Page 87 of Tricked in October
Unable to help herself, Kelsey’s eyes widened, disbelief settling in. “You expect me to believe that?”
Crossing her arms, her mama’s eyes flittered away. “Yes. I do. And I guess I was hoping you’d be happy for me.”
“I guess it’s just hard for me to process. You’ve dated…actually no, you’ve hooked up with more men than anyone I know. Howard is a nice man. Please don’t do this to him.”
“Don’t do what? Date him?”
“Sleep with him and then dump him like he’s yesterday’s garbage.”
Her jaw set. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Really? Because I’ve seen you do it before. Several times.” Kelsey hopped off the counter.
“This is different.”
She looked at her mama, really looked at her. While her fingers fidgeted inside the sweater sleeves, her face revealed a genuineness Kelsey didn’t see often.
“Are you serious? You really like him?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She dipped her chin. “I might even love him.”
The release of her mama’s words hit Kelsey in the chest and bloomed.
“Love?”
Her mama glanced up, her eyes glossy. She nodded, a smile forming on her lips.
“Wow. This is big.”
“It really is. I wanted to tell you before it got too serious. But, love bug, I think it’s too late because we’re already discussing the future.”
“The future?”
“I told you, we’re both pretty smitten. There’s just one problem,” her mama admitted.
“What’s that?”
“Before we can even plan a future, together, I need to get my act together. I need to get sober. So, Howard has convinced me to go to rehab.” She smiled wide.
Rehab? Kelsey had been hoping, praying, begging her mama for years to get help for her addiction. Now, some guy comes along and she decides to do it for him? Don’t get her wrong, she desperately wanted her mama to get sober. But she needed to do it for the right reasons. If she and Howard broke up, wouldn’t it send her into a relapse?
“Aren’t you gonna say something?” her mama asked.
“Are you going to rehab because you think you need it or because Howard thinks you need it?”
“I don’t understand. I tell you I’m going to rehab, something you’ve been harassing me about since you were a kid, and you’re gonna question my motives?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Because you need to do it for you. Not for some man.”
“He’s not just some man, I told you that.”
“Mama, I’ve begged you to go. For years. And you wouldn’t. I guess I’m just having a hard time with the fact that I wasn’t enough of a reason to go.”
Her mama reached for her, but Kelsey took a shaky step backward. “Oh, love bug. You know that’s not true. I just wasn’t ready. My past…your daddy…”
“I just find it ironic is all,” Kelsey interrupted. Her heart thumped hard against her rib cage. She felt desperate to get away. “Look, thanks for the treats for the kids, but I gotta get going.”
Rushing out from behind the counter, Kelsey headed toward the table her kids were seated at.
