It wasn’t as if she’d never seen it before. She’d seen mothers and daughters embracing all the time: at church, at the store, on television. But the closeness, within feet of her, had gotten to her psyche. Instead of standing and staring with want in her eyes, Stoney let herself out of the house.
The tears that had become commonplace in her eyes lately had once again made an entrance as she made it out to Mercy’s car. Sitting and waiting for her friend to make her way out of the house, Stoney busied herself by checking her e-mail on her upgraded phone.
She still couldn’t believe the actions she had taken. The day at the restaurant when she held Keithe’s business card and his wife’s picture in her hand, Stoney had scanned his information and locked it in her memory. The e-mail was all she needed. With her blood boiling over by the day, Stoney took a chance and e-mailed Keithe.
The first day she took a chance e-mailing Keithe, she thought she’d just write and thank him for being so kind. And maybe apologize for leaving in haste as she had, but when her thinking was reeled in to the idea that Keithe could possibly be married to her mother, Stoney jumped to a whole other level. She figured she’d try to get more information on this Michelle lady.
Now noticing a reply to her last message, Stoney allowed her heart to flutter.
Hey Stoney. I thought you had forgotten about me that quickly. All is well on this end. Houston’s weather is what it is and a “real” vacation is needed for these old bones to get back into the groove of things. Talk to you later.
A broad smile had crept across Stoney’s face after having read the e-mail and held its place. Stoney couldn’t wait to click “reply” in order to respond. She’d been playing with the idea of getting more information through Keithe about the lady who she was certain was her mother. The only way she could do it was by getting closer to him. Any woman can tell when a man has an inkling of a feeling for her, and Keithe hadn’t been any exception.
Of course I can’t forget you! Old. Who? You? Please. LOL. I know a vacation is usually made up of beaches and sand, but if you take time out from work again, come this way.
Hoping he’d buy into her ploy, Stoney flipped her phone shut and thought about the possibility of letting her secret out to someone who could literally get her through her mother’s door. She didn’t know how, but Stoney definitely planned on getting Keithe on her side.
As soon as Mercy had made it out to the car, the tears that had plagued Stoney’s eyes dried up.
“You okay, Stoney?” Mercy questioned before she was fully situated behind her steering wheel. At three months pregnant, going on four, she was already learning how to make her stomach a priority. Viewing her newly rounded face in the visor’s mirror, Mercy pulled her shades over her eyes.
“Uh-huh. I’m good. I just had a moment, that’s all.”
“I’m sorry. I should have thought about bringing you around my family. We’re a touchy-feely family. No doubt you still need to come around more often. Maybe when I come back for my first weekend back you can hang out more with me and my family.” Mercy cranked the car.
“That sounds like a plan. Your mother seems really nice.” Stoney wished she could have stayed a bit longer.
Mercy agreed with a dip of her head. “She is. I really can’t complain. My mom has been through a lot. And I don’t mean the average. But God has truly blessed her.”
“Maybe she can give me some pointers on how to survive, then,” Stoney suggested, half joking, really needing a mother figure even if it couldn’t be her own mother. “I really don’t feel like going to my church now,” Stoney confessed. Not wanting to let on that she hadn’t been as involved as she used to be, Stoney wasn’t prepared for everyone to crowd her with questions about where she’d been. Especially not in front of Mercy.
“Uh,” Mercy said, easing off of the brakes before they left the hidden gated subdivision. “Why didn’t you say something sooner? I thought you wanted to take a break from the search and do something fun since this is my last full week here.”
With a slight turn, Stoney pulled her left knee into the passenger’s seat and faced Mercy. “I know, I know. But I think we’re doing so good on the search and we are getting closer. I can feel it.”
With Mercy’s help, Stoney had gotten to know that it wasn’t just Houston in which Michelle lived, but the suburbs. But which suburb she and her husband resided in was still up in the air.
“If you say so,” Mercy responded. “It’s hard finding this woman. I just wish you would have told me much sooner that her name used to be Maeshell.” Mercy playfully rolled her eyes at Stoney. “I guess it doesn’t matter since it’s still hard to break into her private world. I don’t see how the paparazzi do it.”
With the first real laugh making its way from the pit of her belly, minus the doses of drugs she was used to taking, Stoney felt relaxed around Mercy.
“Let’s go back to your place and see what else we can come up with,” Stoney suggested.
“But what about your friends, uh, Vicky and Mike?” Mercy really wanted to know more about Stoney, but knew she could only do so by being around people who knew her.
Stretching her body back straight, Stoney had an answer for that. “I’ll just text them and let them know that something came up.” She wished she never would have told Mercy about the youth choir’s annual day. Getting fired from the doctor’s office would only help Stoney dodge Vicky even better. Not really knowing what had transpired with Stoney, Mercy figured she’d just go along for the ride. For the past few weeks, her friend had been on the verge of what seemed to be a depressed breakdown. Knowing prayer would only help heal Stoney’s heart, Mercy was willing to be the friend Stoney needed at all costs. Unfortunately, Mercy had no idea what it would truly cost her in the long run.