Page 150 - Reason To Sing by Kelita Haverland

Reason To Sing

and had gotten in with the “wrong” crowd. There was some
trouble with the law - driving without a license and shoplifting.
And no one had bothered to tell me, so it was all news! I guess
I was kind of like the parent she wanted to keep bad info from.
She was sleeping with some guy and she let him slap her
around! I was mortified to learn these things. In some ways
I felt responsible because I had left her. I knew there wasn’t
anyone who cared about her as much as I did. I was always
the little mother. We had been through so much together and
I always did what I could to protect her. But I also knew I
couldn’t save her. She was on her own path and would have
to navigate it for herself. The truth was, I couldn’t wait to get
back to Toronto and Hudson. I loved Vian but I guess I loved
Hudson just a little bit more. I knew my future was no longer
in Alberta and I was desperately longing to be back under that
cheap blue blanket with my guy.
So now … here we are. Just Hudson and me. Together. Two
lost souls clinging to one tiny life preserver under a scratchy
old blanket covering a dumpy little mattress on a cold parquet
floor. Romance at its finest.
“Do you want to get married?” Hudson pops the question
from out of nowhere.
“Really?” I am totally taken a back and sit bolt upright,
knocking the blanket to the floor.
“Yah, what do you think? Should we?” He is gazing at me
intently as he retrieves the blanket and wraps it around my
shoulders.
I have absolutely no idea how to respond. “Do you really
think we should?”
He laughs and tousles my hair playfully. “Sure, why not.”
I giggle too and, without missing a beat, reply confidently.
“Well, okay.”

136