“What in the wor— Ooof!” My father laughed as I flung myself into his arms and nearly took him off his feet. “Well if it isn’t the big city girl!”
“Hey Daddy.” I smiled, holding him tighter.
Finally letting him go, he smiled warmly before looking down at my cowboy boot covered feet.
“Now you can take the girl out of the South but never the South out of the girl.” He chuckled as we walked towards the dining room where my mother had already set out his biscuit and gravy, along with his sweet tea.
“Hey honey,” my father greeted my mother, kissing her softly before taking a seat and spotting Kylie. “Well, I’m certainly one of the luckiest men alive. Just look at this table full of beautiful women. And what might I call you?” he asked Kylie.
“I’m Kylie Jackson,” she answered once swallowing the huge piece of biscuit she stuffed in her mouth moments before. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Miller.”
“The pleasure's all mine, Kylie, and please, call me John.” He winked before joining Kylie to dig into the meal my mother had prepared.
An hour later and everyone was stuffed full of food. Like I said, my mother was a feeder. We’d left my father and Kylie in the living room, trolling through baby photos of me, much to my horror, while me and my mother cleaned up the dishes.
“Honey, did you hear what I said?” my mother’s voice broke the barrier.
My hands were covered in suds as I cleaned the same plate for the last ten minutes.
“Sorry, Momma, I was in my own little world for a moment.” I sighed, handing her the plate.
“I asked what was wrong,” she repeated.
“Why has there got to be something wrong?” I said defensively.
“Sweetie, I’m a mother. I know when something’s wrong. Mothering instincts, you see,” she said, tapping her forehead with her finger. “What happened that made you fly to another state and visit your momma?”
Without warning the flood gates opened and the sobs just kept on coming. My mother placed the plate on the counter along with the towel and hugged me so hard I felt as though I couldn’t breathe.
“Oh, honey.” She sighed. “It’s that boy, isn’t it?”
I sniffled and pulled back from her, completely confused.
“What boy?” I asked, knowing I hadn’t told her anything about Gabriel… or anyone else for that matter.
“Gabriel.” She paused for a moment, grabbing my hand and leading me to the small table in the room. We took a seat and she took hold of my sud-covered hands. “He called me.”
“He did what?!” I shrieked, my eyes as wide as the damn plates we’d been cleaning.
“Calm down. He called me when you ran from some opening night. I can’t quite remember the name of it, but anyway, he told me everything that happened.”
“Why would he do that?” I asked. “Why would he call you, he hasn’t even met you, and how in the world has he got your number?”
“That’s… not entirely true.” My mother blushed. She blushed. My mother doesn’t blush.
“Momma, what’s going on?” I asked, arching my brow.
“Gabriel came to see me and your father a couple of weeks ago. He called us first to see if it was okay to come over and talk to us about you. Next thing we knew, he was standing at the door in the pouring rain, damn weather took a turn within minutes, the poor man was soaked to the bone. Funny, the weatherman, in all the years I’ve known, has never been rig—”
“Stay on track, Momma.”
“Yes, anyway. He came to the house and asked things about you. Nothing too personal but you get the idea. Then he just left.” She shrugged. “Oh, but not before placing an envelope in the mailbox. It had your name on it so I haven’t opened it.”
“Why am I only just finding out about this now?” I asked.
“Well, we’ve been kinda busy dealing with… financial stuff. We didn’t want to worry you and then adding Gabriel to the mix,” she said, bowing her head slightly at the mention of their financial situation.
“Momma, what financial situation?”
She sniffled a little before replying. “Your father had to close the garage, honey. He was barely making enough money to keep on the electric, never mind paying bills. Things have gotten a little... rough these past couple of months.”
My heart broke. My mother was facing financial hardship and I had been sobbing in her kitchen because of a man who crushed my world. I felt like a fool.
“I’m so sorry, Momma.” I paused. “But I think I might be coming home for a while. I can get a job at a Denny’s and help out. Try and get that gutter reattached.”