Page 32 of Always a Chance
There was still a smile on my face, along with the tears, when I heard my name. “Talia Hillson, I’m disappointed in you.”
The familiar voice had me jerking my head up. Mrs. Kelly stood on her porch next door, leaning over the railing. “Hey, Mrs. K.”
“I had to hear from my daughter that you’re in town.” She put her hands on her hips. “You weren’t going to come say hello?”
I’d wanted to, but with the way things were with Johnny, I hadn’t been sure I had the right. She was his mother, as much as she’d sometimes felt like my own. “I’m sorry.”
“Well, get your adorable face over here, girl. Mama Kelly wants to look at you.”
There was no denying Mrs. Kelly. I stood, walked down the stairs, and crossed the grass separating the two houses. Mrs. Kelly lowered herself to the top step and patted the spot beside her. I had no choice but to sit as she pulled me into a side hug.
“You’ve been missed around here.” She pulled back, her eyes scanning over my face. “Are you eating?”
“Yes.” I couldn’t help laughing. Mama Kelly had an obsession with feeding people.
“Not just healthy things, I hope. Have you gone big city on us and forgotten to enjoy yourself once in a while?”
“We do eat ice cream in New York.”
“What about pasta?”
“Sure.”
That seemed to satisfy her. “I was pretty surprised when Finley said she ran into you. I assume Johnny knows you’re here, but that boy doesn’t tell me anything.”
“He knows.” I looked out at the street to avoid her gaze.
She made a sound in the back of her throat. “You two were always so stubborn. It was why you fought so much as kids.”
But we’d always made up. Our rule for our friendship was that no matter what happened, we’d be there when one of us needed the other most. “I came back to interview him.” I found myself spilling the entire story. I’d always talked to this woman whenever I needed a mother, whether it was when I started my period or when her son made me so angry I could hardly speak.
“Johnny is an idiot,” Mrs. Kelly said when I was finished. “You know that more than anyone.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m going to head back to New York, and it won’t be my problem anymore.”
She put her hand over mine on my knee. “I won’t tell you not to leave, but don’t forget there are people here who care about you.”
“Gianna, maybe, but I’ll make an effort to see her more.” I pushed out a breath. “I’ve abandoned her enough.”
“You did what you needed to.”
“For me, sure. But it’s not only about me. My sister… She needs me. I just wish my dad missed me at all.”
She was quiet for a long moment. “Your father… Things have been hard on him. He takes everything that happened to Gianna very personally. There’s a lot of guilt mixed in there, but he loves you.”
“Maybe he did. Now, I’m just the daughter who almost got the other one killed.”
Her hand tightened on mine. “A good parent never stops loving their child. Family goes through ups and downs, but in the end, family is what matters. Both the family you’re born into and the ones you choose.” She gripped my chin and turned my head to look at her. “Remember that we chose you. You’re still one of us, even when you leave town without a word and don’t come to see me for ten whole years.”
My lips curved into a reluctant smile. How did this woman always know what I needed to hear? It had been her superpower when I was younger.
I wanted to thank her, to tell her how much it meant to me that she didn’t hate seeing me or distrust me the way Johnny did. But my phone ringing interrupted me, and my boss’s name flashed across the screen. “I need to take this.”
“Go ahead, but don’t be a stranger.”
I sent her a wave as I crossed back to my house and answered the phone. “No, I haven’t gotten the interview yet. Look, Mr. Irons, I think it would be best if you—”
He cut me off. “We’re scrapping the interview.”
