"Mom? Can you come pick me up?" Grace's voice cracked as she tried to keep her tears in while talking to her mom.
"What's wrong?" Carrie could immediately tell something was wrong with her seventeen year old daughter by the sound of her voice.
"Just please come pick me up." She mumbled, trying not to break down on the phone. "I'm at the movie theater."
"I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Just hang in there." Carrie said, grabbing her keys and purse and heading out the door.
Carrie worried herself to death the whole way to pick her daughter up. She'd been out to dinner and a movie with some friends so Carrie was clueless as to what could have made her so upset.
Carrie pulled in front of the theater and saw Grace and her best friend Jessica standing outside.
Carrie jumped out of the car and Grace came running towards her with tears all over her face.
Carrie wrapped the young blonde in her arms as she cried into her shoulder.
"Noah is cheating on me." She sobbed.
Carrie felt her heart sink. Noah and Grace had been dating for almost two years. This was her daughter's first heartbreak and she knew it was going to hit her hard.
"Shh, shh." Carrie ran her fingers through her daughter's long blonde hair. "Come on, let's get you home."
Carrie watched Grace and Jessica say goodbye. When Grace turned back to her mom, Carrie put her arm around her and they walked back to the car.
The car ride was silent except for the radio station playing quietly.
"Where are we going?" Grace asked, breaking the silence when she noticed they weren't headed towards home.
"Just a little place I like to go when I need to escape." Carrie said, keeping her focus on the dark road ahead of her.
When they arrived, Carrie parked the car on the side of the road and grabbed a blanket from the backseat.
Grace followed her through the grass to a tree on top of a hill that overlooked all of Nashville.
"Come on." Carrie sat down and patted her lap. Grace laid down on the picnic blanket and rested her head on her mothers lap.
The mother daughter duo sat in silence for about five minutes.
"You know," Carrie sighed. She played with her daughter's hair that was sprawled out across her lap. "I was cheated on once."
"Really?" Grace turned her tear stained face towards her mother.
"Mhmm. For 4 months. He was sleeping with another girl for 4 months before I walked in on them and found out."
"Oh my gosh." Grace gasped. "that's horrible mom."
"Yeah, it was. It tore me apart. I was heartbroken for a long time." Carrie looked down at her daughter.
Grace sat up from her mothers lap. "How did you get over it?"
"Well," Carrie paused. "It took a while. Ivey helped a lot. I let it drag me down for a lot longer than I should have."
"It's not an easy thing to get over, It just sucks." Carrie said softly, pushing a piece of hair behind Grace's ear.
"I don't get it, why do people cheat?" Grace said through teary eyes.
"I don't know sweetheart. I wish I did." Carrie squeezed her hands.
"I thought he loved me mama." Grace choked.
"I know baby, I know. Come here." Carrie pulled her daughter onto her lap and hugged her as she cried. It hurt Carrie's heart to see her daughter so upset. She wanted to beat the boy who made her baby girl cry.
"I know it hurts now Grace. But it's not going to hurt forever I promise. You'll get through it and you'll find someone a thousand times better." Carrie assured her, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"If he hadn't cheated on me, I never would have found your father." Carrie smiled. "And I never would have had you."
Grace let a smile curl up across her face for the first time that night. "I guess that's true."
"And I wouldn't change a single thing." Carrie hugged her again. "Do you wanna tell me what happened tonight?"
Grace crossed her legs and sat in front of her mom, picking at a piece of grass.
"They walked right up to the top of the theater holding hands where we were. He didn't know I was at the movies, he thought I was still at Jessica's house. We made eye contact and he immediately tried to apologize but I yelled at him and stormed out. Then he chased me out of the theater and stopped me outside and tried to explain. He'd been texting her for a like a month but this was their first time going out but it wasn't anything serious and she didn't mean anything to him. They were more 'just friends' but I know he's lying." She explained, wiping the falling tears off her face.
"And what did you say?" Carrie questioned, listening intently to her daughter's story.
"We fought for a few minutes about it and he kept trying to calm me down and stop yelling, but I finally just said let go of me and leave me alone. We're over." She sniffled.
"Was that the right thing to do? I shouldn't have given him a second chance should I have?" Grace added, looking into her moms eyes.
"No. You did the right thing. Even though it's hard and you're probably going to want to go back to him, you can't. You can't let yourself settle after someone has hurt you like that okay? You deserve better than him Grace. You're young, you have plenty of time. You're going to find someone ten times better than him, I promise." Carrie softly smiled, wiping her tears away with her thumb.
Grace nodded, smiling faintly again.
"Thank you mom, I don't know what I'd do without you." She hugged her.
"That's what I'm here for." Carrie smiled. She held her daughter tight.
"And remember, your mother is Carrie Underwood, she can destroy someone's car like a boss." Carrie chuckled.
"Gah you're so weird mom." Grace rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Hey, you love me anyways."
"Indeed I do." Grace smiled. "I love you so so much."
"I love you too babe." Carrie hugged her again.
"It's late, let's go home." Carrie stood up and put her arm out to help Grace up.
"Thank you for this." Grace smiled as they walked back to the car.
Carrie put her arm around her daughter and squeezed her as they walked back to the car together.
"Of course, I'm glad you called me, you know I'm always here for you."
