Chapter 25 - Part 2

                                    

                                          
Jessica's first day as a waitress was a disaster. She knocked over a few drinks, screwed up some orders and swapped a couple table orders. There had been more than a few occasions she had considered quitting, but the path to her independence made her keep at it. She was so nervous that she couldn't remember all the things Macy, the waitress who had given her a run through on everything that she needed to know, had told her. 
Luckily she hadn't been fired, though she had spent an hour in the parking lot afterward crying. But the next day she tried again. Each day she got better and messed up a little less. 
The first day she got through it without a major screw up, Macy had given her a thumbs-up. Rick had nodded his approval and Jessica's confidence grew.
She had been working at the bar for two weeks and she was starting to get to know some of the usual customers. She was also getting to know the staff she worked with. Although Brett, the barman, was a little too handsy for her liking, she didn't want to rock the boat—this job meant too much for her.
If she kept at it she would be able to look at getting a small place of her own. That was her main goal.
She was given off a Saturday morning, which she used to visit her mom. Other than her weekly phone calls assuring her mom that she was fine, she hadn't told her mother about Dylan or the fact that she had moved out of Myles' place. She had been trying to protect her parents while she got her life back together, but she knew she couldn't keep the truth from them forever. 
It was time to tell them.
"It feels like it's been ages," her mom said when she answered the door.
Jessica rolled her eyes. "It hasn't, Mom." She pressed a kiss to her mom's cheek as she entered the house. "Where's Dad?"
"Busy preparing the meat in the kitchen," her mom replied. 
The air was filled with the smell of her mother's roast beef. 
"How much did you cook?" she asked her mom as she followed her to the kitchen.
To say her mom had gone overboard was an understatement. There were roast potatoes, vegetables, apple pie...
"Dad," she said when she spotted her father cutting the meat.
"Hi, girlie," he said as she hugged him. He felt so frail it was difficult not to feel alarmed. He looked like he had lost weight but she didn't want to mention it. He looked so happy to see her and that made her smile. She would ask her mother later when they were alone.
Her father had been much older than her mother when they had first met. He was in his early sixties already and her mom was only in her fifties.
When it was love, age didn't matter. 
"So how are things?" her mom asked when they finally sat down at the dining room table to eat.
"I've had a lot going on," she began.
Her mom frowned. "Is everything okay?"
She put her utensils down and gave her mother her full attention. "I've had a bit of a rough time."
"Honey," her mother murmured. "Why didn't you say anything?"
She looked to her dad. "I didn't want you guys to worry."
"We love you, sweetheart, and you should have let us know there was something going on," her father lectured lovingly.
"I'm better now." She relayed what had happened with Dylan and the guilt she had carried. Her mother reached over to squeeze her hand.