Chapter 1 #2
By day's end, when she returned to the main gym, she found Steven flirting with one of the regulars. At first glance, she saw the annoyance flash in his eyes as she swept past him to her office.
“What’s up, Steven? You're supposed to be at the desk, not flirting with Harper.”
“I was just taking a break. Besides, you know how she is. You can’t get her to stop talking once she starts.”
The door clicked shut behind him, and she knew she was in for a treat after a hard day. “Okay, let the debate begin because I know you came in here to try to weasel your way out of this. Who's manning the desk?”
“I called Daniel, and he came in. We need to talk about this.”
“There is nothing to discuss unless you’re prepared to pay all your bills right now. Have you found a job? Are you earning any money? Because I am only asking you to do one small thing: come with me to Mistletoe Harbor for your grandfather’s funeral and help clean out his house.”
He pulled a face. Unbothered, knowing her son all too well, Angela was thankful for the protein bar she had snagged at the other gym before leaving. Picking at it, she kicked her feet up on the desk, thankful for the music echoing through the walls from the Pilates class in progress.
“Mom, please. You don’t even want to go.”
“What I want doesn’t matter, and neither does what you want right now. If you play along and we get it done quickly, you’ll be back to your normal life fast.”
Arms crossed over his chest, he pushed his chair back with his legs pressed against her desk, rebelling as his only way out. “Fine, but I’m not going to like it. When I get back, I’m finding a real job and moving out. It’s time I make my own choices in life.”
Angela sympathized with him. The love in her heart for her lone son drove her to do everything she had done in her life. Still, she wasn’t a pushover, and she had heard this a hundred times before.
Sitting on the desk to get closer, she reached for his hand, grabbing the attention of his wandering eyes.
“Steven, I love you. And I want nothing but the best for you.
I know you can do this. You and I, we can make it to Mistletoe Harbor and get things done.
Then you come back, and I believe you can pull it together and start building your life, whatever you want to do. It's time, son.”
A face shaped like a storm, he said nothing before tugging his hand away and leaving the office. The slam of the door behind him was so typical of her son’s personality that she didn’t flinch.
“I hope he starts doing right for himself soon.”
She worked late, ensuring everything was in place for her departure, and then retired to bed after a quick check-in with Emma near midnight. “Steven doesn’t want to go.”
“He doesn’t want to do anything. I don’t know how you’ve managed it all these years, alone no less.”
“What choice did I have?”
“Marriage, find another man who would have helped you raise him. Or heaven forbid, at least gone on some dates so you could find some happiness. You could have moved out here and been closer, so we could have helped. I’ve got all these kids. One more wouldn’t have been any trouble.”
“Thanks, Em. I know we’ve gone over this a thousand times, but it's over now—no need to rehash it. Steven is twenty-one. He can legally drink, buy fireworks, and pretty much do whatever he wants. He doesn’t have to go, but then again, I don’t have to pay his way anymore.
Something has to give. He’s a grown man acting like a child.
While I love him and would do anything for him, he needs to get out of the city.
Mistletoe Harbor might just be the right place for him, and you know it. ”
There was a moment of silence, then her sister's soft sigh. “Maybe you're right. Well, you’d better get some sleep, and me too. We’ve got a lot of work to do, the funeral and all that stuff.”
“That’s true. I love you. Good night, sis.”
“Night.”
Angela hung up with a heavy heart, feeling weighed down by her son, her father, and everything else that had gone wrong in her life. Too many times, she had set aside her own feelings to do what was right and to make things work for others.
The pillow under her tired head provided no comfort for a mind overwhelmed with thoughts.
It was a difficult night for her, waking numerous times, with nightmares and memories of the past adding to the chaos of unsettled situations that kept her from finding peace. Memories she hadn’t expected to return, especially those of her relationship with Evander, hit her the hardest.
In the fragile hours of morning’s first light, Angela thought of Evander, her heart aching for something lost so long ago. “Why now? It’s been so long, and I still miss you. Will I never find peace with the past?”
So troubled by a love lost that never healed, she found the one photo she’d allowed herself to keep of them together in her nightstand drawer.
When the morning sunshine finally broke through, Angela forced those memories back to where they belonged. Steven was already packed before breakfast, holding a cup of coffee when she entered the kitchen, ready to eat. “Well, aren't you up early?”