There was something definitely wrong with me.
 
 Posy had given me zero indication that he even liked me, let alone felt about me in a way that I did about him.
 
 I should definitely get control of myself.
 
 A man like Posy would never want anything to do with a woman like me.
 
 Not to mention, I came with a lot of baggage.
 
 Speaking of baggage, I came to a stuttering halt in the middle of an aisle when a familiar face popped up at the end of the aisle.
 
 My mother.
 
 “Mom!” I barked.
 
 She whipped her head around, and her eyes widened.
 
 “What are you doing here, honey?” my mom asked, looking for an escape route.
 
 She should.
 
 I was going to chew her ass out.
 
 “I’m shopping for food for your children with money that I earned running your place of business. All the while keeping it afloat on my own, with zero compensation for it,” I snapped. “Where have you been?”
 
 My mother’s face went scrunchy, letting me know that she was angry that I was pointing out her inadequacies.
 
 “I’m busy,” she said as she stepped back to her cart.
 
 Her fully filled cart.
 
 I narrowed my eyes. “Where are you getting the money to buy that?”
 
 My mother’s face went guilty.
 
 “You better not be pulling it out of the diner account, because I have to pay bills tomorrow, and if that money isn’t there, I don’t have enough money to keep the lights on!” I snapped.
 
 Not with her constantly taking money out all willy-nilly, spending it on things we couldn’t even deduct on our taxes.
 
 My mother’s face flushed, and I was thankful that at least she didn’t have access to the money that I used to pay our house payment.
 
 I’d learned that lesson the hard way.
 
 Plus, the kids had had to take showers at the Y for a couple of weeks because we had no water at our own place.
 
 I’d had to take spit baths at the diner.
 
 It was utterly embarrassing, and she didn’t fucking care.
 
 I didn’t know why I bothered with her.
 
 If it wasn’t for the kids, I’d have taken off years ago.
 
 As it was, I couldn’t figure out how to crawl my way out of this fucked-up life while keeping my siblings clothed and fed.
 
 My mom sighed. “I’m not buying much.”
 
 “You’re buying more than you need,” I pointed to her cart. “What are you going to do with all that face cream? That’s way too expensive!”