Wish 01 - A Secret Wish by Freethy Barbara

Author:Freethy, Barbara [Freethy, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780983651796
Publisher: Barbara Freethy
Published: 2011-12-08T05:00:00+00:00

* * *

Carole didn’t go home; she went to pick up her mother from work. Nora looked tired and worn out as she slid into the limo.

“I wasn’t sure you’d really come,” Nora said.

“I wouldn’t leave you to find a ride at one in the morning.”

“Well, I figured you’d send someone,” her mother said with a cynical note in her voice.

Before tonight’s events, she probably would have done just that. “You look exhausted. Why don’t you use the money I sent you and quit this job?”

“Your aunt needs the help.”

“Then give her the money and let her hire someone else.”

“Don’t worry about it, Carly. I’m fine.”

“You always told me that – even when I found you with a bloody nose and a gash on your head from where Dad knocked you into the cabinets. But you weren’t fine then, and you aren’t now.”

Nora gave her a disbelieving look. “It’s a little late to care, isn’t it? I’ve been doing just fine on my own the last ten years.”

“I should have contacted you before now. I feel badly about all the time that’s passed. In the beginning I was just so mad at you, I couldn’t pick up the phone, and then the years went by, and we were always busy with Blake’s family, and it seemed safer to leave you out of the equation.”

“Well, at least you’re being honest.” Nora paused as the limo stopped in front of her building. “Thanks for the ride.”

“I’m coming up,” she said. “I didn’t wait around all night just to give you a ride.”

Nora gave her a thoughtful look and then shrugged. “It’s your call.”

“I won’t need you again tonight,” she told the limo driver. “Thanks.”

She followed her mother upstairs and into the apartment. While her mother used the restroom, she moved into the kitchen and checked the refrigerator and cupboards. She was hungry. She’d barely eaten at the party, and her stomach was rumbling. As her gaze lit on a familiar package of cookies, she couldn’t help smiling. She pulled them out, along with a carton of milk, and set them on the kitchen table. Then she grabbed two glasses. She’d just finished pouring the milk when her mother came back into the room.

“Oreos and milk – your favorite treat,” Nora said, giving her a sad smile.

“And still yours apparently.”

“I can’t seem to shake it.”

She sat at the table as Nora did the same. Pulling out a cookie, she dipped it halfway into the milk and then took a bite. It tasted delicious but along with the sweet chocolate came a host of memories, all the times they’d shared cookies and milk and heart-to-heart conversations. Before she’d become a bratty, rebellious teenager, they’d been fairly close.

“Why did we ever stop this?” she murmured.

“You went on a diet in high school and said the cookies were too fattening,” Nora replied.

“Did you hate me when I was a teenager?”

“You were a challenge, but I always loved you. Do you have cookies and milk with your kids?”

She shook her head, heaviness settling around her heart.

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