Page 149 of Heart of Stone

“So? Have you?” she asked, staring pointedly at me.

Allyson began to rummage through her purse with the pretense of looking for something, while Frank made a loud show of clearing his throat.

“Um, I’m going to check the car to see if there are any more bags,” he announced. Moving quickly to the door, Frank made fast work of slipping his shoes on and out he went.

Thanks for the support.

I knew that there would be no putting this off. I had barely been home for five minutes, but my mother’s radar was already honed in.

“I am talking to someone, but it’s nothing serious,” I admitted.

“Krys, you barely just broke up with Trevor. You don’t need the distraction of another guy right now. You should be focusing on building a career.”

I closed my eyes and tried to count to ten. Just once, I would like to have a normal mother daughter visit, one that I didn’t have to face a lecture or jump on the defense about my personal business. By the way my mother acted, you’d never know that I was a recent college graduate. She still treated me like I was in grade school.

“Actually, it’s been two years since Trevor. And for your information, I found a job. It’s a good one, too. I start on Monday,” I said proudly.

“I’m glad about that, but it’s even more of a reason why you shouldn’t be wasting your time on dating. You should be giving all of your attentions to getting ahead in life.”

I should have known that she’d focus on the guy thing, rather than be happy that I landed the job that she had been hounding me about. I pursed my lips in annoyance.

“I’m sure that I can manage to juggle both a career and a relationship,” I said dryly. It was a good thing that she didn’t know my new bosswasthe relationship.

“Krys, I wish you would just take my advice for once. It’s like I’ve always said, you should wait to –,” she started, but I cut her off.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I should wait until I’m established in a career before

I think about getting serious with anyone. I know your stance on the matter, mom.”

Allyson, knowing that the situation was starting to spin out of control, decided to speak up.

“Mrs. Long, would you like something to drink? Why don’t you sit down and relax for a bit? I’m sure you’ve had a tiring day, with the drive and full day of shopping and all.”

“I’m fine, dear. But thank you,” my mother dismissed. Then without skipping a beat, she came at me again. “Krys, I just don’t want you to make the same mistakes that I did.”

“Mom, I’m not you,” I said in a warning tone.

“I know that, and I’m not comparing. I’m talking in general here. Too often women rely on men for support, only to be left high and dry when things don’t work out. I don’t want that for you.”

“It won’t be,” I said through gritted teeth.

“How can you be so sure? You never know if –,”

“I know because I refuse to spend my life dwelling on the what-if’s!” I lashed out. “I refuse to walk around bitter at the world for things that are out of my control. I don’t want to grow old only to look back and see that I spent my life being a spiteful and untrusting human being! I can’t hate a person strictly because they have a penis! That’s who you are and I don’t want to be like you. I want to be happy!”

Her head jerked back like I had slapped her. I watched all the color visibly drain from her face.

“I have a good life, Krystina Lynne,” she said quietly, using my middle name that she typically reserved for times when she was truly angry. Or hurt. Her eyes began to glisten with tears. “I gave you a good life. I don’t want you to ever forget where you came from.”

Seeing her tears made me instantly regret losing my temper. I was in a foul mood because of the recent shock about Alexander and the confusion I had surrounding our relationship. She didn’t deserve me taking it out on her.

She just made it so hard.

She was on constantly on my case, riding me about one thing after another. We have had more arguments than I could count in the past, but this was the first time I had truly spoken back. I knew that this day would eventually come, and I thought I would feel better for it. Instead, I felt terrible.

“Look, mom –,” I started.

A knock at the door cut me off, and I could hear Frank calling from the other side to be let in.

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