arm dangling off the edge, fingers barely clutching an empty vodka bottle. The smell of stale alcohol hit me before I even got close.
Fury surged through me.
Really? This is what her daughter comes home to? I walked over, slapped her cheek—light at first. Nothing. Harder. Still nothing. I flipped her over. She groaned, slurred, and rolled away like I was some inconvenience.
“Michelle. Michelle, wake up.”
She groaned again, swatted blindly in my direction, then turned her back to me.
That was it.
“Fuck it,” I muttered under my breath. “Guess she’ll have to sleep it off.”
I fed Loco, refilled his water, and let him back out again before heading to the restaurant.
And the whole time, my hands were shaking.
36
MELANIE
Abigail puts the car in park as she checks out her new hair in the rear view mirror. “That girl did an amazing job. I am pretty picky when it comes to my hair, most people cut way too much off and then I look like a Q-tip, since my hair is so curly.”
“Ya, I am loving my layers. My hair was getting a little too long.”
“Girl, there’s no such thing. I love long luscious locks. Gives our men a lot more to pull on.”
I laughed at her ridiculousness. She flips her car mirror back up and turns to face me.
“So she hasn’t even called you?”
When we were getting our hair done, I filled Abigail in on everything. And I mean everything—even the part about my diabetes and how Nick came to my rescue. I trusted Abigail, and it felt good to release the truth I’ve been holding in for so long. The more I revealed, the lighter I felt, and I’ve been hiding behind a dark wall since I was thirteen. The best thing about Abigail was that she didn’t judge me. She was happy to listen and just be here for me. She told me I didn’t have to go into details about my dad, which I was grateful for because the shame and disgust alwayscame rushing back like an aggressive tidal wave each time I walked down memory lane.
“No, but I’m sure she’s passed out drunk, so I don’t expect her to. Not for a while.” I say.
“Ugh, I’m so sorry, Mel. You know, I didn’t have the most loving mother growing up. So I get it. But there’s hope. Now that I'm pregnant, my mom has been trying to stay in touch, which is so unlike her. She’s never been the nurturing type so I think a lot of it is guilt for how she treated me like I didn’t exist for so many years, ”
She reaches over to squeeze my hand.
“You’ll get through this. You have Nick to lean on. I know it’s not your forte but Nick isn’t a bad guy. And I haven’t seen him remotely interested in a woman until you. So it doesn’t shock me that he is the one who even came up with the idea to marry you. He’s into you.”
“Wait? What?” I whipped my head around to face her? “You think so?”
“Mel, yes, I’ve never seen him care so much for someone that he barely even knows. When he got back home from Iraq, all he did was drink and hit the bars. He would just run through women like water, and was a total dick to them. I never liked him at first but I never said anything because he’s Colt’s friend, but after hanging out with him and Colt explaining more of his background, I could see the teddy bear he truly was. He’s a protector. And that’s hot on a man and a dad.” She waggles her eyebrows
“Stop,” I said through a laug.
“When are you two going to have kids?”
“Really, Abigail? I’m not even sure how long we this,” I waved a hand in the air, “will last. Hello. Not a real marriage, remember.”
