Page 90 of Driven to Love

“I can ask Betty to leave if you want a little alone time or if you want to talk in private.”

“It doesn’t matter. At this point, most of town probably knows I walked out on Nash.” They were likely all whispering about the dumbest thing she’d ever done.

Her mom sat quietly, no judgement on her face. Her mother’s gentle caress up and down her back soothed Addison. “I love him, Mom, but I’m not good for him.”

Julie nodded, but the sadness in her eyes told a different story. She didn’t agree with her daughter.

“He has Davey to think about. And look what’s happened in the last couple of weeks. I can’t put him through that. I can’t put Davey through that.”

“And you can’t put yourself through that.” As always, her mom hit the nail on the head.

“Yes, that’s part of it,” Addison admitted. “Maybe I want too much. Maybe what I want isn’t what I deserve.”

“Oh, baby girl, you deserve it all. Don’t ever feel that you don’t.”

Fresh tears pushed against Addison’s eyelids. When did she turn into a crier?

Her mom sighed. “Remember the summer I started dating Mitch?”

“Yeah, I was sixteen. That’s the year I won Miss Gray Duck Grove.”

“That’s also the summer that I let you go on the vacation with the Hunts for two weeks.”

“I remember. We went to their cousin’s cabin.”

“That’s also the summer your father came back.”

“What? You said Papa died.”

Julie closed her eyes and inhaled, held it for a moment before exhaling, and looked back at her daughter. “I haven’t been one hundred percent honest with you over the years when it came to your father, but it was only to protect you. He went to jail when you were two, on charges of abuse and drug possession.”

Addison couldn’t believe her ears. All these years she thought her father had just left them, didn’t want them.

“Before you make assumptions, let me explain. I did it for your safety, for both of our safeties. He was abusive, and he ran with a really rough crowd. I intended to tell you someday when he got out of prison.”

“But?”

“But he got early parole, and before I found out about it, he’d come looking for us.”

“And you never told me? Why? Why would you keep him from me? He did his time. What if he was a changed man?”

Julie ran a shaky hand over her daughter’s hair. “Oh, but he wasn’t, honey. He came looking for money, not to see you, not to see his little daughter or me. No, he had seen on a news post that you had won the Ambassador Contest, and he came looking for the prize money, not realizing it was a scholarship and not cash.”

“What happened?” Addison’s brain was reeling as she took in the information. She’d always known her father had left. Her mother made it clear that he was not a good person and that he had no interest in them. The year she graduated high school, Mom told her he died.

“He showed up when you were away on vacation. It got ugly. Thank God for Mitch, or I might not be here.”

Addison gripped her mother’s hand and pulled it into her lap. “I never knew.”

“I didn’t want you to. But now, in the light of the events that have happened recently, I think you need to know.”

“That I come from trash and it’s always gonna be in my background.” Addison felt the sinking feeling in her gut.

“No, you’re not trash. You’re my daughter. You are nothing like him, and he will never bother you again. He went back to prison after that visit and was killed in prison. You’ll never have to worry about him again.” Her mom looked at the cross, then back to her daughter. “The reason I’m telling you this is because I almost ended it with Mitch for the same reason that you broke up with Nash.”

“Mom, you and Mitch are made for each other.”

“And so are you and Nash. Mitch had a son, and the last thing I wanted to do was put him in jeopardy because of my past mistakes. Baby girl, let me tell you, when the right man comes along and you two commit to working through the good and the bad on both sides, it’s worth every struggle, every moment. Because we don’t know how many days we have, why waste them on worry and what ifs?”