'Til I Want No More by Robin W. Pearson

Author:Robin W. Pearson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Christian / Contemporary, FICTION / Women
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2021-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

“IS IT OKAY IF I ASK YOU ABOUT CELESTE?” Lilian proffered Maxine a cup of chai tea, part of the bribe that had coaxed Maxine from the car and was meant to draw her out of the hole she’d crawled into after the twins’ baseball game the week before.

Maxine was loath to wade through these waters, though Celeste was the bait on the hook. But she had to face the light of day. If all the messages peppering Maxine’s voice mail were any indication, Lilian had overheard her part of the conversation with JD. She relaxed her grip on the fringed pillow and reached for the tea.

“I know you’ve spent more than a decade trying to hide the truth, and it seems you’ve been pretty good at it. But I don’t care if you wear a snorkel and a Ronald McDonald wig; that’s your daughter. No doubt about it. And I know a man named JD is her father. How did that happen?” Lilian took a deep breath and shifted to a different spot in her seat. “Well, you know what I mean.”

Maxine tucked her bare feet beneath her on the Atwaters’ overstuffed upholstered sofa. She looked away from Lilian to the window framing the world she wished she could escape to. Her voice was low and deep when she finally spoke.

“JD was like this island for me. You know, somewhere I could sail away to. My escape. I was so glad Mother came back when I was eleven, but was it for good? What if something happened to her, like with my dad? I mean, she left me once. And from what I could see, Mother had everything she needed in First John, especially once they had Zander. She didn’t need me, not really.

“When I was with JD, I didn’t have to think about all of that—Mother, my dad, my fears. I didn’t have to listen to my own voice or comfort myself, because I felt at home with him when we met that day. Immediately.”

Reverend Atwater’s absence gave Maxine wiggle room to let down her burdens, not that she felt safe, exactly. But she had spent the past decade and a half running from her memories, and it was good to slow down long enough to let the past nip at her heels. Those memories swallowed her altogether as she sipped tea in the Atwaters’ bungalow.

“Mother got all worked up the moment she met him. She just knew he was trouble, no matter what First John tried to tell her. JD drove me home that afternoon, and when I climbed out of Blue, she had a fit.” Maxine waved off an oatmeal lace cookie.

“Blue?”

“His vintage truck, painted the color of the Carolina Tar Heels. Mother couldn’t stand the university, the truck, or him.”

“Why, do you think?” Lilian set down the plate and settled into her chair with her cup. She peered at Maxine through the wisps of steam.

“A mother knows.” And that’s all I’ll say about that.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.