Oh my gosh, I was going to lose it. “The money I’ve been sending! Or how about Dad’s life insurance? Between all of that, you should be set for years! What happened to all that money?”
“Are you actually askin’ for money right now, Allegra?”
If you could explode from anger, I’m pretty sure it would’ve already happened to me by now. “MOM, you are not listening to me. I have been sending money for years. What have you been doing with it?”
“I’ve been livin’ my life! You know I can’t work with my ailments.”
Her “ailments,” right. I rolled my eyes,grateful she couldn’t see. “Okay, let’s pretend I wasn’t sending you enough. What about the life insurance money?”
She laughed mockingly. “You mean the Allegra Ford loan?”
“What does that even mean?”
A horse whinnied at me. I looked up to see Gracie at the edge of the pasture, trotting happily. I wanted to climb on her back and take off, letting the sun melt my problems away.
“It took all that money to raise your spoiled butt,” she said plainly.
I remember the fight they had about signing up for life insurance money. My mom had just been fired from her third job in two months. My dad was getting ready to hit the road again.
“What if something happens to me, Ida? What would Ally do?”
“Because I’m incapable of takin’ care of my daughter, right?”
“Apparently! All I want is for her to be financially stable. Can’t we agree on that?”
I gripped the phone so tight it was beginning to leave indents in my skin. “When are you getting evicted, Mom?”
“I have a month.”
“I’ll be in Armilloin a few days. Can we sort this all out in person? I would love to go over your bank statements and see if there’s any wiggle room,” I said in my corporate voice, which I knew she despised.
“Fine.” She hung up.
Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.
“Knock knock,” said an all-too-familiar voice.
I blinked hard and smiled too widely. “Hey.”
Colton took a seat next to me in the porch swing, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “How were your calls?”
“Informative,” I said, trying not to sound bitter.
Colton was quiet, waiting to see if I was going to go on.
I wasn’t.
“When do we leave?” I asked, leaning into his touch.
“Sunday night. Really, Ally, my family can be intense. I don’t want to scare you off.” He sounded hesitant.
“You can’t scare me off, and neither can your family,” I promised.
It wasmyfamily I was worried about.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The day passed in incredible bliss after I pushed my mom and our conversation out of my mind.
