Free From One Night to Forever by Synithia Williams Page A

the type of distraction you don’t need.
    “Good-bye.” She spun on her heel and hurried out of the bedroom and the apartment.
    By the time she ran down the stairs to the main part of the house, she was out of breath and her heart raced. Not entirely because of the brief stint of physical activity. Last night had been good. Too good. If she didn’t have a crazy-busy workload at school this final semester, she’d be truly fearful of falling down the Aaron Henderson rabbit hole.
    She entered the house from the side door that opened directly to the kitchen. Her momma sat at the kitchen table, flipping through the latest
Essence
magazine. Kacey suppressed a sigh. She’d gone straight to her professor this morning instead of to her momma’s house, like she’d said she would.
    Sabrina slowly flipped a page in the magazine with one long manicured nail. Kacey’s momma always looked good, and this morning wasn’t any different. She wore a black tank top with
Momma’s Kitchen
set in sequins across her ample breasts. Breasts Kacey hadn’t inherited. And a short jean skirt with heels way too high for daylight hours. Sabrina tapped the side of her head with the pads of her fingers, Kacey guessed to avoid scratching. Tomorrow was Sabrina’s relaxer day.
    Sabrina looked up at Kacey. “What happened to you this morning?”
    “Sorry, I overslept. I had a meeting with my professor.”
    Sabrina closed the magazine on the table. She leaned back in the chair and eyed Kacey with interest. “Really? Because I got up early and decided to come see you instead. But you weren’t here.”
    Damn small towns and her momma’s ability to pop in unexpected. “We met at nine. I forgot about that when I said I’d come over this morning.”
    “Mmm-hmmm. You must have left really early.”
    Kacey shrugged but avoided eye contact. “I was hungry, so I left early enough to grab something to eat.”
    “But you overslept.”
    Kacey crossed the kitchen and leaned against the counter. She crossed her arms and met her momma’s stare. “Oversleeping doesn’t eliminate hunger.”
    Sabrina smirked. “’Fess up, Kacey, you hooked up with that guy from the bar last night.”
    Kacey had never had a problem talking to her momma about sex. If anything, Sabrina was a little
too
open with her kids. She said it was to help them avoid making the same mistakes she had. Which was why Kacey got “
tell him you’re pregnant
” when she’d found out about Dewayne instead of “
I forbid you to see him
.”
    Normally, she would have confessed to her momma that, yes, she had behaved irrationally and taken home the hottie from the bar. If only the hottie had turned out to be any other guy in America.
    “I did not go home with him,” Kacey said.
    Sabrina held up a hand and shook her head. “I’m not judging, honey. You work hard during school and at the restaurant. It’s okay if you decided to walk on the wild side for a night.”
    “I didn’t walk on the wild side, Momma. I didn’t do anything.”
    “Honey, women have needs just as much as men do. We just don’t brag about it to everyone who’ll listen. It’s okay. One night doesn’t mean you’re a terrible person.”
    Kacey raised a brow. “So it takes two nights to be terrible.”
    Sabrina lifted a slim shoulder and smirked. “Even more than that. Believe me, I know.”
    Kacey shook her head. “You’re not terrible and you know it.”
    Sabrina pushed herself up from the table. “Okay, okay, you don’t have to tell me again how great of a mother I am.” Sabrina grinned, and Kacey shook her head and chuckled.
    “Always digging for a compliment.”
    “They come so few and far between with you kids.”
    “Ugh, I swear, when I have kids I won’t do the guilt trip. But, yes, you were a great mother.”
    Sabrina patted Kacey’s cheek. “I know. And you know why? Because I never let the narrow minds of this town convince me otherwise. I turned my life around for you, your brother, and