Free In My Skin by Cassidy Ryan Page B

meddling all those years.
    I walked with her, and she stopped at the top of the stairs, turned and looked at Chaise.
    "Perhaps you would join us for dinner sometime, Chaise? I would invite you to Saturday lunch at my mother's, but that would be a bit like throwing you to the wolves! A small family dinner would be a kinder way to ease you into the family."
    Chaise, who I think had been trying to make herself invisible the whole time, smiled warmly. “I'd like that, Mrs. Stuart."
    With a smile and a nod, mom went ahead of me down the stairs. I walked her to her car, parked at the end of the lane, and we shared another brief hug before she drove home. I was smiling when I arrived back at Chaise's, and she immediately caught me up in a big hug, spinning me around several times.
    I wasn't deluded or foolish enough to think that everything was going to be smooth sailing from there on in, but I had hope for the first time that my mother and I would find a middle ground where we could co-exist without too much drama.
    I looked at Chaise, at her beautiful smiling face and her bright gray eyes, leaned in and kissed her lips, filled my hands with her silky hair, and knew that no matter what was ahead of us, it would be worth it.

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