He just loved Eliza and there was no point in pretending. She owned a part of him without even trying. If she wanted to, she could crush his heart, and he’d give her the fucking key to do it, just so long as she’d be his.
“There has only ever been my aunt and me. I guess I always thought about, you know, having a family of my own one day. A big family, so there’s no chance of ever being alone. Wow, I have just dumped a whole load of issues on this without even trying.”
He smiled. “I can share my family. I’ve got no problems with that.”
“Still want to go on a date with me?”
“Hell, yeah, you’re not getting away from me that easily.”
****
“I guess it’s good I didn’t wait up to see what time you came in,” Aunt Betty said from where she stood at the counter. The shop had yet to open, but from the smile on her face, Eliza knew her aunt wasn’t mad.
“You did say you weren’t going to stay up.”
“And I didn’t, so you have no reason to worry. So, how was it?”
She smiled.
“I know that look.”
“He wants to go out again. I think that’s a good thing. I didn’t put him off.” She winced, recalling what they talked about. Staring at her aunt, she was suddenly overcome with a huge amount of guilt.
“Of course you’re not going to put him off. Why would you? You’re a beautiful woman and if you’d given me chance all those years ago, I would have dealt with him the way a guy who promises to ask you to the prom should have been dealt with.”
She laughed. “It was all just rumor.”
“I know but even rumors have a certain level of truth to them.”
“They do?”
“Yes.”
“So you and the principal once got it on?” she asked. Aunt Betty and the high school principal had gone on multiple dates and they’d suddenly come to a stop. Eliza remembered some of the kids being complete dicks about it, saying she would only pass because her aunt was fucking her way to get a decent mark.
She’d never said anything to Aunt Betty about it as she didn’t want to worry her, but now she had to wonder.
“No, me and the principal never got it on. He wanted me to try and find your mother. He didn’t think it was right that I was taking the responsibility of you, and seeing as he was questioning my very own life, I ended what we had. He never got past a nice little peck on the cheek, thank you very much.”
“I got in the way of so many dates,” she said. That puddle of guilt deep in the pit of her stomach multiplied into a lake, making her feel like shit.
“No,” Aunt Betty said, moving from behind the counter. “You never cost me anything.” She came to her, stroking her hair back from her face.
“But you could have been happily married now. A couple of kids of your own. You know, happy. Instead, you’ve got me.”
“Now, I don’t know when I raised an insecure girl, but I want you to listen to me. Yes, there were men who couldn’t handle that I was taking care of my niece, but you know what? I don’t care. The reason I’m single is because I want to be. If a man cannot handle that I’m happy with you, and helping you, being there for you, then I don’t want them in my life. It’s as simple as that, Eliza. For me, it has been a pleasure and will continue to be so, helping you, seeing you grow. Even making a few mistakes along the way. I’ll be here for you.”
“I don’t want to make mistakes.”
“It’s always there, honey. You’ve got to make mistakes, to learn from them. It’s what you’ve got to do.”
“There’s something I need to tell you,” she said. There was no way she could live with this kind of guilt anymore. “I don’t want to hurt you, and I wasn’t going to tell you, but, I think you need to know. When I was in the city, I went to go and find my mom. The one who gave birth to me.”
Aunt Betty didn’t pull away.
“I found her and she was still using, and … I realized something. She wasn’t my mom. She gave birth to me and can claim to be my mom but she’s not. You’re my mom and I love you.”
“I know,” she said. “And I know that you went to see her. I also know she passed away not long after. I got a call from a police officer. My contact information was all they had.”
“Wait, you knew I’d gone to see her?”
“Yes. After your visit with her, she called me. She told me that I did a good job with you. That my calling was to look after kids after all.” She smiled. “It was the first time your mother said anything even remotely nice to me.”