Page 48 of The Heart Shot
“Maybe I don’t know you wellyet,but everyone deserves to be taken care of.” She opened her mouth to object, but I interrupted. “Who made you think otherwise?”
Her eyes filled with tears, and I immediately wanted to rake the words back into my mouth.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that.”
Elsie squirmed in her chair. “It’s fine…I just…” She let out a long, slow breath. “My pare—” She paused, her words catching. “My ex often ordered for me like that, and I guess it was triggering.”
Understanding swooped in like an eagle snatching a fish. “I’m sorry, Elsie. I didn’t know.”
She shrugged, sniffling. “My dad was the one to set us up, thinking that my ex, Ben, would give me stability after I graduated college. Little did he know that Ben was worse than no one at all. Ever since…” Elsie sighed, and I sensed there was more that she wasn’t telling me. “I don’t want to have to rely on anyone but myself. I can make my own decisions, pay for my own meals. I don’tneedanyone else.”
I was quiet for a moment, trying to find the right words to say. I wanted her to know that I would never treat her poorly on purpose, nor did I think sheneededme. The only reason I ordered for her was to ensure that her stomach was full by the time we left Dina’s.
The waitress appeared with two bowls of chili, a basket of cornbread, and the tiniest Caesar salad I had ever seen.
“Enjoy,” the waitress said before disappearing again.
Elsie didn’t even look at the salad, and instead picked up her spoon and played with the chili, eyeing the bowl like she was conflicted over whether to eat it or not.
“Elsie, I’m sorry if I reminded you of your ex by ordering for you. I promise I never intended to insinuate that you couldn’t order, or pay for your own meal. I just wanted you toeatwithout worry. I’m happy to pay for you.”
Her lips pressed together, and it looked like she wanted to argue, but her stomach gurgled loudly, and she gave in, spooning some chili into her mouth. A small groan of pleasure slipped through her lips, and my entire body went on alert.
“Good?” I asked before taking a bite of my own.
“Mmhmm,” she hummed. After a few more bites, she changed the subject. “Enough about my past. I barely know anything about you. Tell me whythings have been difficult.” She put air quotes around the words.
As much as I didn’t want to open that can of worms, Elsie had shared a small bit of hers, and the least I could do was reciprocate. I took a sip of water and cleared my throat.
“Ten years ago, when I was in college, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time it was just the three of us—my mom, me, and my sister—and it fell on Emma and me to take care of her.”
I paused, swallowing down the sudden emotion in my throat. My dad had died when I was little, and it had been…overwhelming trying to take care of her when I was barely an adult myself. It had been years, and thankfully my mom was in remission now, but the fear I’d experienced, and not having a dad to share the load with…it was more than anyone should have to bear.
“We couldn’t afford the medical bills of keeping her in the hospital, so I dropped out of college and moved back home to take care of her.”
Elsie’s gaze softened. “That must’ve been really hard.”
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through,” I admitted. “But it made me into the man I am today.”
Elsie fidgeted with her napkin as she started to ask, “Is your mom…”
“She’s alive. When the treatments weren’t working as well as they hoped, my mom agreed to try a new experimental drug. While it helped to cure her cancer, it made her bones brittle and body weak. She’s unable to live by herself.”
“Does she still live with you then?” Her question harbored no judgment or disdain one might expect from learning a man in his late-twenties lived with his mother.
“No, last year she was—in her own words—tired of me moping around. She moved into an assisted living home twenty minutes away. She told me she wanted me to have my life back, and she somehow understood I couldn’t move forward until I knew that she was taken care of.”
“That must have been a difficult decision—for both of you.”
I nodded. It was one of the most difficult decisions I had ever made—putting my mother’s care in someone else’s hands. I went from my entire life revolving around caring for my mom, to waking up to only my job and Luna.
“And dating?” she asked after a moment.
I couldn’t hold back a wince. “I dated a girl about two years after my mom got sick. Everything was great at first, but she eventually grew to resent how much my mother needed me, and walked away without ever looking back.”
“I’m sorry.”
I shrugged, unbothered. Sitting across from Elsie now, I was glad things with that girl had ended. “It’s in the past. My mom is alive and I’m moving on, like she wanted.”
