Page 74 of Slow Burn (The Boston Beauties)

‘We are here now, darling, you don’t need to stay over there any longer,’ my mother said eyeing the both of us.

‘I know, Mom, but that’s my house,’ I replied, standing, and looked up to Drew, who was absolutely no help to me at the moment, as his facial expression told me that I was on my own to handle this one.

‘Well, Drew is living there, surely he wants…’

‘Are you really playing dumb?’ I laughed looking at her and then to my father.

I took a step back, until I was standing next to Drew. I took his hand and looked up at him in his eyes and he nodded. ‘In case you missed it, Drew and I are together. I love him and will be living with him for my stay and when I finally return for good.’ If I wasn’t in jail, but due to my father’s condition, I bit my tongue.

‘Yes, but…’ my mother started.

‘But nothing,’ I interrupted. ‘Listen, I know Dad’s recovering and all that. I’m not trying to make things difficult, but this is how it is. We’ve been apart far too long, and I’ll be leaving again in a few weeks. In the meantime, I’ll be living with him atourhouse.’ I stood my ground.

‘With all due respect,’ Drew started, ‘Jessa’s done a lot of soul searching to find her footing as an adult, as a woman. Being her own person and making life decisions is something that we need to support her in. Let's not take away her voice or her free will after she’s fought so hard to finally find it.’

‘He’s right,’ my father started from the sofa, speaking up for the first time, looking to Drew and nodding, clearly giving us his blessing to move forward together.

‘Drew,’ my mother looked up at him. ‘I’m sorry, it’s not that we don’t want her with you, quite the opposite. It’s just hard for me to register she’s ready to move out, and it conflicts with my values, is all.’

I rolled my eyes; it was the twenty-first century for crying out loud. ‘Mom, I’ll be back in the morning ok?’

CHAPTER 23

JESSA

While Drew worked during the day, I spent most of the time at my parent’s house whenever the therapists or Kathy were not around. After my morning run, shower, doing some laundry and face timing with Breton to catch up I walked over to my parent's house to make lunch and eat with them.

CUPCAKE:Walking to my parents, do you want to join for lunch?

DREW:Absolutely. x

CUPCAKE:What do you want for lunch?

DREW:YOU

CUPCAKE:I’m your dinner feast, sandwiches are on offer for lunch.

DREW:All I need is a lick of your buttercream frosting to keep me going

I rolled my eyes at his one-track mindedness. Since our first time, our lovemaking had been pretty constant and off-the-charts intense.

I looked at the time, still only eleven, when I walked into the house. Dad was at the dining room table looking over some papers.

‘Where’s Mom?’ I asked.

‘Went to the store to refill my prescription.’ He looked up to me with a smile.

‘I’m going to start lunch,’ I informed him, walking back towards the kitchen and turning on the small TV. I had missed American daytime TV and enjoyed the background noise as I started to chop some vegetables and prepared some sandwiches for when my mother and Drew arrived home.

While I was waiting, I went to my old bedroom to finish the packing I had started a few days ago. There were so many clothes that I had to get rid of. I already had four large bags to be donated to Goodwill. Along with two boxes of shoes and purses that I really had no use for any longer as I didn't care for them often. In the spare suitcases I had under my bed, I packed up the shoes, purses, and other items I planned on keeping. Some of the shoes were a bit big on me, but I could make them work. They were too beautiful to toss, and the purses I was keeping were some of my favorites.

In addition to the two suitcases, I had a box of personal items to take with me next door. I picked up a framed picture of Breton, Josh and myself as kids and another of Zoe and me which had been taken a few years ago at some university dinner we had attended together.

I had such a desire to see her. I knew I couldn’t just call her up, that would be too weird. Too cryptic, like returning from the dead. But Drew had a point, Zoe couldn’t find out from someone other than myself.

My chat with Breton this morning was exactly along these lines, and in the next few days, we would be informing Abby that I was still alive and seeking out her professional counsel.

~

---