Pivotal Moments (In Time #1) (24 page)

Chapter 20

Mom paused from shuffling through dresses on hangers and turned to me, hesitating. Finally, she said, “I have a date this Friday.”

I froze, the dress I’d been examining clutched in my hands. I opened my mouth, closed it, and then opened it again, finally forcing out, “Uhh…”

Mom sighed. “I was afraid of this,” she whispered. She cleared her throat. “I only accepted an invitation to dinner and drinks.”

I sharply hung the dress back up and planted my hands on my hips. “Who is he? How do you know him? And where are you going?”

She ran a hand through her hair. “His name is Logan. He’s an arson investigator.” Her gaze dropped to the floor. “He’s been asking for a while now, but I kept turning him down.”

I frowned. “What made you change your mind now?”

She shook her head. “Let’s not worry about this right now.”

I shook my head. “No. You make a comment like that, you explain it.” My tone came out sharper than I intended.

“Watch yourself, young lady,” she said, voice hard. “We’ll talk about this later. But do me a favor—don’t tell Connor about this yet, okay?”

I paused. Given how he’d reacted to my dating, this would probably go over like a lead balloon. So I nodded. “I won’t say anything. But we’re going to talk about this eventually.”

“I know,” she said. “Thank you.” With a sigh, Mom looked around the store before meeting my gaze. “Do you see anything here you like?”

Right, the dress. Trying something on was the last thing I felt like doing, but prom was in four weeks, and Teagan had already gotten his tux and arranged for the weekend off.

My shoulders slumped. I hated shopping, and dress shopping even more. I reluctantly glanced around at the dresses on display. Nothing caught my eye.

“I don’t know,” I said. “What about you?”

She pulled a dress off the rack, examined it, then shook her head and put it back. “Not really. I think I have an idea of what you’d like, but we won’t find it here.” She gestured to the door. “Let’s try someplace else,” she said, striding determinedly toward the door.

As I hurried after her, my phone chimed. Keeping an eye on my mother, I dug through my purse and concluded, not for the first time, that I should clean out my bag. I had previously dismissed Teagan’s suggestion to demote my shoulder suitcase to a saddlebag…now I was thinking the idea might hold merit.

I finally grabbed the phone and pulled it from the bag with a flourish. I swiped it open, and warmth flowed through me. It was from Teagan.

Teagan: How’s dress hunting going, baby?

I rolled my eyes and snorted. If he only knew.

Me: Splendid, a real blast.

Teagan: That good, huh?

Me: I’m sensing sarcasm.

Teagan: From me? Never.

Me: Why don’t I believe you?

Teagan: I have no idea. I mean, why wouldn’t I sympathize about trying on a thousand dresses in one day?

Me: Because you tried on exactly one tux and were done.

Teagan: Good point.

I followed Mom through the mall, texting Teagan. I narrowly avoided walking into a pillar as we passed the food court, but I didn’t evade the two old ladies wandering around with their walker and cane. Completely embarrassed, I apologized and picked up their bags before hurrying to catch up with my speed-walking demon mother.

Teagan: I’m headed to work. I’ll call you when I’m on break.

I smiled and texted back.

Me: I’ll be waiting.

I was about to put the phone away when it alerted again.

Teagan: I miss you, baby. I can’t wait until next weekend.

A goofy grin stretched across my face, and I responded.

Me: Same here.

Mom finally decided on a shop, and I followed her in, gasping for breath. Mom was a machine on a shopping marathon. I entered the store, grumbling. But when I glanced up, I froze. My mouth dropped open. I had found it.

I had found my dress.

***

I staggered into my room and fell onto my bed. After quickly agreeing that we’d found The Dress, Mom proceeded to spend the next several hours finding the perfect pair of shoes and jewelry, and making me walk until my feet were about to fall off. And that didn’t include the dress fitting.

My eyes were drifting closed when a knock came to the door. I heaved a sigh, but Mom was quite persistent when she wanted to be, so I called, “Yeah?”

Mom opened the door and hesitantly stepped in.

I frowned and sat up. “What’s up?”

“Can we talk?”

I glanced at my pillow with yearning, but I knew this was going to be important. “Sure. What’s going on?”

She moved to my dresser and stopped, picking up the picture of her and Dad’s wedding day. Loneliness swept across her face, filling the room, and I shuddered.

“Ash—” Her voice broke. She took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and tried again. “The reason I told Logan yes…what changed…was you.” Her gaze fell to the picture, and she swallowed. “You made me decide it was time to get back out there. It’s been eleven years, and I thought…” She trailed off, a faraway look in her eyes.

I scooted back and rested against the headboard. “What are you trying to say, Mom?”

She blinked, then set the picture on the dresser and traced it with a fingertip. “I never told anyone…but your father and I had a fight right before he died.”

I stiffened. I’d never heard them fight or argue when he’d been home.

Mom nodded with a sad smile.

“I…I don’t know what to say. I had no idea,” I whispered. “What’d you guys fight about?”

“Our marriage. We were discussing getting a divorce.”

My world tilted. There was no way. My parents had been happy. “Why?” I cried.

Mom sighed, rubbed her eyes, and came over to sit on my bed. “He’d started pulling away from me, honey,” she said quietly. “I…” She swallowed hard, a couple of tears falling. “I thought he had started seeing someone else.”

A chill washed over me. “All right…so, was he?”

Mom lifted a shaking hand to wipe her cheeks and then shook her head. “No. The doctor had diagnosed him with PTSD. I found out a few months later that his commanding officer had asked to have him sent home.” She sniffled. “He was disconnecting himself. That was why he’d pulled away.”

I stared at my bedside rug, my tears building. “That’s why you’ve never dated. Because you felt guilty.” She nodded, still not looking at me. “Mom, it’s not your fault. You didn’t know.” My voice wavered.

She frowned. “I was his wife, Aislinn. I should have known the difference. We were together since high school.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I moved forward and hugged her tight. She leaned into me, and we sat that way for a long moment.

“Logan has been asking me to have dinner with him for a year,” she confessed. “I kept turning him down.”

“Holy shit. A whole year?” I was impressed. “You kept saying no because you thought it’d be unfaithful to Dad, didn’t you?” She gave a jerky nod, and I sighed sadly. “Don’t you think he’d want you to be happy? He loved us. He’d want what’s best for us.” I wasn’t sure about my own feelings, so I told her what she needed to hear.

She gave me a sad smile. “You’re so brave, honey.”

“Huh?” Where had that come from?

“You’ve overcome so much the past couple of months. You saw a chance for happiness, and you grabbed it. I envy that.” She rubbed her eyes. “It made me think that maybe I could do it too.”

“Just go,” I said, rolling my eyes. “What can it hurt? It couldn’t be just a booty call. He’s been chasing you for a freaking year.”

She gasped. “Aislinn Margaret!”

“What? It’s true.”

“That is not the point. What do you know about booty calls, anyway?” she demanded, eyes narrowing.

“Not as much as you’d think,” I muttered. “Teagan was my first kiss.”

Her expression softened, and she grinned. “I had no idea.”

“I never dated,” I said, laughing. “How was I going to get a kiss?”

“I never thought about it.” She paused and slid me a sideways glance. “While we’re on the subject, have you and Teagan…?”

“Have Teagan and I what?” I asked. Then my face heated as I realized what she was asking. “No! Oh, God, no,” I yelped.

“Okay,” she said as she held her hands up in surrender. “It was a logical question.”

“For the record, Mother, Teagan is the one who insists we go slowly with that aspect of our relationship,” I informed her primly.

She smiled. “Good.” She stood up and headed toward the door. “I knew he seemed like a good guy,” she tossed over her shoulder as she left the room.

I sank into my bed. As I drifted off to sleep, I decided I should talk to Teagan. He’d help me get everything sorted out.

***

I woke up with a start, my eyes snapping open. I was greeted by morning light, and I frowned. I must’ve slept through the night. I glanced at the clock, gasped, and snatched up my phone to see what time Teagan had called. There were no missed calls and no text messages. I frowned. He should’ve at least texted me.

I hit the call button before I could chicken out. Teagan’s phone rang eight times before the voicemail picked up. I gnawed at my lip. It was late enough that he’d be awake. Still, I decided to wait for his call back. It would come sooner or later. I wouldn’t be the clingy, needy girl who blew up people’s phones at the first sign of trouble.

I took a shower and tried to relax, but I couldn’t stop wondering why he hadn’t called or texted. When I got out, I toweled myself off, and then checked my phone. He still hadn’t contacted me. Disappointment tightened my chest.

I tossed the phone on my bed and got dressed then. I grabbed my book bag and phone and headed downstairs to the kitchen to do homework. I set everything on the table and made myself some toast. It was pretty much the only thing I could make without burning down the house.

I couldn’t concentrate. Between the conversation with Mom and the silence from Teagan, I read paragraphs multiple times without comprehending what they said. I stared at the phone in front of me, willing it to ring. It remained defiantly silent.

I slumped back in my chair. Mom had already left for the day, and I had the whole house to myself. I wandered around for a few minutes before flopping down on the couch to watch TV.

Hours later, I woke up from a restless doze. Being home alone wasn’t all it was cut out to be. I yawned and stretched, then got up and went to the kitchen. My phone still sat where I had left it, and I chewed on my lip, wrestling with whether or not I should check it. I finally gave in and snatched it up. Still nothing. The bitter disappointment was crushing.

What was going on? Why wasn’t he calling me back? I bit my lip. I’d bide my time, and if I still hadn’t heard from him by morning, then I’d start to worry.

It was getting late, so I decided to order a pizza for dinner. Just after I made the order, Mom walked in. She set her work bag on the counter with a weary sigh, but she zeroed in on me with an eagle eye. “What’s wrong?”

I froze. “What do you mean?”

“Something’s wrong. What is it?”

God, she was good! I avoided her gaze, shaking my head. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.”

I didn’t have to look to know she was wearing her Mom expression—the one she wore when she knew you were lying, and she was deciding if she should call you out on it or not. I held my breath. Finally, she released a deep breath, walked over to the fridge, and got a bottle of water out. Opening it, she leaned against the counter, watching me. At length, she shrugged and turned to the table, covered in a scattered mess of homework. “You get all of your homework done?” she asked.

“Not even close,” I admitted.

She frowned. “You need to get it done, Ash. You’re too close to fall behind.”

“Yeah, I know,” I snapped. “It’s not a news flash, okay?”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, I told you!”

She set the water on the counter, shoulders stiff. I’d just pushed the attitude a bit too far. Upset as I was, taking it out on her was not an option.

“Aislinn, is this about what I told you last night?”

I shrugged. “No. Yes.” I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know. Maybe.” I hesitated. “I have a lot going on. All of that didn’t help.”