Chapters (43)
- Cover
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Epilogue
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- Readers Guide
- QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
- About the Author
- What’s next onyour reading list?
It hadn’t been that long ago that she’d spent every night alone in her house. Alone because she was too broken to expect anyone to live in the darkness of her life with her. She wasn’t that person now, and as her laughter had returned, so had her strength. She deserved more than an empty house, and these days she was strong enough to fight for it.
She leaned across the table, nailing Mona with a steady gaze. “I don’t just ‘like’ LJ, and I’m not down here playing games. I’m in love with him.”
Mona nodded, but she didn’t look surprised, or any less resigned. “Take it from a mother. The hardest thing about loving somebody is doing what’s best for them.”
Twenty-eight
The streetlights were starting to come on by the time LJ blasted into his mama’s house. His shoulders twitched with the effort it took to close the door quietly behind him.
Andra sat at the piano, her head down though she wasn’t playing. He passed her and threw a wad of cash on the table. Fourteen damned hours, and that wasn’t near enough money for the shit he’d had to put up with. Permanent jobs paid better than this by-the-day crap, but he had a job back in Montana. He didn’t need one here. Unfortunately, the little money he’d saved for a bed frame in Montana had gone into his gas tank, and his last paycheck had gone toward getting Mama’s bills caught up. The food in the fridge was going even faster with Andra here, and the power bill was coming due next week. Even if he caved and applied for something permanent, they couldn’t last the two weeks for his first paycheck to come through without having to lean on the neighbors. He’d go hungry before he’d go to his friends with his hand held out.
His stomach grumbled, but he didn’t want to stay inside long enough to fix a plate. Instead, he yanked a big plastic cup out of the dish drainer and filled it with water until the tap overflowed onto his fingers.
“Mama okay?” he asked. Please let her be asleep. If she saw him in this mood, they’d get into it, and she didn’t have the energy right now. He chugged the water, taking swallows so big they hurt going down. Andra was his guest. She shouldn’t have to be stuck here waiting on his mother. But without her, he couldn’t leave Mama alone long enough to pay the bills for both of them.
“She’s been sleeping, mostly. I had to wake her up to take her pills and get her to the bathroom, but she didn’t throw up today. I think she might be getting over that flu.” There was a hesitation. “Are you okay?”