Coming Home (12 page)

“Matt still doesn’t think you should go?” Vicki had been doing
great. Other than her outburst and paranoia about Wade, she’d been completely
normal. Then I thought about what happened Saturday night. Maybe she was more
right about Wade than I thought.

“Not yet. He’s asking for a couple of more weeks, but I’m not
giving him much more time than that. I really want to come back in full-time.”

“I saw Mandy on my way in. She seemed really upset. Is everything
okay with her?”

“It will be. Just don’t ask her about it, okay?”

“Sure.” If anyone understood the need for privacy, it was me. As
long as Mandy would be fine, I could keep my nose out of it.

Finally, with my day from hell behind me, I started to close down
and put my stuff away when there was a tap at my doorway. I looked up to see my
mother standing there with the care package I had asked her to ship. I rounded
my desk as she set the package on the table, and I barely let her turn around
before I wrapped my arms around her. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

I hadn’t seen my mother in what seemed like forever. I talked to
her practically every day on the phone, but that just wasn’t the same. There’s
just something about seeing and hugging your mom when you’ve had a bad day.
Once she put her arms around me, I felt safe and protected. I stupidly started
to cry.

“Becca, what is it?” Mom tried to pull back, but I still clung to
her. I hadn’t told her about the sketch of Ryan, the flat tires, or my fight
with Wade. I’d only slightly told her about the boys that Ryan teaches ball to,
but hadn’t really told her it was a group home. “Becca?”

“I’m sorry.” I finally pulled away for her to look at me. “I just
didn’t expect you today.”

“No? It looks like you sure need me, though. Let’s sit down and
you can tell me all about it.” She started to lead me to the chairs and I tugged
on her hand.

“Can we just go home?” I was about to have a very long and
serious discussion that was long overdue, and I didn’t really want to have it
in my office. Plus, I needed to get away from this day of hell.

“Sure, baby. Whatever you want.”

Mom went to my house, no doubt to straighten up while I wasn’t
there, and I went to pick up dinner. I would have been happy to just order
pizza, but mom only agreed to take-out dinner from the steakhouse. She didn’t
want her one dinner with me to be junk since she assumed the rest of my meals
were junk. I tried to tell her I’m not like dad and actually eat what she
considered regular food, but she just waved me away.

I was waiting at the bar for my order, and I suddenly felt
someone barrel into me and wrap arms around my waist. “Becca!”

“Ash, let her breathe, honey.” I turned to Vicki’s voice, and
Matt was standing next to her. “Rebecca, did you want to join us instead of
taking it home?”

I put my arms around Ashley and hugged her so she’d finally let
me go. I’d only seen her a few times, but I guess I made an impression. She
finally pulled back, but kept her arm around my waist as she stood next to me.
I kept my arm around her shoulders and squeezed. I wasn’t sure why she was so
excited to see me, but I kind of liked it.

“I can’t tonight. Mom came in town to surprise me, I guess.” I
realized I still didn’t know why she came instead of just mailing the package.
“She’s waiting at home and probably dusting everything as we speak.”

“Hillary’s here? She mentioned something about coming, but I
guess I didn’t know it was this week.” Vicki looked away and looked a little
hurt for some reason. “Ash, come on. Let’s go find our table and let Rebecca
get home.”

Ashley gave me one more hug before going with Vicki. Matt,
however, stayed behind. Once they were out of earshot, he stepped up to me.
“Why don’t you take tomorrow off and be with your mom.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Of course not. You haven’t seen your mom for a while, and I know
how it is when women get to talking.” Matt followed my gaze to Vicki. “You
didn’t do anything wrong with her, either. She just can’t spend the evening
talking with her mom any more. They used to talk all the time.”

I looked down at my hands. “Oh. I keep flaunting my mom in her
face. It’s a wonder she doesn’t hate me.”

“You’re not doing anything wrong. It’s natural to talk about the
people that raised you.”

“I guess.” My order was placed on the bar and I nodded my thanks.
“I should get going. Mom will have rearranged everything if I don’t get back
soon.”

Matt chuckled. “That doesn’t surprise me. She likes to take care
of you, and I’m very pleased about that. I only hope Ashley feels as loved as
you do. Now, about tomorrow, take it off. Stay home.”

“I’ll think about it, but I do have a lot to do. Maybe I’ll just
come in late?”

Matt smiled. “It’s your choice. Have a good evening.”

“Thanks. You, too.”

I got caught up on all the gossip back home. One of my
ex-boyfriends was getting married. I felt the lecture coming about when I was going
to settle down, but it never did. I was listening to the rest of the happenings
back home and it hit me. “You found something. I mean why else would you be here?
You could have told me all of this over the phone.”

“Rebecca, I haven’t found anything yet. I have a couple of things
I’m going to look into, but it’s a lot of red tape and I just keep hitting
walls.” My mother shifted a little. I narrowed my eyes because I knew she was
hiding something. “Okay, Rebecca. You can stop with the stare now.”

“Then what aren’t you telling me?” I sat back and crossed my
arms.

“I do have something to say, but it’s not about you.” She played
with her napkin and I covered her hand. I was afraid she was telling me she
left my father. “I’m starting the bakery.”

“That’s it?” I sat back. “That’s what you’re so nervous to tell
me? I’ve been telling you for years to start one.”

“You’re not upset with me?” My mother looked seriously concerned
that I was about to fly off the handle at any moment with her news. “It’s too
late to back out of it, but maybe I can hire someone to help.”

“Mom, seriously what is it you think I’ll be upset about? I think
it’s great and frankly about time.” I got up and started to clear the table.

“I won’t have as much time for your search, and I thought that I
would have had answers before this bakery thing took off.”

“How long have you been planning this bakery?”

“A year.”

“You’ve been planning it since before I left? Why didn’t you tell
me?”

“Why haven’t you told me about some of the things that happened
to you? I just came clean on my secret. Now it’s your turn.”

“Vicki told you, didn’t she?” I sighed and moved to the sofa in
the living room and mom followed. “I don’t have any answers that I know you
would have asked for. I don’t know who would have plastered my sketch, I don’t
know how I got two flat tires, and I didn’t want to hear I told you so about my
fight with Wade.”

“One thing at a time. Have you started using the lock on the door
to your office yet?” Mom pierced me with the mom glare that demands only truth.
I hate that glare.

“No. People need to go in my office and I’m not always there. I
don’t want crap piled outside my door because they couldn’t get in. I just know
not to leave anything personal there anymore.”

Mom looked as if she accepted that answer. “Now what about your
car? Are you parking closer to the building now since your car was tampered
with?”

“Tampered? I had flat tires. No one tampered with them.”

“Yes, they did. I’ll discuss this with Vicki later, but your
tires were punctured. I can’t believe she didn’t tell you that. You will start
parking closer to the building. Today your car was practically on the street!”

“Why would someone do that?” I was shocked. The sketch being
plastered all over the walls could have been a bad joke, but my tires? I just didn’t
understand.

“I don’t know, but I do know Matt is keeping a closer eye on
things. Please park closer to the building.”

“I was late.” Mom gave me a puzzled look. “Today, I was really
late. Normally I’m there before everyone. Well, everyone except for Ryan. We
workout together, so I do park closer to the building usually.”

“You seem to be spending a lot of time with Ryan.” I smiled and
looked away. I knew she would read more into it, but I do enjoy my time with
Ryan. “Oh, I want to hear all about it, but first I need to hear about this
fight with Wade.”

I lost the smile and reluctantly told her everything. I expected
to hear I told you so, but she never said that. She did say she was glad I
stood up for myself and was pleased that Wade walked away. I, of course, got
the lecture about how dangerous it was to be alone with a man after a night of
drinking, and it didn’t matter that I considered him a friend or not. She
surprised me by saying Wade almost redeemed himself by apologizing, but I was
still supposed to be careful around him.

Once the lectures were over about paying more attention to my
surroundings and not letting men into the apartment alone, mom relaxed and
snuggled in for a long discussion about Ryan. I didn’t really know there was
that much to talk about, but it was two hours later and mom barely said a word.

“I’m sorry. This must be boring for you. You’re never this
quiet.”

“It’s not boring at all.” She nudged my knee with her foot.
“You’re never this talkative about boys. There is one thing I want to know,
though.” I looked at her. “Has he kissed you again?”

My eyes got big and I felt my cheeks burn. “What do you mean
again?” I never told anyone about the kiss for the kiss cam.

“You didn’t really think you father would have missed that game,
did you?” She laughed as I covered my face. “I heard him yell for me, and I
came running in just in time to see Ryan smile at you and kiss you. I have to
say I was a little confused why I didn’t get a call about it later.”

I groaned. “I didn’t think it ended up on television. I just
thought it was for the fans at the stadium. I didn’t call because it didn’t
mean anything. We wouldn’t have kissed if the kiss cam wasn’t on us. He’s been
nothing but a perfect gentleman and friend.”

She pointed her finger and motioned to my red face. “It doesn’t
look as if it doesn’t mean anything.” I started to protest, but she cut me off.
“Okay, when you realize you want to kiss him some more, we’ll talk.” She
started laughing as I covered my face again and stopped when she looked at the
clock. “Damn. I didn’t realize how late it was.”

“It’s okay. I can go in late. Matt actually gave me tomorrow off,
but I have a lot I need to do.”

“No, I meant I wanted to ask Vicki to lunch tomorrow. I’ll have
to wait until the morning and hope she doesn’t have plans.”

“You really like Vicki, huh?”

“She’s a great friend. Probably the best girlfriend I’ve ever
had.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why?”

“It’s just that she’s hours away from you. You can’t get together
or have dinner. It’s all through phone calls and emails.”

“That’s all I have with my daughter right now, so why not with a
friend, too?”

She started to get defensive. That was the last thing I wanted.
“You can have a long distance friendship. I’m not saying you can’t. I just
thought it would be nice if you had someone you could go out with, too. Like
Mrs. Gardner down the street.”

My mother snorted. My mother doesn’t snort, especially to be
negative. “Mrs. Gardner.” She shook her head before looking at me. “Becca, does
my friendship with Vicki bother you?”

It isn’t often that I go on a guilt trip, and I’m not sure she
was trying to make me then, but I still felt guilty. “No. I was just curious.”

She took my hand and held it. “Becca, I will not embarrass you or
tell your secrets. I just really do like her. I can talk to her about things.”

“You can talk to me, too.”

“Okay, well.” Mom took a deep breath before speaking. “No matter
how terrific the test drive is when you’re young, cars age and start to need—“

“Mom!” I took my hand back to cover my ears. My mother used to
always tell me to not get too serious about someone until the test drive. If we
weren’t compatible “driving” we wouldn’t last long, and I shouldn’t plan on a
big future with a driver that doesn’t rev my engine.

Mom started laughing and pulled on my arm. “You said I could talk
to you, too.”

“Not about that. I draw the line at your sex life.” I sat back
and grinned at my mother. “Point taken, Mom.” I looked at the clock. “She’s not
sleeping, you know. I bet she’s still up.” I thought back to my earlier run in
with her and how unhappy she was that mom was in town. Maybe she was hurt
because mom didn’t stop in to see her. “I think you would actually make her
night if you called her. It’s not that late.” I picked up mom’s phone and
handed it to her.

“Okay, but if I wake her up, I’m blaming you.”

Seeing my mom as giddy as a teenage girl calling her best friend
made me smile, and I headed to the bathroom to give her some space. I understood
her hesitation with the women back home. They were more gossip hounds than
friends. They all sat around and talked about everyone behind their backs. It
was no secret growing up that I was adopted. They might have been able to keep
it quiet if I’d been a baby, but when you bring a five-year-old-girl home,
there was really only one explanation.

It shouldn’t bother me if people here know I’m adopted. That’s
all I’d ever been to anyone—adopted. I liked the thought of them thinking I
belonged to my parents. I do belong with them and it touched me that mom thought
I would be upset that her new bakery would detract from the search. She was
always thinking about me first. I wouldn’t let her this time. I’d get the
courage to ask Ryan if his friends could help me . . . sometime.

I started thinking about the other things my mom talked to me
about that night. She already knew about the sketch. I wasn’t really surprised
Vicki had told her. I was concerned that Vicki told her about my tires, but not
me. I thought I should be told that someone seemed to be hell bent on making my
life miserable. I still didn’t understand it.