Free Rumor Has It by Leela Lou Dahlin Page B

adored by women—from babies to the very elderly—was gone. Something about this woman was making him feel mean.
    “I’m your mother.”
    The loud clanging of the chair as he stood up made him realize he’d moved. He backed away from the table as she got up. He could hear his heart beat in his ears, and it was hard to breathe.
    “I didn’t know how to say that in a way that was not going to be upsetting.”
    So the woman had said what he thought the she said, because he was having trouble with his comprehension.
    “You need to leave.”
    “I know. I am going to be in town for the next week or so, and I’m staying at Sweet Comfort Inn. I know this is a shock, but I just wanted to see you, maybe start some kind of communication. I really wanted you to know what happened and why I did what I did.”
    He watched the woman who he remembered having a perpetual smile on her face as she played with him, made him cookies…made him feel special. He remembered when his father yelled at him and told him she wasn’t ever coming back and to just deal with it. He remembered the confusion and the anger.
    She came closer, and he held on to the wall, feeling all the emotions he tried to deny as his whole life came rushing back to him in a swirl of pain and confusion. The fire alarm sounded, and he grabbed on to it like a lifeline.
    “Do you think I could come back another time? Maybe I could come over to—”
    “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He left, hoping that was the end of it, but deep in his heart, where his instincts were good, he knew it wasn’t. It felt like his closed box of emotions had been opened, and he wasn’t going to be able to close it back up. He wanted something…someone. He hated to admit this even to himself, but he needed comfort. He needed to be around the familiar, and he knew where he wanted to go. Maybe he hadn’t burned that bridge—maybe it was only charred and somehow salvageable.
    He was happy he was able to go through the routine of putting on his gear and getting in the truck. He knew what to do, he knew how to respond, and he wanted to be able to calm himself down so he wouldn’t do anything stupid to get himself or his crew hurt. He could bring out the fireman compartment and focus on that, if only for this little while.
    * * * *
    She’d had a horrible sleep. Not only did she fear the loss of her friend, but the message was crystal clear that she had been lying to herself about why she wanted to start this in the first place.
    He was holding back, and while that wasn’t out of the ordinary—that was what he did—he didn’t do it with her. She’d thought she was special, and once he found out how it was for them together he’d have to give what they had a chance. As it was, he couldn’t have been that impressed. He’d left her here tucked in bed while he went to pick up someone else to take care of the hard-on she’d helped create. She couldn’t even feel bad about the brush she’d thrown at the door, even though it was childish.
    Whatever. She had made plans for herself since she was a little girl. She was going to be married with children by the time she was thirty. She originally was going to be married by the time she was twenty-six, and she’d been on the fast track to get that done, but Theo’s request had burst that bubble, and it was all her fault. One in the hand…as her mother would’ve reminded her, but she wanted the two in the bush. She’d always been that way. So she couldn’t complain about losing all the damn birds and feeling crappy like she did now.
    She’d had plans today that hadn’t included the pity party she was now throwing, but she promised herself she would get around to that. She was a planner, and she was throwing herself a doozy. Now, with all her work done for the day, she was ready. Popcorn, a couple of movies, and thoughts of how she was going to get her life together. That was what was on the agenda for tonight.
    She had on