I had to reload this chapter. Sorry for any confusion.

twilightbaby.

CH. 2

"Nicole?" she asked shocked. "Nicole is that really you?"

"Yeah." I ran my hand through my hair mortified. "It's me, Sue."

She nearly leapt over the counter and grabbed me in a huge hug. She was pretty buff for her age. Then she pulled back smiling though never letting go of my shoulders.

"You're so beautiful, Nicole. Just like your m—" she stopped suddenly realizing her blunder.

There a short pause. She was obviously embarrassed, but her face didn't change all that much. I expected her to apologize and start looking at me weird. I expected her to say "poor dear" or "I'm so sorry"…but she was Sue Clearwater. She never did what I expected of her. And for that, I was eternally grateful. I loathed feeling like a charity case… even if I am one.

"What are you doing in town? What have you been up to? Have you seen your mother yet?" She asked all these questions in quick succession and it made me laugh.

"Take it easy, Sue. I can only answer one at a time," I smiled.

She chuckled. "Yes, well, I suppose that makes sense, doesn't it? How about you stay here awhile and then come to my house for a visit? I've got some business I have to take care of after dark, but you can stay the night. When I get back, we can catch up."

When she grinned hopefully, I knew I could not refuse her anything. Besides, she was one of those people who made you feel good about yourself even if you completely failed at life. I could put mom in the back of my mind. Somehow it didn't seem so bad here now.

"Okay." I murmured.

"Good. Mary Ateara should be here soon. I watch the store for her sometimes when she needs to do something. She's been real busy lately."

As she said this, Sue had a strained expression on her face. She glanced at me and her brow smoothed out again.

"That's okay. I can wait," I said.

Sue walked around the counter to keep her post. She looked like a commander of an army. I'd hate to be the person who tried to rob this place. She'd kick their ass.

"So. What have you been doing for the past two years?"

"Oh, you know. This and that. Right now I'm working as a secretary for Tanner Corporations. It's—" I paused. "It's a good job," I finished slowly.

"What does Tanner Corporations do exactly?" she asked interested.

"It's basically a huge television station empire. Eli Tanner, owns it and basically runs most of the TV stations on the physically located in the eastern seaboard. It's a really big company." I replied.

"No wonder I know nothing about it. Don't some of the shows run over here though?" she asked.

"Yeah. Actually, the location of the station has nothing to do with where the shows play. They have the same shows at the same times, but they run based off daylight savings. So when say Bonanza plays on the west coast at 6:00 PM, it had played on the east coast on the same number time but it was four hours earlier in the day on the west coast."

"I think I get it." She laughed and I did too.

"It's okay, Sue. I didn't understand most of it when I first started either."

We continued this way. She asked a question and I would answer it. The only sore spot was when she asked about my love life. Or lack thereof in my case.

"So…do you have a special someone?" she asked innuendo entering her tone.

I hesitated. "I don't at the moment." This was the best response I could think of, but from the gleam in her eyes I could tell she was curious about my stoic nature on the subject. No doubt she would bring it up later.

But as usual she surprised me. "Oh, we'll have to fix that. We've got loads of boys around here who would probably love to meet you." She had a smirk on her face that suddenly didn't make me feel better.

"I'm sort of just getting out of a bad relationship," I lied.

Her brow furrowed. "That's too bad honey. Is that why you came home?"

"Yeah," I lied again. I wanted to get away from my obsessive boss. Did that count?

I don't think she noticed the lies, because she chattered on about her kids and her life in general. She was telling me about the new security work that the Rez had when the bell on the door jingled.

Sue smiled. "Leah. I thought you had something you had to do tonight."

When Leah Clearwater walked in the door, I had to force my mouth to remain closed. She was the tallest girl that I'd ever seen before. Maybe even around six feet. She wore some "Daisy Duke" denim with a halter top. Most people wouldn't have been able to pull it off, but she did…very well. Her hair was short, hanging just below her chin. I had to tilt my head up slightly when she came to stand next to me.

Her face, however, was what caught me really off guard. Though her features were insanely perfect they held a strained expression that I couldn't exactly place. Her grimace looked old. Not in the sense that she looked old, but her face seemed like it had held the same look on it for a long time. In that one expression she looked angry, hurt, disappointed, and extremely pissed off.

It made me feel anxious even being near her. Like she could snap at any moment. She suddenly met my gaze and curiosity mixed with the other range of emotions. I tried to look calm, but was pretty positive I didn't succeed. Thankfully she turned her gaze back on her mother.

"I do. You're coming, right?" She demanded glancing back at me like I did something inexcusable by just standing next to her.

"Yes, I have to. Remember? I was just catching up with Nicole here." She shot her daughter a look along the lines of, "BE NICE!"

Leah glanced at me again, expression still curious. "Nicole. Nicole…Law? Right?"

"Yeah. That's right," I answered.

"I remember you. You're that girl that ran off when her dad died," she responded.

"Leah," Sue softly admonished her.

"Yeah. That's me," I replied refusing to let her get the better of me.

"Well aren't you gonna welcome me to the dead dad club? You're lucky though. Some of us can't run away from our responsibilities when one of our parents dies," she spit out nonchalantly. Her eyes, however, held a vicious gleam in them. She enjoyed my pain. I flinched.

"Leah!" Sue scolded her loudly now.

"What?" She looked at Sue as if she truly was confused.

"Harry," I interrupted. "Harry died?"

"Yes," Sue replied. Her face was sad. Mournful. "In March. He had a heart attack."

"I'm so sorry, Sue." She wasn't over it. How could she be? It happened less than three months ago.

"Thanks, honey," she answered. Then suddenly, her voice steeled. "What did you need, Leah?"

"Emily didn't buy enough hotdogs so Sam sent me here so I could get some more," Leah's lip curled in disgust as she spoke.

"Fine then," Sue replied gesturing to the back of the store.

Once Leah was searching for more hotdogs, Sue sighed. "I'm so sorry, Nicole. You didn't deserve that." She patted my shoulder.

"It's alright, Sue. She's right. I did run away, and I'm not proud of it," I replied.

Leah was right. Even if she had a bitchy and hurtful way of saying it. I ran. It was wrong to do that. Hopefully, I could fix things with my mom while I was here and maybe even move back permanently. If she refused me, then I would most likely go back to Eli. I couldn't live near her while she hated me. It hurt too much. Dad never would've wanted this to happen to us. He would've sat us down and made us talk it out like he always had done.

It was my turn to be Dad. My turn to fix things. I'd never had to before so it would be an interesting experience.