Page 25 of Back to Me
“Well, yes I did.”
“Have you been spending time with each other?” I sighed.
“Again, yes, we have.”
“Then no, she doesn’t have the wrong idea.”
“Mom, we aren’t back together. We are just working to rebuild the friendship. I was with Dallas last night too. Doesn’t mean I am dating her.”
“Don’t sass me, child, I know you love that boy, but he has his own baggage he needs to deal with. You don’t need to get caught up in that.”
“Thanks for the warning, Mom.” I took a sip of my coffee; my dad, knowing that this was probably heading for an argument, reached out and put his hand over mine.
“Angel, what your mother is trying to say, is that Austin has some scars from whatever went on with his last girlfriend so seeing you might be too soon. She hasn’t been gone that long.”
“I love you both, and I mean no disrespect by this but what happens between Austin and I is our decision. As I said, I am just mending bridges that I burnt when I lied to the people I cared most about. I won’t rule anything out with him because we both still love each other but we aren’t making plans. We are just taking things one day at a time. Now, if you were talking to Christina, I am sure she told you all about the stuff with Cash too.”
“She did, yes.”
“Well, if it wasn’t for Austin, I would have been out of here by now. Cash has been less than welcoming since I came back because he feels as strongly as you do about Austin and I being together. Christina and Thomas had to step in.”
“What is his issue?”
“We don’t know. He won’t say.”
“Why didn’t you tell us what was going on? Why did your mother have to hear it from Christina?”
“I didn’t want to involve you guys. We were trying to deal with it on our own, but they overheard a phone call between Austin and I when he was over there, so he told them. The dinner that I went to at their house was to try and get the truth out of him but instead he acted like a jackass.”
“So, what are they doing about it?”
“There is nothing any of them can do about it. If he doesn’t stop though, I will be going to his boss about him harassing me and I know Christina and Thomas will support me on that.”
“Maybe you coming home wasn’t such a good idea after all.”
“Ouch, thanks, Mom.”
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
“Well, what did you mean because out of all people, I didn’t think you would be the one saying this too.” I finished off my coffee and put my mug down. “Don’t worry about breakfast, I’m not hungry. I will talk to you later.” I gave my dad a kiss on the head and headed for the front door. I thought the visit would be a good thing but nope. It has just made me stressed all over again. I reached my car and had just opened the door when my dad caught up with me.
“Ally, wait.”
“No, Dad, I am going home to get back into bed and to sleep. Maybe when I wake up, this day can start over again.”
“She didn’t mean it like that.”
“Oh really? How do you figure that?”
“Your mother just wants a peaceful life for you.”
“Dad, I appreciate you covering for her, I do. She could have said any other sentence than that though. I thought if anyone would be happy to have me home, it would be my parents.”
“We are, Ally.”
“She has a funny way of showing it.” I let out a sigh. “I’ve gotta go, I’ll talk to you later.” Getting in the car, I shut the door behind me and started the engine. I reversed enough so that I could turn around and drove out of the driveway. I knew I was probably overreacting, but I needed to go before something else was said. I would call them later and sort it out. Reaching over, I turned my music up a little bit louder and sat back in my seat.
I was just coming back into town, where the open space disappeared and the houses came back into view approaching an intersection, when someone came around the corner too fast. They were headed straight for me. I had two choices. Crash into them head-on or swerve and try and miss them. Gripping the wheel, I stomped my foot down on the break and turned the wheel. Before I could prepare myself for what was happening, the side of my car slammed into a tree, my head smacking against the window. Everything went black.
