Page 54 of Hot Summer Nights

“Nothing. I just got into a bit of a fight with my mom this morning, that’s all.”

“What did she do?” I demand, already furious with the woman.

The tears start to spill over and I pull her from behind the counter.

“It’s ok, Ember. Everything will be ok.” I whisper against her hair as I lead her into my cabin.

I settle us on the couch and I can feel Ember trembling so I pull her into my lap. She burrows her face into my neck and I kiss the top of her head as she cries softly. I can feel her tears dampen my shirt and I want to go back and yell at her mother. I try to make comforting noises and get her to calm down but after a couple of minutes, I realize that maybe she just needs to let it out.

I hold her while she cries until finally, she’s all cried out. She pulls back and I bring my hands up, cradling her face and wiping her tears away. She looks up at me with glossy, red-rimmed eyes, and I feel helpless.

“Ember, I don’t want to upset you but I need to ask you something. Why do you put up with her? Why does she treat you like this in the first place?”

I’m desperate for answers, to fix this any way that I can. I watch as she draws in a shaky breath before she tells me what happened.

“My dad died when I was young, a drunk driving accident and she had been alone for so long that when she started dating, I thought it would be a good thing. When I was about fourteen, my mom had this one boyfriend. They had been going out for a few months and at first, he seemed really nice, by far the nicest one that she had ever had.”

She swallows and tries to compose herself before she continues.

“One night, he snuck into my room, a-and he climbed on top of me. H-H-he-”

She breaks off as more tears well in her eyes but at this point, I can tell where this story is headed.

“Did he?” I ask as adrenaline floods my veins. I want to track this guy down and kill him.

“No. My mom walked in and stopped him. He took off the same night and we never saw him again but that was when my mom started calling me a hussy and a whore. She acts like I wanted him to hit on me, but I was fighting him when she walked in. She never believed me and our relationship has gone downhill ever since.”

She seems resigned when she says the last part and my heart aches for her. She is the most amazing person that I have ever met and I can’t fathom anyone treating her like she’s not. How could a mother treat her own daughter like this? How could she not believe that her daughter didn’t lure her boyfriend into bed but, rather her boyfriend was the one who attacked her daughter?

“Ember, you have to know that she’s in the wrong. That what happened, it wasn’t your fault. That man was sick and should be arrested or worse. Your mom should have protected you, not blamed it on you. What she says, that you’re a whore, it’s not true. Not remotely. You have to know that.”

“I do.” She says and I can see in her eyes that she does.

“Then why do you stay here? You could leave and go anywhere. Why stay?”

“She’s, I, uh, she’s the only family I have left.” She says and she seems so lost that my heart breaks for her.

I tug her closer to me and rock her gently back and forth as we both think about what she just told me.

ELEVEN

Ember

Weston convincesme to go watch the fireworks that night, even though I’m not really in a celebrating mood. He says that he’s been looking forward to it all week and that we shouldn’t let my mother ruin it for us.

I let him drag me behind him as we weave through the crowd, trying to find a good place to spread out our blanket and sit down. There’s been a parade and festival happening all day, but we missed most of that and now all that’s left is some food vendors and games. Weston insisted that we try to win a prize so we went around to each of the booths and played. He was surprisingly good at the ring toss and we walked away with a big stuffed panda. I had quickly grown tired of carrying it around and so we ran back to the car to drop him off and grab our picnic stuff.

Weston grabs the blanket out of the car while I stand in line at one of the food trucks. I order us burgers and hot dogs with fries and grab two bottled waters. Weston finds me right as our food is coming out and grabs his basket while I grab mine and the drinks.

We weave through the crowd until we finally find an open spot with a good view. I help him spread out the blanket and we both settle down with our food on top of it. It won’t be long now and the fireworks display will start. I smile at some young kids who run past us with sparklers and watch as they zig zag through the maze of blankets and people.

We finish our food and Weston gets up to throw the trash out. He gets back right as the countdown to the fireworks starts and wraps me up tight in his arms, dragging my back against his front.

“Ready?” He whispers in my ear.

I just nod as the first burst of color shoots into the sky and explodes. Oh’s and awes ring out from the crowd as the fireworks continue. The fireworks last for another few minutes until the final one goes off like a rocket and bursts right above us. I tilt my head against Weston’s shoulder and smile as the lights begin to fade.

“I love you.” He whispers in my ear and my whole body tenses.

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