Page 40 of Make Me Swoon

I push thoughts of my mother and how terrible our relationship is aside and try to think of nicer thoughts.

It doesn’t last long.

Do I want to go to Chicago? Maybe I could sit down with my mom and tell her how I wish things were different between us. Maybe things would finally change or even improve.

Can I leave Destiny Falls though?

Things have been going great with Hudson and I want to see where this thing goes. Maybe he’s what I was searching for. All I know is that I’ve stopped feeling so lost and antsy since I started going out with him.

Apparently my mom doesn’t get the memo that I don’t want to talk to her because she calls me five more times over the course of my shift. Every time my phone goes off, I get tenser and tenser and by the time that I clock out and head out to my Jeep, I’m wound pretty tight.

My stomach is in knots because I know that I’ll have to deal with my mom tonight and that the conversation isn’t going to go well.

She calls again as I’m driving home. I park next to Hudson’s Range Rover, biting my lip as I decide what to do.

I send Hudson a quick text, asking if we can do a raincheck tonight for dinner. I don’t hear back from him right away and I assume that he’s busy in the kitchen, so I dodge the rain and run upstairs to my apartment.

I take a deep breath, deciding to get this over with. I figure that it’s best to rip it off like a Band-Aid and I hit call, holding my breath and praying that she doesn’t answer.

I’m not that lucky.

“There you are.”

“Yeah, hi Mom. Sorry I didn’t answer earlier. I was at work.”

I can practically see her scrunching her nose up in distaste at the idea of working for a living.

“This was important. I expect you to call me back faster next time. We’re making wedding plans and we can’t be sitting around waiting for you to get back to us. This is about Heidi and she’s stressed enough as it is having to plan all of this. The least you could do is answer and do your part to help her out.”

“Right,” I say, even though I don’t mean it.

Heidi is a younger version of my mom. I bet every dollar that I have that she’s not planning any of this. I bet that she hired a wedding planner or maybe even two to take care of everything. She’s probably having a blast bossing them around and making their life miserable.

“We have to get you fitted for your dress as soon as possible,” my mother continues and I wrinkle my nose.

“What dress?” I ask, wondering if I missed something.

“Your bridesmaid dress,” she says like that should be obvious.

She sounds so put out that I have to think if maybe she mentioned this before and I just forgot but I think that I would remember if Heidi had asked me to be in her wedding and I haven’t talked to her in years.

“One of Heidi’s bridesmaids dropped out, so we need you to fill in,” she continues and I almost laugh.

I want to point out that Heidi never asked me and that it’s the least that she should do but I know that it would only start another fight with my mom and I just want this phone call to be over.

Truth be told, I’m surprised that one of Heidi’s bridesmaids dropped out. Both Heidi and Holly act like Stepford wives and usually their friends are the same. At least that’s what I remember from the last time that I visited. If one of them dropped out, then Heidi must be a real bridezilla to get someone to step out of line.

“I’m not sure that I’m going to be able to make the wedding, Mom,” I start and I can practically feel the disapproval from my mom coming through the phone.

“We are your family, Lyla Mae. You will be here. You will be here in two weeks so that we have enough time to get you fitted for your bridesmaid’s dress and you will do everything that you can to support your sister on her big day. I will see you in two weeks.”

With that, she hangs up on me and I toss my phone onto the couch. I run my fingers through my hair and sigh. Things were finally starting to be good. Then my mom drops in to ruin everything.

I know that Stan would probably give me the time off if I wanted to go home for the wedding since we’ve been slow lately. Now I just need to figure out what I want to do.

Do I leave Destiny Falls and go visit my mom and stepfamily, maybe even try to repair our relationship? Or do I stay here with the friends that I’ve made here?

THIRTEEN

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