Page 68 of Rewind

Carole turned bright red almost matching her newly dyed hair. The perturbed nurse slammed the door but not before muttering something under her breath about hating this job.

“Wow, she was pissed.” Paisley shook her head. “Thanks for that. I’m glad I only have to deal with her for a couple more weeks.”

“Let her be mad. Give her a cape and she can be super mad.”

Paisley laughed. “I’m going to miss working with you.”

“Likewise but like you said, this friendship of ours won’t end. Right bestie?”

“Right.”

Amina pulledinto the driveway of her house for the first time in over a week. She hadn’t spent the night alone here since the night of her engagement party.

She’d practically moved in with Ethan and only came here to get a change of clothes and to get her mail. But lately she’d missed her house and would come by after work and hang out to unwind, usually when Ethan was still at the hospital.

Ethan had a surgery this afternoon that she knew would take a while, so instead of going to the condo, she headed back to her house to get some more clothes and to catch up on some reading.

When she walked up to her door however, there was a note attached. Her name was handwritten in the middle so it couldn’t be from a solicitor.

She hadn’t received any notifications on her phone that someone had rung her doorbell so why would someone leave her a random note?

Amina took the note and unlocked her door. She disabled her alarm and headed to the living room. After plopping down on the sofa, she opened the note.

Amina, you have me blocked on everything so this was the only way I could reach you. I know we haven’t always had the best relationship and that’s mostly my fault. I’m sorry for being so mean. I want to do better. We’re family and we should have each other’s back. I wanted to let you know that your mom has been in contact with us and she wants to see you. Give me a call when you can and I’ll give you the details.

Candace.

If she wasn’t already sitting, Amina would have sunk to the floor. Her mother had shown up after all these years? Amina hadn’t honestly given her mother a thought in while. Why would she suddenly want to get in contact after all this time?

At this stage in her life, she figured her mother wanted nothing to do with her. Aunt Sharon would always say that she never loved Amina or else she wouldn’t have abandoned her. But why now? Amina was 27, 28 next month.

She always figured if their paths ever crossed again one day, she’d have a lot of questions. While she never felt that same need to connect to her mother like Ethan did for his father, Amina still wanted answers.

She looked at her phone to check the time. Ethan was probably still at the hospital.

She went through her blocked contacts and begrudgingly unblocked Candace’s number and hit dial button.

Candace picked up on the second ring. “Who dis?”

“It’s me, Amina. I have a new number.”

“Oh! What’s up, cousin? You must have gotten my note.”

Candace had never sounded so cheerful when they talked before.

“Yes, I saw your note, why else would I be calling.”

“Well, I mean after you called us out at the party, me and mom should be the ones who are upset but I guess you have a point. Mom’s still kind of salty about it but I’m over it.”

“How gracious of you,” Amina responded dryly. There was really nothing she wanted to say to Candace.

Her cousin sighed. “Look, I know we don’t have the best relationship, and I understand why, but I’m hoping to make amends with you.”

“Yeah? And what’s in it for you? The last time Aunt Sharon contacted me was to put money on Antoine’s books. And you called me because you wanted a place to spend the night because you and Aunt Sharon were arguing. And when I did, that one night turned into a month and you made my place a complete pigsty. You didn’t bother picking up after yourself even though you were the one who made the mess. That’s not the kind of thanks you give to someone who’s doing you a favor.”

Candace made a smacking sound. “Well, my knucklehead brother did the crime and has to do the time. That’s my mom’s issue. But as for me staying over at your place, my bad. I was just going through some things. Can’t we let bygones be bygones? I’m trying to make things right by getting you in contact with your mom. Aunt Tracy says she really wants to see you.”

She wasn’t sure how sincere Candace was about making amends. This could all just be her way of wiggling back into Amina’s life to get another favor out of her. But she did want to see her mother.

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