WORK IN PROGRESS / TBD

Prologue - Go Your Own Way

'Ready for our last coffee stop?' I ask Willow, my 16 year old daughter, who is sitting next to me in the car. 'Yes!', she replies, 'but let's make it a coffee-and-restroom break'. I can tell she's a little bit nervous - she always has to pee when she's nervous (and no - it has got nothing to do with the 3 cups of coffee we've already had today whilst being in the car) -  I think it's because we're almost at the new house, which she hasn't seen yet.

Not that I was worried, by the way, wether she was going to like it or not. I knew for a fact that she would love it. The house wasn't huge, but it was big enough for the two of us, with two bedrooms upstairs, and a bathroom we were going to have to share. The downstairs had a lovely large kitchen, another small bathroom, and the living room had a cozy fireplace. The outside of the house was painted a light green color, and it had a lovely white porch, with some parts being covered by wisteria. It would need some decoration, of course, but I was convinced that would be able to make it our own. 

As I parked the car at the gas station, Willow jumps out and immediately makes her way to the restrooms. 'See you at the coffee machines!', she shouts as she sprints ahead of me. I grab my purse and follow her inside, and once inside I go straight for the coffee machines, getting 2 large black coffees, one of which decaf. I'm not telling Willow she's having the decaf. Honestly, she doesn't need the additional caffeine right now as she is jittery enough as it is. I'm making an executive adult decision here. After a minute or two I can hear Willow coming back. 'OK, OK, I'm here!', Willow says as she walks towards me. I hand her the decaf coffee, and she takes a thankful but careful sip. 'Ohh... That is so good. I was in desperate need of that!' I smile at her as I take a sip of my own coffee. A quiet moan comes out of me as the coffee hits my tongue. 'So. Good', I tell her, jokingly. We both laugh at each other - no doubt about it, she is definitely part me. 'Are you ready kid?' I ask her, breaking our smiles. She looks at me, still with a slightly nervous look on her face, but also still with a genuine smile. I'm happy to see that she's excited too - not every 16 year old would be excited to move to a different town at that age. 

We hop back in the car, and I point Willow to a few CD's next to her in the passenger door. 'You want to listen to some music?' I ask her. We have similar tastes in music, so longer car rides together are always fun. 'How much longer till we get there?' She asks me, whilst browsing through the old CD's. I take a quick glance at the signs next to the highway, which are finally starting to say 'Chestnut Valley', our destination. 'A little less than an hour, I think 50 minutes or so,' I reply. She smiles as she looks up to me, 'in that case, we have just enough time to play all of Rumours!'. She puts the CD in the player and as Second Hand News starts playing though the speakers I give her hand a quick, loving squeeze. I guess maybe I am a little bit nervous about moving too. She squeezes back. 'I'm ready mom', Willow says, as we drive towards Chestnut Valley.