Chapter 1
She was tired. Mentally, emotionally, physically. The urge to weep was so strong, she had to keep biting her lip, letting the pain shock her back. She couldn't afford to have a meltdown. In a few minutes, she was going to say good night to her son who was staying at her grandmother's. David was eight years old and a smart one at that. He would pick up on her emotional state.
A watery smile touched her lips. It was times like these that she wished he wasn't so aware and so sensitive. But it was only the two of them and her boy had planted himself as her protector.
He knew that his father had hightailed it when he found out she was pregnant and that she worked two jobs just to make ends meet.
She didn't regret him, she thought fiercely. She loved him to pieces. He was the light in a very dark world. Her beautiful baby boy, so smart and sensitive, quite unlike the man who had helped to make him.
Her mouth tightened as her thought flickered to the past. Something she had managed to put behind her and should never allow to surface. But it was a struggle.
Being a single parent was difficult. Making ends meet for her and her baby was becoming harder, and she was going to have to think about college soon. She had started saving, putting a little away, here and there, but the blasted transmission on her crappy vehicle had her dipping into her son's college funds. She was determined that David was going to have a better life than hers.
Leaning her head back, she took several deep cleansing breaths. She had taken up yoga and a form of meditation to try and get through her anxiety. But tonight, it wasn't working, not much. Her boss, the soulless bitch she worked for, had stuck her with more responsibilities, keeping her chained to the desk when it was past time for her to leave.
"You should quit." Her best friend Carrie was always telling her. "In fact, just walk out and tell her to go screw herself."
"I have a mouth to feed."
"You could get another job. You're good at what you do. Or come work for me."
"The only thing I know about hair is when mine needs shampooing." She reminded her friend dryly.
"You could learn. You're the smartest person I know."
"I always say your circle is very limited." Melanie pointed out wryly. "If I was that smart, I would have found a way out of this hole I'm in."
"What we both need are two wealthy guys to shower us with gifts and money, so we don't have to work. We could spend our days going on cruises and traveling the world. I always dream of going to Paris and Rome."
"Scotland and Spain." Melanie murmured, joining in the pipe dream. It was a game they always played, something to take their minds off their problems. "He has to be young and attractive. Not some old lecher on his last breath."
"I think I'd love an old guy, one who has no kids, about to expire within six months and will everything to me. I fancy myself being a fabulously wealthy widow without the added problems of a man demanding my attention."
"I want love, not just the money."
"Girl, you're too romantic." Carrie chided. "Look where it got you."
"David was worth every bit of what I went through with that worthless father of his."
"Of course. That boy's a gem."
Now she had allowed herself to be persuaded to go to a club. Her friend had insisted that she needed the break.
"Besides, it's Friday. Let's go out, have some fun, allow ourselves to be picked up by strange men who want to buy us drinks."
"And run the risk of being roofied? No thanks. I'll buy my own drinks."
"You're right. We'll dance the night away. David can spend the night with grams."
"I'll have to ask her. She's been having some pains lately and I hate to bother her."
"Why don't you go and live with her? That cottage of yours is a pile of crap."
"We both love our independence. And besides, grams lives in a one-bedroom house and it would be cramped. Where we are, David has his own room and a yard to play in. That's important to me, to both of us."
And it was, she decided firmly. The cottage was a rental and needed some upgrading, but her landlord pinched every penny, preferring to squeeze until nothing was left. She made do. She had dipped into her own money to put fresh paint on the exterior, a warm mulberry yellow with bright blue trim and had planted a garden.
Her herbs were coming along and her roses were blooming. It made her relax to putter in the dirt and did her heart great to see her son running up and down and dribbling the ball over the uneven ground. She had put up a hoop on the garage and often played with him.
