~S~
"What did I say? Huh?" Standing at the end of the hallway, I mimicked her- one hand on my hip with an eyebrow arched all the way to my freaking hairline.
She was attitude, sass and pure drama all rolled up into one, really angry teenager. She didn't listen to a thing I said unless I said it with a harsh tone and a little more attitude than she could possibly conjure up.
"I don't know, I couldn't hear you over the sound of your own ego." Lark had always been one of the most stubborn people I had ever known.
She was like beauty and grace, but without the grace part.
She had this really long brown hair, a smile beyond comparison and eyes as blue as the ocean. Lark was everything I had ever imagined in a daughter- she was smart, funny, sweet... but still mean as hell when she wanted to be.
"I asked you where you were planning on going?" We had been together all weekend... all weekend- Friday night to Sunday afternoon and that was just totally abnormal for us.
"I'm waiting for Sarah to pick me up." She curled her lips to one side, crossing her arms over her chest as she flew around me to get down the hallway.
"What are you and Sarah going to do?" I asked, following close behind as we traveled through the house and into the kitchen, where Suzanna was making coffee.
It was just as a little after noon and since I had just flown in two days earlier, the house was turned upside down. I had bags in the hallway, shoes in the living room and everything strung out in random places. So, my sweet Suzanna came over that morning to help me figure it out and get it put back together.
She was a saint, she really was and I wish I had thanked her more often for all she did for us.
"Why do you even care?" Lark let out a chuckle, slouching down onto a barstool. "You don't even know who Sarah is." She added, an evil smirk dancing across her face.
She was like her father. She knew how to get under my skin and also break down my walls.
By the time she was in high school, she was havoc. I couldn't have her on the road and rest comfortably, because I didn't trust her.
One night, right before I sent her back home with Suzanna, she had left the hotel room, after we had all fallen asleep and the next morning, I was banging on every door down the hallway.
Her dad ended up tracking her down... where is still a mystery to me. She wasn't going to tell me and Lindsey and I had been arguing, so we weren't on speaking terms at the time.
Either way, she couldn't be trusted anymore after that, so she couldn't go with me. And of course, she threw the "you leave me behind" card up as often as she could to make me feel bad.
It always worked.
"You can lose the attitude, or you aren't going anywhere." I hadn't even been home for seventy- two hours and I was already playing the bad guy, but that was just how it went in our house.
She didn't listen to very many people- it was Suzanna, my mother and Lori... She told Lori everything under the sun, but if I had asked what time it was, I got an eye roll and an over dramatic hair toss.
"Why don't you go back on the road?" She slid off the stool the moment the sound of the horn hocking out front caught everyone's attention. "Life's a lot easier around here when you're gone." She mumbled, tossing her back pack over her shoulder as she headed through the room to get the foyer.
My heart always sank when she said things like that, even if I had grown used to it overtime. I knew she was just a teenager and in a couple of years, she would come around and we would eventually be close... I had no idea exactly how long that would take.
Wrapping my silk robe around myself a little tighter, I tried to make myself feel a little less vulnerable. "Lark, you don't get to talk to me like that." I wasn't trying to sound mean- no, I just wanted to talk to her. I felt like we could never speak to one another like two adults, because it was always chaotic.
She spun around as quick as could be and the look in her eyes told me that she wasn't in the mood for me... She wasn't in the mood for whatever I had to say. "You don't get to disappear for weeks at a time and then show up to boss everyone around." Lark could be cold... so cold when she wanted to be. "I don't know if you haven't noticed, but we've been doing just fine without you here." She added, a gentle shrug following her words.
I could feel my stomach drop as I watched her pull open the front door and venture into the afternoon sun.
I remember standing there, eyes following my girl down the driveway, only to climb into the passenger seat of her friends car. And in a split second, before they had even pulled out, my mind had drifted back in time.
Lark was born very early on a rainy Sunday morning. I had woken up in the middle of the night, on the road, of course and I immediately knew something was off... I knew she was coming.
The only person I wanted in the room with me was my mother, but since Lark never followed any rules, she had decided to come three weeks before we had expected her. So, like all great best friends, Robin was there when I welcomed a five pound, little pink baby into the world.
She was my definition of perfect. She had the biggest eyes and the most chubby checks ever. I was totally, without a doubt in love with her.
She was my entire world... she still is, even though she's all grown up now with a family of her own.
Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.
At that point, when she was a teenager, I was shocked that in the blink of an eye, she was ditching me for the mall.
It was hard for me to handle.
Sighing heavily, I wandered back into the kitchen. "Were your kids mean to you too, or is it just mine?" It was a joke, but it kind of wasn't at the same time.
I felt like no one else understood what I was going through, even though I know a million other mothers feel the same way. Kids are hard and when they say "it takes a village," it really does take a lot to raise children.
"One day, when she has kids of her own, she'll understand." Suzanna and I hadn't always been great friends, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't adore her.
She was tough and I never had to worry about Lark when she was around.
Pursing my lips to the side, I poured myself a cup of coffee before taking a seat across the table from her. "We were going to tell her today..." I had pushed it off for so long, I finally decided it was time.
We couldn't hide it forever, even though we'd done a really great job at keeping it secret for awhile.
Smirking softly, Suzanna set the newspaper down on the tablecloth. "She's going to find out either way, dear."
