She curls closer, a subtle natural movement, a drawing in. I tuck my arm around her. After a while, she pulls away as though preparing herself for her departure.

“Moll?”

She sighs herself awake. “Yes,” she whispers, turning away from me. “This means what you think it means.”

“Where’s Travis?”

“Where do you think? He went standby on the next flight home.”

I exhale a cautious breath of relief. It doesn’t last long. Molly comes fully awake, crying with the kind of sobs that shake the whole bed. She’s crying too hard to speak, so I just wrap myself around her and hold on for a while, silently willing her to stop. As an infant, she’d been fretful, and I spent many midnight hours walking the floor with her, making mindless shushing sounds, just as I do now.

Eventually, the storm subsides. She is still tearful, her voice shaky. “He was so mad at me, Mom. He was so mad. He might never speak to me again. I hurt him that bad.”

“I’m sorry, Moll. I know you can’t stand hurting anyone.”

“Why couldn’t you just let me go home? Why did you have to make a federal case out of it?”

“I left it up to you,” I reminded her.

“But it was the way you did it. It made me feel like an idiot.” Agitated now, she blots her tears with a corner of the quilt and sits up.

“I never meant to do that.” But wow, is she right. I want her to have the life I passed up in order to be a wife and mom. She is my road not taken. And it’s not fair to put that burden on her. “I’m sorry,” I tell her. “If you want to turn around now, we’ll do it. No hard feelings, no recriminations.”

She’s quiet for a long time. “I’d hate myself if I didn’t go for this. But I need for you to listen, Mom. This is my choice. I’m not doing it because you never had the chance. I’m doing it because I want the chance for me.”

Chapter Thirteen

Thirteen

I hold the map, with the route to the city highlighted. “I think our turn-off is coming up.” We pass through suburbs filled with crackerbox houses, small businesses, big-box stores. I notice a fabric shop with a nice window display; maybe I’ll stop in on my way back home. There’s a charmless strip center with a beauty salon called the Crowning Glory and a charitable organization called New Beginnings, apparently dedicated to providing clothing and supplies for a local women’s shelter. There’s also a bakery that fills the air with a smell so delicious, it brings tears to my eyes.