Page 53 of Fractured Mind
The front door opens, and a petite lady walks out. The moment she spots Ashton’s car, she grins from ear to ear and rushes toward us. Ashton groans beside me.
She opens my door from outside and then stands with outstretched arms. My stomach churns with nerves as I get out and embrace her. She’s tiny, but her hugs are tight.
“Death by hug,” Ashtons mutters.
His mom jerks back and giggles. She has brown shoulder-length hair, but her eyes are green instead of dark brown like Ashton’s. “I’m sorry, but it’s been ages since I’ve seen you.” Her happiness is infectious, and it has me smiling back at her. “My name’s Jade, and I’m so happy to have you back.”
We follow her inside, and I can smell something delicious. Ashton rubs his hands together eagerly, and as we get to the table, we see a plate full of large chocolate chip cookies. Ashton reaches over, grabs one, and takes a huge bite. Seeing me raise an eyebrow, he shrugs as his mom playfully whacks his arm. She mock glares at him. “I apologize. My son seems to have forgotten his manners.” His smile broadens as he chews.
As I grab a cookie from the pile and bite into it, I moan. It’s still warm, and it has a chewy center. “It’s delicious. Thank you.”
Ashton clicks his tongue. “I don’t think you’ve made enough, especially if Levi shows up.”
That has my ears pricking up.
She chuckles. “I can make more.”
“No, you won’t,” he warns playfully, then directs his gaze toward me. “When she makes cookies, Levi tells everyone that he’s her favorite son and that she bakes them especially for him. He’s such a pain in the ass sometimes.”
I laugh, but it also gives me a great idea. I put a cookie on the counter, grab my phone, bring up the camera, and take a photo.
Ashton’s chuckling as he comes over to stand behind me. “What are you doing?”
I pull up Levi’s name and open a new text message. I insert the photo of the cookie.
This was the last cookie. Looks like I’m the favorite one now.
I press send, and when the message shows up as delivered, I grin smugly. Ashton peers over at my phone and barks a laugh, trying not to choke on his cookie. He explains it to his mom, making her cackle. My phone pings, and I’m giggling before I even open Levi’s reply.
(>_<) I don’t believe you. I’ll be there to visit Mother shortly.
“He doesn’t believe me,” I tell them. “Expect a visit from him soon.”
“How’s your mom?” Jade asks.
The question is innocent, and even though I’d rather not talk about it, Ashton told me they were best friends, so she deservesto know. “If Ashton hasn’t already told you, she’s in rehab. I heard from her the other day. She seems to be doing well, and the program sounds promising.”
“I’m glad to hear she’s doing better,” she answers sincerely. “Now, follow me; I have something to show you.”
I glance at Ashton for a hint of what it could be, but he also looks puzzled. We get to the living room, and once I sit down, Jade picks up what looks like two photo albums from the table and sits. She places her hand over mine. “I put this together for you,” she says with a pained expression. “So you can see some of the things you and Ashton got up to.”
Gratitude rushes through my chest as hot tears burn my eyes. The couch dips beside me and warm arms wrap around me, and that’s all it takes for the tears to fall once more. When I searched my home for photos of my past, I could never find any.
“When did you do this?” Ashton asks.
“Don’t you worry about that.” She opens the cover.
On the first page is a photo of Jade and my mom with big smiles as they hold us in their arms. It has me chuckling through my tears as I wipe another one away. “Look at their puffy hair,” I point out to Ashton, and when I look at him, he’s stifling a laugh.
“That was the in hairstyle back then,” Jade says defensively.
The other photo is of the two of us sitting next to each other with nothing but bibs and diapers on, holding ice cream, with melted chocolate all down the front of us. “Oh my God,” I squeal at how funny we look.
“You two were into everything as soon as you could crawl. Take a look at this one.” She turns the page. It’s a photo of Ashton and me in what looks like the room we are in now, and we have white cream all over us, the floor, the couch, and the table. “We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry,” Jade says as she continues to chuckle.
The next photo is of us hugging. My hair is light, almost white, and in two cute pigtails. Ashton’s hair is how it is now—dark, thick, and wavy. He doesn’t look impressed in this photo. My arms are around him and I’m smiling, but his face is squished up like I’m squeezing him to death.
My heart swells at the next one. “You look so adorable, Ashton.” It’s a photo of us, and I’m wearing a pink tulle-and-lace dress, and Ashton has on a collared shirt with blue jeans. He’s positioned before a cake with the number two on it.