Page 67 of I Knew He Was Trouble
Darla purses her lips. “If they’re your dream man, they should support and encourage you while you achieve that dream together, not hold you back.”
I sigh. I don’t like talking about my parents often, but I feel like my answers don’t make sense without bringing them up. “My parents divorced when I was young and never remarried. I guess I’ve never seen a lasting love—one that sticks around when things get hard and aren’t picture-perfect anymore. They never supported each other or encouraged the other to chase their dreams. All they did was argue. Even through the divorce process, they continued to fight for custody of me.”
“I’m so sorry. No child should have to endure that.” She reaches her hand across the table, gently patting mine. “Do you still see them?”
I shake my head. “Whenever I do, they just ask about what the other person is up to.” I don’t bother mentioning how my mother typically asks me for money and that I haven’t heard from my father in years. “It’s exhausting.”
“That’s horrible. You’re a wonderful young woman despite everything you dealt with growing up. That’s a true testament to your character.” Darla squeezes my hand. “And I’m so sorry you’ve never had an example of true, sacrificial love to look up to, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
I’m not sure if I’m more surprised that Darla is having a deep conversation with me or because of the fact she thinks true love exists. I mean, she’s the lady who asked me if I could bring in a dance instructor to teach a twerking lesson. Either way, I feel like I need to hear what she has to say, so I try to keep an open heart.
Darla gets a dreamy, far-off look in her eyes. “When you’re with the right person, they should make everything in your life easier. You know you have someone who always has your back and is willing to fight all your battles with you and for you. They should encourage you in your dreams and help you make them a reality. Don’t swear off love quite yet. Keep your heart open to the possibility. Love might find you, even if you aren’t looking for it.”
I fight back the tears dangerously close to streaming down my cheeks. Just like Rome wasn’t built in a day, years of pain and avoidance can’t all be fixed in one conversation. But I do feel like Darla’s words helped heal a small part of me. Or maybe she just awakened a small ounce of hope for a future I never dreamed of having from deep within my childhood fairytale-believing heart.
I swallow down my emotion and offer her as much of a smile as I can muster. “Thank you. I’m not promising anything, but I’ll try my best.”
Darla pats my hand. “That’s all you’re expected to do, dear.” She clears her throat. “Now, can we get back to the juicy details? There has to be at least a steamy front porch kiss you can tell me about.”
She slips from deep conversation back into her saucy attitude so effortlessly that I can’t help but laugh.
“I’m sorry to disappoint. There wasn’t a front porch kiss.” I smirk. “But there was some pumpkin mistletoe.”
She leans in, grinning devilishly. “Tell. Me. Everything.”
Earlier this week, Evie confided to me that she was missing her mom, so I wanted to do something special for her today while she’s out of school for fall break.
We’re lucky to find a close spot in the packed parking lot. I open the back door for her and motion to the large welcome sign. “Ta-da! What do you think?”
“I love the zoo.” She smiles and grabs my hand, pulling me toward the entrance. “I need to see the giraffes.”
“You know what’s even better than seeing the giraffes?” Evie shakes her head. “Getting to feed them.”
“A giraffe will eat from my hand?” Her eyes are wide, her voice filled with unbridled excitement. I nod. “This is the best dayever,” she exclaims with a twirl.
I give our tickets to the attendant at the entrance, and we walk inside. After looking at the map, we head to the left. The zoo has multiple zones based on different regions of the world, and I brought Evie here today with one sole purpose in mind: taking her to the zone dedicated to animals from Africa.
“I know it’s not the same thing as actually seeing your mom, but I thought we could see some animals from Africa,” I say as we approach the lemur exhibit. When I planned this field trip for Evie, my only hope was for her to leave today feeling more connected to her mom. “You could tell her about them the next time you talk to her. Maybe she’s seen some of the animals out in the wild.”
Evie squeezes my hand. “I can’t wait to tell her.”
Her words make my heart overflow. I know she’s not my family, but over the last month and a half, I’ve come to love her like she is, and seeing her so joyful after a hard week fills my soul.
We reach the first set of animal exhibits, seeing lemurs, warthogs, and rhinos. Evie never wants to leave the animals, so Ihave her say goodbye to each one so we can move on to the next exhibit.
By the time we approach the giraffe house, she’s bouncing with excitement. I’m not keeping track of the time, but we have to be standing here for at least thirty minutes just staring at the animals and listening to the zookeepers share facts about them. Evie’s captivated by every little bit of information about her favorite animal.
I pat her shoulder. “We should go see the other animals.” When she pouts, I say, “We’ll come back and see them later for the feeding.”
Evie sighs, but she waves goodbye to the closest giraffe. “Don’t worry, I’ll feed you soon, buddy.”
We visit the elephants next, but they aren’t super active, so Evie quickly says goodbye and dances down the path.
“Are you still enjoying your dance classes?”
She nods and squeezes my hand. “I got the solo in our recital.”
I stop walking and hold both hands up for a double high-five. She jumps, hitting my hands with hers.
