Deep Surrendering: Episode Ten by Chelsea M. Cameron Read Free Book Online Page A

weren’t working with him always being away. And then two days ago I started talking to this guy Chase. It’s not serious or anything. It’s not… I don’t know what it is, I haven’t even known him for a week. He’s nice and I like talking to him. That’s about it.” I pulled my covers higher and sank into my pillows. For a moment I imagined I was back in high school and Glenna was my kindly grandmother come to visit and give me sage advice. If only.
    “That sounds interesting,” she said with a little smile. “And may I ask you for a description of this Chase fellow?” I gave it to her. Everyone seemed very interested in Chase, even though I told them we weren’t dating and didn’t intend to date. But it didn’t seem to matter what I said. No one believed me.
    “He sounds like a nice boy. What does he do?” I sighed and gave her even more details about him. I should just write an FAQ on Chase and hand it out when people asked me about him.
    “And you like him,” she said. It wasn’t a question.
    “Yes, I like him, I like him. Why is everyone so obsessed with Chase?” I didn’t mean to sound rude, but I was getting tired of people poking their noses into my love life. It was just because they cared, but it was starting to get irritating.
    “Oh, don’t mind me, I’m just an old busybody. We can talk about something else. Have any exciting parties coming up? It’s almost that time of year.” Yes. Something I could talk about that didn’t involve someone who owned a penis.
    I told Glenna all about the ball and my dress in minute detail. She got very excited about the whole thing and started telling me about her younger days as I finished my cocoa. Maybe it was talking to Glenna and maybe it was the cocoa, but I felt myself relaxing into the bed and my eyes started getting heavier.
    “You look like you’re ready to go under. I’m just going to check on your mother again and then do some work before I head home. I think it’s really good of you to come and visit. Too many of my clients don’t have daughters that are as caring as you.” I knew being here now didn’t make up for being a neglectful daughter for so long. But there was nothing I could do about that. I could only try to do better now. Plus, I had more time and focus for this, which was as it should be.
    Glenna packed up her knitting again, which looked like it was going to be the world’s longest scarf, and turned the lights off before quietly closing the door. Now I was having major flashbacks.
    I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t see the room anymore. Before I fell into a deep sleep, I decided Glenna must have drugged the cocoa after all.
    Meddling woman.

M om had a good night and was chipper the next morning. Of course, when I walked in, she scowled and asked what I was doing there. Guess this wasn’t one of her lucid days. Her brain was deteriorating at such a fast rate that we didn’t know how many “good” days we had left. It wore on my mind and I was almost grateful that I had more time now to devote to being with her for however many of those good days she had left. Dad and I hadn’t talked about how long she had left. I didn’t want to talk about it and neither did he. So we just didn’t.
    I ate breakfast with them and then had to head back to the city for school. I thought about texting Chase, but decided against it. I didn’t want him to think that I’d been thinking about him too much. Wasn’t there some sort of three-day rule about calling after a date or something like that? Sure, we weren’t dating, but that rule would probably still apply.
    I was still thinking about Fin and replaying our conversation in my head. I just couldn’t seem to shake him from my thoughts. Granted, I didn’t try all that hard to get rid of him. I didn’t want to. Living with the pain of losing him was better than not having known him at all. Or at least I thought so.
     

     
    In the end, Chase texted me. It was something