“Y-you— You—” She gestured at Jamie, at the car, at Iris’s clothes that obviously weren’t for work. “You want to get on to me about yelling when you’ve been…you’ve been…”
Iris’s body went stiff with shock and not a little fear of what would leave her daughter’s mouth next. “Krista!”
Jamie stood next to her, his body blocking her from moving out of the vee of the car and the door that cradled her. She felt more than saw him go stiff, and a sick feeling shot through her. He’d never met Krista before, and Iris hated that this was the way that would happen, but it would be even worse if Jamie stepped in to put Krista in her place. Likely Krista would never forgive him.
Or Iris.
She didn’t stop to examine why that mattered. Thank goodness he stayed quiet, though he did place a warm hand of support at the base of her spine and step back, giving her room to fully exit the car.
Krista wasn’t finished. “What am I supposed to think? You come home at the crack of dawn with some strange man after a night out—obviously all night—and expect me to, what, just ignore it? I was terrified, Mom. You wouldn’t answer your phone; you didn’t answer your door this morning. I worried myself sick, and you were off, what, hooking up with some guy?”
That Jamie didn’t let pass. “Stop,” he said, his voice quiet but firm with authority. Krista instinctively stiffened, but her mouth clamped shut nonetheless.
Just like always. Why did kids listen to that deep voice when it was their mother who tried to train most of the good sense into them?
Iris squared her shoulders, ignoring her embarrassment at Krista’s words, the disappointment that her daughter would even think of speaking to her like this. She couldn’t allow Jamie to fight her battles for her. “Whatever happened between Jamie and me is none of your business, Krista,” she said, mimicking Jamie’s firm tone. She walked toward the stairs, bypassing her daughter. “He’s a friend who gave me a ride home, and you are repaying his kindness with insults and bad behavior.” She took the first stairstep, then the next, making her way toward her apartment on the second floor. “I’m sorry I didn’t answer this morning, but I responded last night to let you know I was fine. That should be enough.”
Iris could hear Jamie on the steps behind her, feel his heat at her back. Whether Krista followed, she wasn’t sure, not until she reached her front door and turned to thank Jamie. “I appreciate you bringing me home.”
Krista glared behind Jamie’s back, but he ignored her daughter’s presence. “Thank you for going with me last night.” He gave her a slight smile, letting his hand glide down her arm in a comforting gesture hidden from Krista by his body. “I’ll call you later. Have a good day at work.”
Iris was at once disappointed that he left without a goodbye kiss, and forever grateful that he didn’t add fuel to Krista’s fire. She and her daughter waited silently on the landing until Jamie had started his car and pulled out of the parking lot. Only then did Iris allow exactly how she felt about Krista’s behavior out into the open. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Harsh words, but they were true. Hurt flashed in Krista’s eyes, but Iris refused to soften the blow. She unlocked her door and walked inside.
Krista followed.
In the apartment’s tiny kitchen, Iris collected a glass, went to the refrigerator, and poured some juice, just for something to do with her hands. She needed to get ready for work, but she didn’t want Krista following her into the bathroom to do her makeup and cornering her there. She also didn’t know what more to say. On some level she understood that her daughter was regressing, and it was somewhat to be expected during a major event like a divorce. But Krista was twenty-one. Even had she come home with a man early in the morning, Iris might have confronted her, but not like that. Krista had practically called her a whore. That blow hurt more than she wanted to admit out loud.
“Mom—”
Iris set her glass down on the counter, planted her hands on the cool granite, and stared at her daughter, waiting for another strike to come. Krista took one look at her and clamped her mouth shut.
Iris pulled in a deep breath, searching for calm. Only when she felt she had a firm handle on her emotions did she allow herself to speak. “Krista, I get that you have struggled with the divorce. I’ve tried to be patient. But I am not a teenager, nor am I your child. You don’t get to police my life, which may or may not—eventually—include a man.” She would have used the word never before she met Jamie, but then… “But Jamie is just a friend.”
That mutinous look returned to her daughter’s eyes. “I saw the way he looked at you, Mom.” She squared off on the other side of the counter and smacked her hands down, mimicking Iris’s stance. “He had his hand on your lower back. No ‘friend’ touches someone that way. He might tell you he wants to be your friend, but he’s angling for something else.”
“So?” Exasperation had her fighting the urge to round the counter and shake some sense into Krista. “Why is it bad if he looks at me in a more than friendly way? I am a woman. A single woman at that. Your father is already engaged to someone else, and I don’t hear you ranting about him.”
“That’s different. He’s—”
“How is it different, Krista?” She paused, forcing herself to gentle her voice, to guide instead of demand. “Are there different standards for men than women?” She hadn’t raised Krista that way—men and women were equal, if not exactly the same, in accomplishments and expectations. This teenage obsession had to stop.
“You’re my mom.”
“I may be your mom, but I am also me, with my own life to live and my own decisions to make. Those decisions are not yours; they’re mine.”
“But…” Her daughter’s eyes filled with tears. The sight wiped away Iris’s lingering anger.
“Krista.” She rounded the corner and gathered her daughter into her arms. “It’s going to be okay. I know this transition hasn’t been easy for any of us, but it’s going to be okay.”
“But what if you find someone else and leave me behind.”
Iris’s heart broke. Was that how Krista felt about Kirk’s new relationship, that it was taking her place? Iris knew he hadn’t contacted Krista in several weeks, not since the divorce was made official. Adam never mentioned his dad, so she wasn’t certain how they were getting on.
“Hey.” She leaned back, smoothed Krista’s dark hair away from her flushed face. “Would you be leaving me behind if you got a boyfriend?”
Confusion carved a sharp vee between Krista’s brows. “No, but—”
