“It’s been really wonderful getting to know you, Hattie. Should we meet up for one last time next week?” He rests his hand on my shoulder and squeezes.
My eyes almost drift closed to bask in the sensation, but I somehow manage to keep them open.
“Definitely.” I nod, swallowing past the growing lump in my throat.
“Perfect.” He removes his hand from my shoulder. “I’ll see you then.” Bastion gives me a small smile, then makes his way out of the café.
He said he’s enjoyed getting to know me, but he didn’t seem at all hesitant to leave. As usual, my difficulty in reading people gives me little insight into where his head is.
I set the two empty cups on the counter as I leave, then make my way to where I’m parked down the street.
Deciding I don’t want to go home yet, I head over to my parents’. I’m welcome to stop by whenever I like, and right now, I don’t want to be alone. I know I’ll only think about how next week is the last time I’ll probably ever enjoy Bastion’s company.
It was nice having someone to connect with while it lasted, and who knows when the next person will come into my life? I really need a change, because if Bastion taught me anything, it’s that I want to put myself out there more.
I knock on the door, which feels odd, but I didn’t grow up in this house. It feels more like theirs than ours. My mom answers almost right away, as though she knew I was coming and was waiting at the door.
“Well, this is a nice surprise. Come on in, sweetie.” She leads me toward the kitchen. “Would you like some hot chocolate?”
I don’t want any, but I’m afraid if I turn her down by saying I just finished one, I’ll have to lie about coming from seeing Bastion. So rather than having to explain all of that, I just say, “Sure.”
She takes a couple of pumps of the moisturizer beside the sink and spreads it over her hands and forearms. “Your dad just ran out to grab a prescription from the drugstore.” She takes the electric kettle over to the kitchen sink to fill it.
“Everything okay?” I sit at the kitchen table.
She waves off my concern. “He just had to refill his cholesterol pills.”
I nod with relief, then glance at the papers littering the table in front of me. My mom looks over her shoulder at me while she sets the kettle on the base and turns it on. Something about her unsettled look has me picking up the piece of paper in front of me.
I blink in surprise at the big red lettering on the notice I hold. “You guys are behind on this medical bill?”
“We’re a little behind, but it’s not for you to worry about.” She comes to sit across from me, gently plucking the piece of paper from my fingers before setting it back on the pile.
“What happened?”
She stacks the papers in a nice pile, then sets it to the side, out of my reach. “The repairs on your dad’s vehicle were more than we expected, so we had to short our payment the last couple of months.”
My stomach drops to my feet. “Why didn’t you say something? I could have helped.”
“It’s not a big deal, sweetie. We’ll be back on track soon enough.”
My mom doesn’t say it, but I know she’s thinking of those few days she had to take off last month because she wasn’t feeling well. If she’d worked, she might have had the money to make up the difference.
I hate that they didn’t come to me for help. That there’s not more I can do for them.
I’ve prayed on it so many times, asking God to show me the way I can make a bigger difference in their lives, but so far, no answers have presented themselves.
“I have a bit of money in savings. Let me use it to make up the difference.”
She’s already shaking her head before I’ve even finished. “Absolutely not. I already don’t like that you contribute to the payment every month. You’re doing more than you should.”
I take her hand. “We’re a family. That’s what we do.”
Tears fill her eyes, and guilt weighs heavy that I’m the one who put them there. “How did I get so lucky to get a daughter like you?”
Something like a haunted look crosses her face, but the kettle whistles and clicks off, so she gets up from the table.
My mom puts a few scoops of hot chocolate powder in a mug, then pours the water over top. “I appreciate the offer, but you let us worry about it, okay? I know your dad would feel the same.”
