The Love of an Angel

Chapter 3 ~ Drugs, Dances, and Donuts

The Love of an Angel Chapter 3 ~ Drugs, Dances, and Donuts

“I’m back!” Evelyn called as she stepped through the front door of the Lincoln’s home. As she pulled her sweatshirt over her head, Mrs. Lincoln hurried towards her from the kitchen.

“Oh, good, you’re home,” she smiled warmly and pulled Evelyn in for a hug. “How was your day?”

“It was good, thanks,” Evelyn plastered on the smile she reserved for the Lincolns and Ben and followed Mrs. Lincoln into the kitchen, where the kind woman directed her into a chair and set a plate full of chicken and beans in front of her.

“Eat up,” she smiled, sitting down next to Evelyn.

“Thanks, Mrs. Lincoln,” Evelyn returned the smile and began to eat, uncomfortably aware that Mrs. Lincoln was still watching her.

“Uhm,” Evelyn cleared her throat and looked up to meet Mrs. Lincoln’s soft brown eyes. “Is there something you wanted to talk about?” Mrs. Lincoln finally stopped looking at Evelyn and began examining her hands instead.

“Well,” she said with a small smile, “you and Ben have been living with us for about a year now, right?”

“Yeah,” Evelyn nodded. “We’re really thankful that you and Mr. Lincoln have kept us so long, and you’ve both treated us so we –”

Mrs. Lincoln held up a hand and cut her off.

“I’m not saying that so you can tell me how grateful you are, sweetie,” she assured Evelyn. “I just wanted to say that, maybe, now that we’ve had a long time to get to know each other, that you and Ben might stop calling me Mrs. Lincoln and start calling me just Meredith,” she finished a little breathlessly with a childishly nervous expression on her softly lined face.

Evelyn turned away from Mrs. Lincoln’s hopeful eyes and didn’t move for a few horribly prolonged seconds.

“Look, Mrs. Lincoln,” Evelyn started uncomfortably as she set down her fork, “I really appreciate that, and I know how much it must mean to you, but I just can’t. Ben can, and I know he will gladly, and who knows, maybe in a few more years he’ll start calling you Mom, if you let him stay that long, of course, but I –”

“Oh, goodness, I would never dream of trying to replace your mother,” Mrs. Lincoln waved down the thought firmly. “I just thought that it’d be nice if we stopped being so formal with each other.” She looked down at her hands, embarrassed.

“And that’s a great idea,” Evelyn nodded eagerly, “and I totally agree, but I just can’t. I know I seem ungrateful and stuff, but – no, let me finish,” she added when Mrs. Lincoln opened her mouth to protest. “I have . . . problems, Mrs. Lincoln, and you know that, and I just can’t, I just can’t, I’m sorry, but I just can’t.” She was crying now, burdened with the things she wanted desperately to but couldn’t find the words to explain.

“Oh, honey, it’s perfectly all right,” Mrs. Lincoln wrapped her arms around Evelyn, confused but worried, and tried her best to comfort the eighteen-year old girl. “Maybe someday you’ll feel comfortable calling me Meredith, but until then, Mrs. Lincoln is fine.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

At a quarter after midnight, Evelyn’s room was dark. The moon that normally hung right outside her window was out of sight, hidden from view by a hundred dark clouds. An owl hooted somewhere outside, and Evelyn’s green eyes opened.

She sat up silently, and listened hard for a second. When she was sure that everyone else was asleep, she climbed out of bed and knelt down next to her desk where her backpack sat waiting. Unzipping a pocket as quietly as she could, Evelyn reached a pale hand inside and retrieved one of the two brown bottles she’d obtained from Zane earlier that night. Shaking in anticipation, Evelyn carefully zipped up her backpack again and climbed back into bed.