28 Days to Trial
After clocking outof her first day, Kelsi threw her purse in the passenger seat of her car in a huff and drove toward her mom’s house. She was barely parked before she was out the door and stomping up the driveway, not even bothering to knock before barging inside.
“Mom!”
Savannah and Bailey came sprinting down the stairs toward her excitedly, but she barely spared them a glance as her anger at her mother mounted.
Her mom appeared at the top of the stairs with a bundle of laundry in her arms. “Oh, hey, Kelsi! I wasn’t expecting you!” She deposited the dirty laundry on the top of the stairs before making her way down to where Kelsi stood impatiently. Her mom looked at her appraisingly, satisfaction on her face. “I told you that suit looked beautiful on you. How was your first day?”
“Oh, you know perfectly well how my first day was, Mother. You knew he would be there, didn’t you? That’s what the damn lasagna was about.”
“Language,” her mom said sternly, but she looked away and couldn’t quite hide the grin on her face as she feigned innocence. “I knew who would be there?”
“Dylan,” Kelsi ground out, her jaw clenched.
“Oh, yes, now I remember. I did hear from Sarah Beth that he was back in town and working there too. Must have slipped my mind.”
Kelsi squeezed her eyes shut. Of course their meddlesome mothers would plot to get them back in the same radius as soon as she was single. As kids, they had always been going on about how adorable it would be if the two of them ended up together.
“Mom.” The pain Kelsi felt was obvious in the single word, and to her horror, tears began to prick behind her eyes.
Her mom’s expression immediately lost all trace of amusement and turned sympathetic as she held her arms out. Kelsi all but collapsed into her, keeping the tears from spilling over through sheer force of will, although a few snuck through her defenses.
“Sweetheart, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. But I thought you would try to run if you knew, and I think it’s past time the two of you talked everything out. And, selfishly, I didn’t want you changing your mind about moving back home.”
As much as it hurt to know her mom had kept this from her, she also knew that she was right. If Kelsi had had any idea that Dylan was back in town, let alone working in the same office as her, she would have run as quickly as possible in the opposite direction.
She pulled back, out of the comfort of her mom’s arms. Kelsi walked into the living room, staring out the large window facing the driveway and trying to rein in the emotions that were alltoo evident across her face. She cleared her throat, which felt suspiciously tight, and asked, “How long?”
“How long what, sweetie?”
“How long has he been back in town?”
There was a heavy pause, and she heard her mom’s footsteps as she followed her into the living room. She sighed and said, “About five months.”
Kelsi’s breath shuttered in her chest. He’d been backfive monthsand she’d had no idea?
Her mom’s voice was quiet, almost a whisper across the room. “He came back after the accident, when he was honorably discharged.”
“Accident? What accident?”
“I don’t know too many details. It’s been hard for Sarah Beth to talk about, understandably, after his father’s death. From what she’s told me, though, he was in Afghanistan, and there was an ambush. He was hit with shrapnel and was lucky to keep his leg. The military told him that because of the injury, he could no longer be considered eligible for service. Anything else, I think, would be his story to tell you, if and when he’s ready.”
Kelsi squeezed her eyes shut as her world tilted around her, her feet unsteady and knees weak. He’d been seriously wounded—he could have died—and she hadn’t known.
Fear lashed at her, icy cold and sharp as knives driving into her chest. Her fingers gripped the window ledge in front of her tightly, knuckles turning white. Slowly, though, the cold flames of her fear morphed into a fiery anger. As the fury gave her limbs strength again, she whirled around and glared at her mother, who lowered herself exhaustedly onto the room’s love seat.
“How could you keep this from me? Any of this?” She practically screamed the question at her mom.
To her credit, her mom didn’t even flinch. She stared at Kelsi with the same defeated look. “You tried to hide it, but I knew how much whatever he did hurt you. Anytime I brought him up, you immediately shut down. Eventually I gave up and figured whenever you decided you were ready to talk about him again, you would.” She smiled sadly. “But you never did. And when he was hurt and brought back home to recover, he asked me not to tell you what happened.”
“You didn’t owe him that loyalty, Mom, not after how he left. I deserved to at least be told that he was hurt!” Her anger was a living thing inside of her, ugly and looking to lash out.
“Of course I thought you should know, but it wasn’t my decision. This was Dylan’s injury, his life, and his choice on whether or not to tell you. I’m sorry that you’re upset, but it wasn’t my story to tell.”
The rational side of Kelsi’s brain understood her mom’s reasoning. It had been Dylan’s choice, and she had respected that, but Kelsi was beyond rational thought at this point. Too many powerful emotions warred within her that she was itching with the need to scream or run or both.
“Kelsi—”
