Free A Reason To Stay by Julieann Dove Page B

it had had enough. In a few minutes it would feel like she was going to give birth to the couple of chickens she just inhaled. “That was really good, Melanie.”
    Melanie finished her last bite and began stacking the dishes and clearing the table. She was rather an expert at the regime of eat, sort, and sanitize. All in under the fifteen or so minutes it took for it to happen, too. “You sound surprised.”
    Elise grabbed the cups and silverware. “No, it’s just that you didn’t cook very much before.”
    “Well, when you get married and have kids, you really have no other choice.”
    “I wouldn’t know,” Elise said under her breath.
    She took the dirty items to the kitchen sink and began rinsing the food off them. She didn’t want to invite that conversation with her sister. The stickiness of it all made her queasy. She now remembered the number one reason she never made trips back home.
    “What are you going to do when you see him?” Melanie laid the dishes down next to Elise. The kids began running around them, chasing one another with their cups of juice.
    It wasn’t easy to concentrate with the chaos swirling in the room. Elise wasn’t ready for ‘Ben talk.’ Melanie took the cups and escorted the kids to the living room to color. She brought back their mother’s dirty plate and turned the water on.
    “Did you hear me, or are you selectively ignoring me?” She talked to the backsplash behind the sink, not looking directly at Elise.
    “I heard you, Melanie. I’m hoping I don’t see him. I’m hoping I can do the impossible and avoid him for the next eight days. I’ve made it through today without seeing him.”
    Melanie shook her head continuing to eradicate the stuck-on rice from the dishes. “Good luck with that. You were on a plane for most of it.”
    Elise moseyed out of the kitchen in search of her niece and nephew. The innocence they provided was just what she needed. Living life in the present. Not the variables that came with her visit home or what she left behind. She sat on the floor with her legs under the coffee table and began coloring a page with three ponies drinking from a stream. No wonder people facing mental breakdowns enjoyed painting. There was something therapeutic about it. The kids were fascinated with the notion a grown-up would sit among them. They giggled and pointed to the picture, telling her which colors to use. Faith handed her green to color the smallest pony.
    Her mother stared at her from her perch through her round, clear glasses. Regret seemed to rest in the lines of her forehead. “Elise, how are things in California?”
    “They’re fine, Mom. I’m doing great.” Elise didn’t look up from the largest horse she was coloring peony pink, just for Faith.
    “Is there anyone special in your life?” She shifted on her chair, wincing from the discomfort her foot was giving her.
    Special? Weren’t all guys the root of all evil to her mother? Was this a trick question? “There is someone I date pretty regularly.”
    “Hmm...What’s his name? What’s he do?” A tiny flicker of stimulation danced on her cheeks.
    The kids began getting possessive over Elise’s attention, grabbing her by the cheeks to talk to them and explain what the ponies were talking about; why were they at the stream; were they going to get bit by a snake? She politely took their hands from her face and smiled at both of them.
    “His name is Darren. He’s a doctor.” She didn’t want to put too much weight into details about him. It was important to not seem too happy about him. About anything, for that point. Wasn’t she still serving her life sentence of solitary confinement, with all the amenities of misery? For something that happened when she was in elementary school.
    “A doctor? Interesting.” She put down her magazine and rubbed her lips with her stiffened fingers.
    Melanie came in with a fresh bottle of water and one more pill for her mother. She pulled the blanket back