now?”
“You really want to talk about this? It’s okay if you want to. Or if you don’t.”
Whitney’s smile stretched from one side to the other. “This is the grown-up version of bedazzling Wade’s boxers. If it aggravates him, I am so in .”
She laughed, feeling how little things had changed so maybe they’d get there. At least there looked to be a chance. “It’s nothing to talk about though. With Wade and I. I don’t know why he kissed me, but I have a lot going on. It’ll never work out.”
Whitney’s smile was soft.
Kara cleaned her hands off on her napkin and stared down at her list. “I have a lot of crap I need to buy.”
Whitney grabbed the list and turned it around. “This is stupid. I’m telling you, you should stay at the house. You can have my old room.” She glanced up. “Did I tell you I took over Mom’s room? She moved out. I replaced the carpets, repainted, updated the bathroom and got that big walk-in closet all to myself. Heck, you could put a bed down and sleep in there if you want.”
Kara glanced around the kitchen. With all the stuff cleaned out, it was like someone had come through here and redone the house to scrub her mom off it too. “Thanks for the offer, but I want to stay here. Congrats on the new room.”
Whitney’s smile beamed brighter than any headlights on a dark night. “Thanks. You’ll have to come see it.”
She plucked some green peppers off the pizza. “How bad did Mom get? After I left?”
Whitney’s gaze lifted to hers for a second and dropped back to the list. “Mostly the same for a while. We knew something wasn’t quite there mentally. Her friends knew.”
Wasn’t quite there mentally was about as gentle as one could say it. “And then?”
“And then she progressed.” Whitney stared across the table. “Why do you want to know?”
“Because Aiden called her the yelling lady.”
Whitney winced. “Some people talked about her a lot. Wade and I never did.”
“I never thought you would.” She sighed. “I’m just wondering how bad it got. Dad never would say anything specific about what she did. Old friends would call with updates and Dad would just tell me what the town thought of her.” Not to mention used every chance possible to say how close Kara was toeing the line of becoming her mom. “I called Mom in the beginning to check on her. I did a lot of stuff for her and then I was gone. She didn’t know me and hung up. All Grandma ever said was that what I thought about my mom was all that mattered.”
Whitney shook her head. “She got a little mean at first. Her friends backed away. You couldn’t reason with her. She eventually became violent.”
Kara grabbed the edge of the table. “How bad?”
“Little at first. The final straw that brought the cops out was in the grocery store. She saw her old friend—Sue. I guess Sue and your dad were together before your mom. She threw things. I wasn’t there, but heard she yelled a lot of foul language. Scared some kids. Sue got hurt. Your mom went home and the cops were there a few minutes later. We weren’t there, but we just heard she got really violent and vocal when the cops were at the door.”
Kara lowered her head. She didn’t need to be there to know how this happened. She’d witnessed her mom’s manic transformations at the drop of a hat. Knowing that and how protective she was of the junk in the house when people were by the door, her mom likely lost it further than she ever had before. “She was always protective of her stuff and wouldn’t have liked people by the door.”
“Did you ask your dad what happened to her? I know you always wanted to know.”
She wiped at the dust along the edge of the table. “I did. He said she changed after she had me and slowly got worse. He left when I was five.”
“He said it like that? Like it was your fault.”
“Yeah.”
Whitney’s eyes narrowed. “What a dick.”
“Yeah.” Kara dropped her head on the
“You really want to talk about this? It’s okay if you want to. Or if you don’t.”
Whitney’s smile stretched from one side to the other. “This is the grown-up version of bedazzling Wade’s boxers. If it aggravates him, I am so in .”
She laughed, feeling how little things had changed so maybe they’d get there. At least there looked to be a chance. “It’s nothing to talk about though. With Wade and I. I don’t know why he kissed me, but I have a lot going on. It’ll never work out.”
Whitney’s smile was soft.
Kara cleaned her hands off on her napkin and stared down at her list. “I have a lot of crap I need to buy.”
Whitney grabbed the list and turned it around. “This is stupid. I’m telling you, you should stay at the house. You can have my old room.” She glanced up. “Did I tell you I took over Mom’s room? She moved out. I replaced the carpets, repainted, updated the bathroom and got that big walk-in closet all to myself. Heck, you could put a bed down and sleep in there if you want.”
Kara glanced around the kitchen. With all the stuff cleaned out, it was like someone had come through here and redone the house to scrub her mom off it too. “Thanks for the offer, but I want to stay here. Congrats on the new room.”
Whitney’s smile beamed brighter than any headlights on a dark night. “Thanks. You’ll have to come see it.”
She plucked some green peppers off the pizza. “How bad did Mom get? After I left?”
Whitney’s gaze lifted to hers for a second and dropped back to the list. “Mostly the same for a while. We knew something wasn’t quite there mentally. Her friends knew.”
Wasn’t quite there mentally was about as gentle as one could say it. “And then?”
“And then she progressed.” Whitney stared across the table. “Why do you want to know?”
“Because Aiden called her the yelling lady.”
Whitney winced. “Some people talked about her a lot. Wade and I never did.”
“I never thought you would.” She sighed. “I’m just wondering how bad it got. Dad never would say anything specific about what she did. Old friends would call with updates and Dad would just tell me what the town thought of her.” Not to mention used every chance possible to say how close Kara was toeing the line of becoming her mom. “I called Mom in the beginning to check on her. I did a lot of stuff for her and then I was gone. She didn’t know me and hung up. All Grandma ever said was that what I thought about my mom was all that mattered.”
Whitney shook her head. “She got a little mean at first. Her friends backed away. You couldn’t reason with her. She eventually became violent.”
Kara grabbed the edge of the table. “How bad?”
“Little at first. The final straw that brought the cops out was in the grocery store. She saw her old friend—Sue. I guess Sue and your dad were together before your mom. She threw things. I wasn’t there, but heard she yelled a lot of foul language. Scared some kids. Sue got hurt. Your mom went home and the cops were there a few minutes later. We weren’t there, but we just heard she got really violent and vocal when the cops were at the door.”
Kara lowered her head. She didn’t need to be there to know how this happened. She’d witnessed her mom’s manic transformations at the drop of a hat. Knowing that and how protective she was of the junk in the house when people were by the door, her mom likely lost it further than she ever had before. “She was always protective of her stuff and wouldn’t have liked people by the door.”
“Did you ask your dad what happened to her? I know you always wanted to know.”
She wiped at the dust along the edge of the table. “I did. He said she changed after she had me and slowly got worse. He left when I was five.”
“He said it like that? Like it was your fault.”
“Yeah.”
Whitney’s eyes narrowed. “What a dick.”
“Yeah.” Kara dropped her head on the
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